ROSES & THORNES

Red, Hot, and Dry

Red, Hot, and dry

Moving to a new town can be difficult enough, but moving to small town on the outskirts of what I deemed nowhere makes everything ten times worst. I was beginning to feel like the deserts we were passing by, empty and full of nothing. My parents had told me that moving to Arizona would be a good thing, but they didn't tell me that everything would be red, hot, and dry. I was a girl from California, and the last thing I wanted to be bothered with was some stupid place all the way out in Arizona.

"Abby trust me honey, you will love it. There's lots to see and do in Sedona."

Great. That was the name of the place. Wasn't that like the name of a car? I did my best to drown out the cheery voices of my parents. We'd been in the car since yesterday and I felt as if I was going to be smuggled to death in the backseat of my parents Toyota. Even my ancient MP3 player couldn't drown them out. They seemed to be elated to be leaving boisterous Northern California for the quiet of a place far from the life I was use to. And I'm not talking about a Prada and Jimmy Chu style of life in sunny Cal, but a content average almost suburb type of life with a white picket fence in the front yard.

I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth, actually I was far from it, but I was born with a sense of civilization.

"Oh come on Abby cheer up. I promise you, this place will grow on you." My mom's wild firey curls glistened in the Arizona sun. We were at some shabby truck stop ordering a few greasy charred cheeseburgers. My dad had ran off to make an attempt at using the bathroom.

"Do you know anything at all about this place?"

"I know that it's an amazing place to raise a family. And," She nudged me in the arm with a grin. "It's a wonderful place for those who love art." My parents knew me well. Although I blamed them for such treachery, they always seemed to take what I like into consideration. I was pretty sure that I came out of the womb with water colors and an easel.

"I still think that you guys are being entirely unfair. I enjoyed my life back home. It's my Junior year for crying out loud!

"Oh Abby, stop being so dramatic.  You'll make plenty of new friends. You'll see. Just wait until you see the house. It as if it  came straight from nature, lots of natrual light and space!"

The cheesy goodness had just turned sour. Why couldn't my parents see that this just wasn't a place I wanted to be. I dumped the remains of my burger in the fly infested trash bin. My feet dragged along the dust red ground as I made my way back to solitary confinment.

"Just wake me when we reach hell."