Tornadoes

Prologue

Prologue

I awoke to the soft tweeting of birds greeting each other, the beautiful golden sunrays played peek-a-boo through the slits of my blinds and eased my senses awake. Slowly rising out of my cloud-like bed I waltzed into the bathroom to begin getting ready for the day ahead, holding my favourite newly bought clothing in both hands. Applying only a small amount of eyeliner and mascara onto my eyes I glanced back in the mirror to check my reflection, I was happy that my hair cascaded down to my mid-back in loose golden brown ringlets. My hair colour I had inherited by someway from my grandmother and my grey eyes’ origin was unknown, though they changed to the same shocking blue that my mum had in the summer.

I tiptoed into the next room so I could grab my bag then leave without disturbing anyone - fishing my keys out of the deep pocket of my blazer, I unlocked the large front door and slid out, making sure to close it quietly and slowly behind me. Knowing no one would see, I ran to the edge of the field and settled beneath the branches of the old oak tree and looked out at the green pastures in my view. In a couple of months the outdoors would no longer be warm and a bright luscious green; instead everything would become darker. The day would soon turn to night after a few hours and the splatter’s of English rain would change into large tumbling snowflakes.

A few hours passed of simply staring ahead before a branch snapped behind me. Shifting so I could catch a glimpse of who had joined me, I noticed the familiar silhouette and nodded in acknowledgement. Going back to staring into the distance I relaxed into the comfortable silence. A comfortable silence that can be so difficult to achieve.

After hearing a long sigh I looked back curious of the reason behind it. They sat there gazing at me for some short seconds as they seemed to prepare themselves for what they were about to say.

"When do you leave?” The heaviness in their voice would have been detectable by anyone; it was not just obvious to me.

I gave a small smile “Tonight.”

Again, the silence entered and left me drowning in my own thoughts.

"Can you not-”

“I have to. I have no choice.”

Another sigh was heard as I leaned back into the solid trunk of the tree - however this time was my own. It would be difficult to leave, how could it not? But, what no one seemed to understand were the reasons. The reasons that would explain everything.

Unclasping the latch of my brown satchel I fetched the sandwiches I had prepared previously and began to eat, offering one to my companion. They shook their head but I gave it to them anyway; I knew they would eat it whether it was now or later. Soon after finishing, I brought my knees up to my chest and closed my eyes, predicting my future if I stayed. I decided it was time to get rid of the current silence and faced them.

"Will you miss me, Ethan?”

A sad smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he nodded in answer to my question. A mumbled “How couldn’t I?” escaped his lips.

Reaching into my bag a second time - I picked out the pile of letters I had written and handed him a selected few that he would be the best to deliver.

“I’ll need you to give them to their recipients for me, I would do it myself but they don’t know about me leaving just yet.” I stood, collected the things I had brought, and then took one last mental image of my surroundings. One last mental image of my home. The longing to stay was eating away at me, as was the guilt for leaving.

In the distance I could see my family getting ready to leave. Our black Porsche and all our other belongings other than the essentials and all clothing/accessories were being left behind; we would visit every so often. We made our way to them side by side - Ethan’s single long strides matching three of my own. The non-existant clock ticked by in my head, the ominous sound pounding repeatedly. My brother passed me without a word and I realised he was taking it as hard as I was. We had both grown up on the outskirts of this town and to be leaving to a busier, more crowded place was going to be hard. It soon reached four o’clock and the expression on Ethan’s face showed his feeling as if he were shouting them at me. As if he were begging me to stay.

My dad brought the car we were taking with us around to the front of our house and the whole family climbed in. I got into the Mercedes last in hopes it would make me feel like I had stayed at home for just a little bit longer.

I left Ethan with the words we agreed to say if we ever separated. A quote from Peter Pan. At the same time we uttered the same words.

"Never say goodbye, because goodbye means going away, and going away means forgetting.”