Ice Bound (#Wattys2018)

Chapter 5

It was another boring day. Melissa was stuck wedged between the car door and a tall stack of Ikea boxes. She had been dragged along on a massive shopping spree with her mom. All the large stores were all the way downtown.

"Mom, you better not make this turn sharp." Melissa grumbled. She tried to move her numb arm. "I can't feel my arms because of your stupid boxes." She finally managed to reach across her body to switch her arms.

Her mom looked at the box fiasco from her rearview mirror. "I know, it's quite the load."

Groaning at the unclear response, Melissa grew even more uncomfortable. She didn't even know where she was going. Her mom had told her it was a surprise. Which translated into, somewhere she was suppose to enjoy.

The pile of boxes swayed side to side as the car lurched forward. The top box threatened to fall on Melissa's head as she flew forward. "No! No! Not today!" She started to panic and tried to push the box back into place. "Mom, pull over! I can't move!"

Crash!

"Oops, sorry sweetie. But, we're almost there." Her mom turned into a parking lot and parked the car. "See."

The only thing the woman received was a growl. Melissa struggled to escape the black hole and fell out of the car. "Where the heck are we?"

"Downtown, there's supposed to be a fun shops around here."

Silence.

The impatient mother sighed and grabbed her arm. "I'll be fun." She began to drag her daughter by her side.

The city crowds shuffled across the crosswalks. Businessmen and women rushed around with their phones to their ears. Teenagers wandered about, looking at different shop windows. The skyscrapers loomed in dominance, shadowing the lowly society. It seemed surreal until Melissa went to cross a crosswalk. A car flew through a red light. The driver honked at her.

"Hey! That's illegal you know!" Melissa turned in the direction of the car. "I don't have a license and I know that!" She jumped back onto the safety of the sidewalk and continued walking. Mel crossed her arms across her chest as she waited for her parent to catch up.

The two walked around the different streets. Nothing in particular stood out to Mel. If anything, she was hungry, wanted air conditioning, and needed a chair. The pathways had become more narrow as she wandered around. Her eyes were fixed on the ground in front of her.

"Wonder what's going on over at the convention center." Her mom commented on the large masses of people headed in their direction. "Looks weird."

People were dressed in elaborate costumes and held expensive looking props. Obviously, something huge was going on. Some had vibrant colored wigs adorning their heads. Melissa had never seen anything like this in her life. She glanced around and began to notice people dressed as popular characters. "Looks like some sort of Comic Con."

"Of course my nerd of a daughter would know this." Her mom walked next to her waiting for some sort of reaction. Not even a nudge or sneer came from Melissa. Just a stone cold expression. "Oh look! A music store! I'm sure you'll like that."

"Yeah..." Melissa's eyes stayed fixed on the lively event across the street. There seemed to be something interesting in the world for once. Her shoulders relaxed. Melissa slowly lifted her eyes and scouted for a picture opportunity. She took her phone out and began to snap multiple photos. A slight sigh of satisfaction escaped her lips before stuffing her phone back into her purse.

Melissa stepped into the music store. The floor was filled with pristine pianos. The walls were decorated with shiny woodwinds and string instruments. Melissa scanned the walls, not looking for anything in particular. She took in the serene atmosphere of the classical music playing in the background.