The Strand

Mother & Daughter time

I opened my eyes to the sound of my mom making her usual morning cup of tea.

"Raven wake up! Time for breakfast!"

I turned over in my bed and yelled through my open door, "Okay mom!" I jumped out of bed, ran to my bathroom to do a quick wash up. I wonder why I dreamed about the promise that I made to Nick a year ago. It's not like I intend on breaking it any time soon, I thought to myself.

When I finished my wash up, I ran down the stairs two at a time. The kitchen was probably one of the smallest rooms in our house. Coming in for a close second with the master bedroom. For the few years we've been living here, I've always felt bad about having the largest room in the house, but my parent won't switch no matter what I say. When you first walk into the kitchen you see a wall of cabinets that we use to store all of our spices and spare herbs. Then no more than 5 feet away sits the dinner table. On the table was two bowls that had the rest of the rabbit stew that we had left over from dinner last night and my mom was sitting at the table.

My mom's name is Nelly Portland and she is 41 years old. Not at all old to me, but if you just say a number close to 41, she goes into a fit about how she's older that our old china set. Now that thing is old, I thought to myself. My mom and I could actually be twin because we have the same light brown hair, and caramel skin tone. The only difference between us is the 2 inch high difference, which I might add that she has the pleasure of owning, and the fact that she has calming dark brown eyes while I have one dark brown eye like her and one sea green eye just like my dad. Ever since I could understand my surroundings and all that was said about me, I considered myself weird and unnatural, and it didn't help that all the kids that used to live near me would say that same things. The only people that accepted me and my eyes were Nick, Lucy, my old nanny, and mom and dad. Speaking of dad...

I noticed that my mom and I were the only people in the room. "Where's dad?"

"He went into town earlier this morning to see if he could find a job."

"What kind of-" She made a face, so I shut up and waited for her to say prayer.

"So what kind of job?' I asked after she said the prayer.

"He said something he would like to be in the weapons industry, but I don't see many job openings for that around here."

"Oh." I sighed and dived into my soup. "MMMMM! That's good! Mom..."

"Yes sweetheart?" She looked at me.

I considered telling her that I've been feeling weird lately, but I'm pretty sure she'll just tell me that I'm growing, so I'm going to feel weird. "No, nothing."

She gave me a weird look. "Ok..." She finished off the rest of her soup at the same time I did. "Want me to wash that for you?"

"Thanks mom." I got up to leave.

"Where are you and Nick going to today?"

"I don't know, maybe we'll head down to the stream. Nick said he had a new technique to teach me, but we needed to be around a water source."

"Ok....Stay safe, I don't want to hear that my daughter and her friend were found dead in stream or worse that you all were found down by the old Neewey's house." The Neewey's were an old couple that live near the end of the stream, and were known for their weird behavior towards children. For years, children have gone missing whenever they are last seen going towards the old house. Most witnesses say that a child going that way always seems to be in a dazed manor.

"I promises, mom, and trust me I wouldn't be caught anywhere near the old Neewey's for anything or anyone." She gives me one last look before coming towards me to give a kiss on my forehead. She turned back around to wash the dishes and I walked to the front door.

(Hello everyone! . Also have a Happy New Year (Yes I know this is early. I don't know when my next chapter will be going out, so this is my "just in case"). This year has been an event full one for me, how about you? Question(s) for the chapter: "What was something memorable that happen to you this year?" or "What was your favorite thing that happened this year?"