The Forgotten Few

Chapter Fourteen

This. Is. It. Storybrooke. My family. My hope. My reason.

These thoughts swirled in my head as I regrouped our cluster of people.

I look back to our group, as I was in front. One thought  invaded my mind, and made me realize who I really am. Who we really are.

We were​ people who were lost, in our memories, our reasons. But now, as we walk down this road, every step we take is a step towards hope. To better reasons. We are not lost anymore, in chance, we are found.

Neal catches up to me, and his presence takes me out of my trance, and back to him.

He sighs, "How does it feel? Fourteen years, and you get to see your family?"

I thought about his comment a moment. It took me a while to think of the right words to say to him, but eventually, they came.

Everything was in slow motion. I looked back to Claire and Micah, laughing away as the breeze streamed through their long red hair. Char was against the edge of the road, observing the trees and miles upon miles of forest.

And then the words came to me. The perfect words.

"As I look back on my life, I realize that every time I thought I was being rejected from something good, I was actually being redirected to something better. To you. To Micah. To Charlotte and Claire. My family. Hope."

Neal nodded. Inside of me, I could feel something. A pull, I guess you could call it.

"We are near the town!" I surprise myself by saying that. That's what my gut was telling me though.

In front of us is a small hill. I want to just be able to fly over it, my legs are too tired, my body is starting to ache from the traveling of the day.

I dragged my legs up, one at a time, and I was the first one to reach the top. From there I stopped.

The clock tower. The library. A shop, Gold's Pawn Shop.

I could only stare at the town as the rest of the group approached the top.

Gasps came from my friends, and surprisingly, I joined them. It was too much to take in, yet something was off.

"We should go down there, find our families," declared Charlotte.

"Agreed," said the group unanimously.

I had to jog down the hill, because the decline was much steeper than the slight incline, and it was hard to keep balance. When we all reached the bottom and continued on our way to the main street of the town. It was alive with a typical hustle and bustle of the week.

You could hear doors' bells being rung from all over, as citizens exited and entered little shops.

My stomach churned with excitement.

We walked past the boardwalk, and up to a gray house. The blinds were closed. The smell of the sea filtered the air, calming me.

I turned to my group, "I'm nervous!" I told them.

"No, you shouldn't," Micah told me, "you're the one who got us into this hopeful mess. You're going to be the one who gets to find your family first!"

They all nodded.

"I should probably go with you," Neal pointed out.

I thought for a moment, "No. I'm going to go alone."

He nodded and understood. He was the best.

I walked up the gray steps. Nerves building up inside of me.