The Edge Of Town

Chapter 2

After a long day of school, I grab my bag and head out the doors. All of the leftover puddles from this morning are now gone, the sun being out all day. As I get closer to the trees, the whispering starts again, this time louder than the last. It rings through my left ear and then goes to my right. I can't figure out what the sound could be related to but it sounds like a soft voice, something sweet, something gentle. There are some days that the sound is more eager than others, trying harder to get through to me. On other days, the sweetness of it is noticeable and the calmness reminds me of my mother.

Once I pass the trees, the voice stops, leaving my mind free to think. I cross the street where there aren't any people and head home to my father. When I open the door, the house is quiet as usual. I can hear my dad typing on his computer, the keys clicking loudly. He stops for a second, I imagine he's planning his next thought carefully before slowly lowering his hands back down onto the keys.

"Dad, I'm home!" I yell to him as I hang up my coat.

He opens his office door with a relieved look on his face. "Oh good! I went to the store today and I picked up some stuff for dinner and I cleaned your room today too and I noticed one of your coats had a small tear in the sleeve so I picked you up a new one," he nods at me, flashing me a toothless smile by keeping his lips tight. He straightens his back and folds his hands over his stomach.

"Dad you didn't have to do that, I have enough good clothes already."

"Well I just want you to be warm. It can get pretty cold on the rainy days, with the wind and all." He messes with his hands, I can tell that he's hurt.

"Well thank you. I appreciate it and I bet it's a really nice coat." I give him a hug and head into the kitchen to see what he got for dinner. I see rice, vegetables, and chicken. Okay, I can work with this. I learned how to cook shortly after my mom was no longer around. We started eating mostly fast food, occasionally my father would try his luck with cooking but it never turned out like my mothers. I never told him that, I didn't want to risk hurting him.

I turn on the pan for the chicken and stick the frozen vegetables in the microwave. I pull out a pot for the rice and get started on that too. My dad watches me quietly for a few seconds and then returns to his office, his chair squeaking when he takes a seat.

* * * *

After dinner, I go to my room to start on my homework. My dad did clean my room, it's completely spotless. Whenever he cleans my room he usually goes through my books, reading certain parts. I always imagine him sitting there on the corner of my bed, slowly studying the words with his head tilted up slightly. I imagine him running a shaking finger along each line, nodding at things he likes and squinting more than normal at things he doesn't. I never touch the books in my room, I have stopped reading over the past few years but I didn't have the heart to get rid of them. Books have so much to hold, each individual holding a different story, each one not like the other.

I look out the window and can see the tips of the trees rising from above the buildings. At that moment I hear a loud ringing in my ears. It's almost like someone is screaming at me, but I don't know from where. I look around my room for any possible source but I can't find anything. I cover my ears to try and block it out but it doesn't help, the sound is coming from inside my head, it's not an outside source. I can hear a loud voice, it's a woman's voice, and it's soft and gentle like the one I heard earlier. The words are finally clear and I'm shocked by what I'm hearing.

"Come to the trees."