A Hole of Lies

Chapter 20

I looked down at the everlasting land. We've been riding for  few hours now, considering it's about twenty hours to get there. After ten hours of looking down at houses and occasional clouds, I feel like puking. And it's not a good feeling. Sleep was impossible, reading was impossible, pretty much anything was impossible without me almost getting sick. While Marty was snoring away, I just saw land.

After stopping and flying and stopping and flying and sleeping and waking and reading and watching, we finally got there. It was an exhausting trip, and it was definitely NOT worth it. When the helicopter landed, the sight was not pretty. We were in the middle of the highway with NO cars on it. When we got out with our bags, the helicopter deserted us. We walked for miles until we saw the first sign of life. Barily life. It was an old beaten down shack, but it still indicated that the town was near. We passed it and saw more and more houses like that. But the houses were as small as a bathroom in Marty's old house. The streets were bumpy, there was no store or shop in sight. There was a trailer park off in the distance, with even smaller homes.

"Where are we?" I asked in a shaky voice,

"Honey, we're in Burlington, Iowa!"

"Right." I mumbled.

"House number two six six one. Right here." Marty indicated.

In front of us was a blue little house with a porch. It was more beaten down then ever. The paneling was peeling so you could almost see the inside, the windows were shattered, I almost fell through the steps as we climbed onto the lopsided porch. This was even worse than Paul's house. Once inside, I nearly fainted again. The stench was horrid. The kitchen opened up when we walked in. There was no stove, just a microwave, the sink was as tiny as a small bowl, the fridge didn't work anymore. It was burning inside. I walked to the next room. There was a small table with one old chair that broke when I sat in it. That's when I decided not to touch anything else. I opened another door and it fell off it's hinges. There was a room about the size of Marty's old dining table, and it had a bed half the size of my old one. A black little spot crawled across the bed. Roach! I slipped into the next room which was a bathroom even smaller than the bedroom. It had a tub and a toilet. No sink. The next room was a bit larger. It had a queen-sized bed but it also had bugs. When I walked back I found myself back in the kitchen. That was it. A kitchen, two bedrooms, a bathroom, a dining room. That's it. No living room. Where did all Marty's money go? That's when I realized there were no lights in this room. No lights in the whole house. Just candles. Great. Just perfect!

I found a note on the "fridge":

"Will be out till dinner. Try not to break to many things and don't venture out too far from the house. Marty."

"Okay, whatever, Marty." I said to myself and crumbled up the note, looked for a trashcan but didn't find one so I put it back on the stove: there is no counter.

Then I opened the squeaky front door. It almost fell off it's hinges as well but I caught it just in time. Then I carefully closed it and walked down the porch steps. One second I was looking ahead, the next my face was inches from touching the dirty gravel. I sat up. Two young boys were speeding away. Then a girl, about my age, with the same dirty brown hair and the same murky eyes, came into view. Her skin was like a chocolate shake, like my mother's. She held out a hand to help me up but I refused. Stranger.

"Sorry about them." She said once I was up.

"I... I"  I splattered.

She chuckled and said, "Hi, I'm Nancy."

I quit trying to say something and murmured, "Julie."

"Nice to meet you, Julie. You're new?"

"Um yes. We just moved here."

"Ahh rich family, I see. You're the one with the helicopter?"

I nodded.

"Cool. You know, you look like my Dad. I mean, he might've changed, since I haven't seen him like ever. Only in pictures." She sighed.

"You look like my Mom." I admitted.

Then a lady came running towards us. She was wearing a skirt with a blouse and had the same color skin as Nancy.

As she came closer into view, I gasped in recognition. She looked a whole lot like my mother.

"Honey, come along now for dinner." She said to Nancy. Then she added looking at me, "Oh! Nancy's found a friend. Hi, I'm Nancy's mom." She held out her hand.

I just stared at her. At her face, her hair, and now her voice. So familiar.

"Mom, this is Julie." Nancy said for me. Now it was the woman's turn to be shocked.

"Julie?" She whispered.

"Mom?" I asked.