Forming Anastasia

Move Along

The huge disoriented barn stuck out to me. Nothing but chunks of land and a few farm animals along the way. The sky is a light gray color. The wind blowing roughly. I watch as we pass weaving trees, dropping leaves. This is a new town. A new start. Although, by the looks of it, I wouldn't be meeting many people anyways. Out in the middle of the country like this. I preferred horses over people anyways.
We pull into the gravel driveway. The house but moderately big. A fading yellow siding, white posts on the white porch, and acres upon acres of green, grassy lands. Falling fences and rusted little sheds. Your typical farm house. I step out of the car onto the gravel. My bare feet longed for the chance to run through the grass again.
I walk to the back of the car pulling open the trunk. The wind blows my hair around. It is so warm. I grab my green luggage case and pink duffel bag. I walk to the porch, stepping onto the first step. It creaks. I sat down with my luggage next to me. My dad follows with my three siblings. He sits next to me and slings his left arm over my shoulders.
"I promise, Annie. You'll love it here"
I already loved the placement. It was the memories of where we are coming from that I missed. My siblings Kate,Amberly, and Johnston, follow behind us entering the house. It's the first time I had seen the inside. Everything had settled into a messy, creaky, dusty, thing. "Majorly,needs a woman's touch" I say sadly. I walk upstairs to the room on the far end of the right hallway. It was the only room left, my siblings hadn't yet claimed.
I twist the handle and open the white door. The wooden floors covered in dust, and the yellow, flowery wall paper sags. I look straight ahead from the doorway and see a massive, gorgeous window. The white paint around it needed to be fixed. The view of the mountains blew me away. I look down from the window. Pulling in is the moving truck. My dad's brother, Rob, is driving it. He steps out and walks to the back pulling up the door. I pull up my boots and walk outside to help. My brother trails behind.
"Amberly, Kate! You're not escaping that easily!" I holler passing their rooms. Johnston smiles. Only being a year younger than I, we've always been really close. We learned how to ride horses together, learned how to fix fences together, and learned how to get out of almost any horrible situation together. I hop down the creaky stairs and out of the front door.
"Hey Rob" Johnston says grabbing a box.
"Hey kids. Ready to unload her again?" He stays exhaustingly. This is the third time we've moved within three years. The first two were to be near hospitals for my mother.
"Always" I reply. Amberly and Kate come running out of the house with dirt trailing behind them. I grab an end of the kitchen table with Uncle Rob on the other side. We walk at a steady pace to the dining room. Standing in the kitchen was Amberly with a box of plates. She was unloading them into the shelves. We all had our own jobs in the moving processes. Rob, my dad, and Johnston do most of the heavy lifting. I, being the oldest bring the second heaviest things in such as, mattresses, night stands, lamps, heavier boxes and anything breakable. Amberly and Kate do the small things. The system worked well.
I walk back outside and grab a twin mattress. I drag it up the staircase into the first room on the left. Kate's room. I do the same in the next room over. Amberly's room. I drag the full size mattress to the room across the hall from Amberly's room. Johnston's room. Finally, I drag the other full sized mattress to the room at the end of the hall. My room. Rob and my dad follow up the stairs with the queen sized mattress. They turn down the left hall and go straight down. My dad's room.
I plop down on my mattress. I reach into a maroon colored small box. Inside is a picture of the whole family. My mom, my dad,Rosetta, Amberly, Kate, Johnston, and I. I shed a tear or two and shove the fading picture back into the box. It hurt so much to not be unpacking their things along with ours. I stand up and walk to the truck. Left was a couch, two night stands, and my dresser and desk. I reach for the purple nightstand. I sit it in Kate's room. As I walk in I see her hanging pictures on the wall. One by one with bright colored thumb tacks. She and I got our decorative sides from our mother.
In one was Rosetta and I playing in a pool. Another was mom, Amberly, and Kate, smiling. Another was the same picture I had just pulled out. I sit on my knees next to Kate. I put my arm around her and smile.
She has dirt on her face and her hair is falling out of place. She looks over at me.
"So we won't forget them" she says smiling. I hug her slightly and stand up. I stop once I get to the doorway and turn on my heels.
"They're never forgotten" I say. I walk back into my room and see the desk and dresser standing against the walls. Behind me Rob walks in with the night stand.
"sit them where you'd like" he walks out and pulls out of the driveway. A trail of smokey dust follows him.

~~~~
After dinner I help the girls get their baths and send them to bed. Johnston is on the phone in his bedroom. I traipse back downstairs and see my dad unpacking the final box of utensils. I sit in the wooden chair and stair at the dirty Windows on the double doors. Everything needed to be remodeled, repainted, and cleaned. My dad turns around and sits across the table from me. He shoves the pizza box towards me.
"You want anymore?"
I shake my head. He closes the box and sets it on the island. I rest my chin on my hand and look at him.
"Annie, I know this is hard. We've all been having a hard time." He says brushing the dirt off of his white shirt. He takes his boots off. His white socks were now gray and dirty. He crosses his leg and rubs his foot.
"How's the rest of them?" He asks.
"I don't know dad. Maybe you should stop and check on them every once in a while." I reply sharply.
He looks down at me.
"I know you're hurting right now, but you are not to speak to me that way"
I turn my head.
"What was that look for, Annie? I'm trying my best here!"
"Trying your best? You call moving us around millions of miles away from everyone is what's best? You think that giving up on mom was for the best? You think that driving drunk with your daughter was best? Dad I'm a little more than hurting. It's your fault that there are two less people in this house!" I stomp upstairs to my room. I sit on my mattress that not yet had a frame. I don't really blame my dad for everything. I'm just angry. At him, at everyone.

My mother had cancer for years. By the time we caught it, it was too late. We moved two times to be closer to ' the best hospitals' none of them worked. After she died, my dad was a wreck. He forgot how to be a father. Rosetta was three years younger than I am. One night she needed a ride home from her piano lesson. Johnston and I can't drive yet. At least not on our own. She called dad and asked him to pick her up. He had been at the bar drinking. He stupidly drove to the house and got Rosetta. He ran off the road. Flipped six times. The airbag and the multiple head injuries, killed her. He got out with a broken arm and a concussion.
Two people right after each other. It hurt.