For Everything

After Effects

What does life mean to you? Probably many different things depending on who you ask. Well the luxury of answering that question was taken from me after the many, many tragedies that befell me during my short time in the town of Blackburg, Maine. You've probably never heard of it before, no one has. It's a small, dull fishing village no one ever enters, or exits from. I moved there when I was fifteen, not ever expecting much less choosing the unfortunate series of events (yes I have read the series) that expected and chose me the moment I stepped foot into Blackburg Elementary School. I know you're probably wondering why I'm still in elementary school if I'm fifteen. Well, they probably didn't tell you that it's both an elementary school and a middle school, but Blackburg Elementary and Middle School doesn't sound as smooth as Blackburg Elementary School. It was well into the second semester of eighth grade when we moved, so I was even more of an alien. I never asked for the life that would be soon handed to me, but my parents decided we had been living in California for too long, and it was about time we started a new life. Our old one was completely fine, nothing was wrong, but my parents wanted to try something new, so we packed up our San Francisco apartment, and moved across the country to a town no one ever enters, so you could imagine the attention we received when we entered the town. My parents, my sister and I rolled through with our little station wagon. The minute we crossed the town border, every single eye was on us. It was hard to believe this would be where I was going to live for who knows how long. I immediately took notice of the buildings, crooked and disheveled, patches of the roofs in shambles, the leaning windows, even the buildings seemed to lean on one another. The alleys between them would start at the bottom and get gradually thinner as they got to the top, and eventually two structures would meet each other, connecting themselves. I also noticed the long clotheslines hung across the street and in between the houses, full of vibrant, faded, and a large variety of unusual colors. Our house was exactly the same as all the other ones, two story, very skinny, and on top of some sort of store. Usually all the stores sold mostly fish, but my father wanted to try something new, so he created a small general store out of the small space underneath our house. Living was tight, there were only two bedrooms, a kitchen, one bathroom, and a small living room in the entire house. My parents shared a room, as did my sister and I. I've never shared a room before so it took some getting used to. Being a six year old, my sister was in love with pink, princesses, and fairies, as were all other six year old girls. So, my parents decided that they would paint half of our room to be Rosie's (my six year old sister) side of the room, and the other side would be my half. I'm a very plain person who likes very plain things, so I decided to leave my side the plain grey it was before we moved in. I got plain bedding, and a plain dresser, since Rosie decided to take over the entire closet with her glittery, pink tutus and headbands. The next few days were rough, I wasn't enrolled in the school yet so I had literally nothing to do. On the fifth day of new living, my dad came home and told me that Rosie and I were enrolled in Blackburg Elementary School. There was confusion due to the name but on the sixth day I was standing in front of the big school doors, not knowing what these halls would have in store for me, or the echoes that would haunt me for the rest of my life, all because of one simple mistake. I didn't know if my life would ever be the same, or get better, but at that moment, the after effects of moving across the country against your will were so far killing me.