Where I'd Gone ⌲ River Phoenix ((COMPLETED))

Chris Chambers

I joined my mom next to the chair. She was fast asleep and looked exhausted as hell, with very noticeable under-eye bags. Has she not been sleeping well? 

"Hey, mom... Wake up..." I sang. She slowly preyed herself off the chair and rubbed her eyes. 

"Lets... Go, sweetie," she yawned. We climbed into the car and she passed out at the wheel.

"MOOOOMMMM.." I raised my voice. She sprang up and started the car. 

"Sorry," she muttered. Something was odd about her. She looked abnormally fatigued, almost sucked out dry - and it was worrying me.

As we drove back I watched the lit-up buildings pass by again, this time in the dark. I was pretty weary but I couldn't fall asleep in the car. "So uh how'd it go?" She added awkwardly.

"I guess It was fine..." I mumbled. As we finally got home, I collapsed onto the couch and fell asleep.

February 9, 1986

I got woken up by the sudden phone ring. I let out a grunt and jumped up from the couch. I picked up the phone and asked "Hello?"

"Hello. May we speak to the parents of Christine Lane?" A loud but sturdy voice echoed back.

"Uhh...this is Christine." I panicked a little.

"Well Christine Lane, we are happy to tell you that we accepted you for the role of Mary Lachance. We apologize in advance for calling in early but we need our actors to get to know each other. We hope you can make it to the studio at 3:00 pm today."

"Oh... Umm..." I glanced over to the clock to notice it was 2:00 pm. "Yeah... Uhh, I'll be there."

"Our talk is done here." And then she hung up.

I looked over the counter, contemplating what to do next. How was I going to get there? As I pondered around, I noticed a bright green sticky note on the fridge. 'I will be gone till late night, for one last girl's trip. Check on Mickey. Make sure he gets fed.'  What does one last girl's trip mean? In the moment, I didn't think too much about it because I had to get somewhere fast and have to take care of my obnoxious little brother. He was 6 years younger than me but was very mature for his age - although 90% he does make me want to rip my hair out. He had these brunette locks that curled a little down over his forehead, with these dark sage eyes that were unbelievably mesmerizing. I was always told he had the same eyes as his dad.

I, on the other hand, looked like an exact copy of my mother. I had this wavy, pale-colored orange hair that was basically as long as the Nile River. My eyes are nothing special, just a light blue with this pop of brown around the iris. I had the same eyes as my mom.

My mom had the most beautiful red hair. It was like a mix of orange and red, blending together with auburn. It was always swept to the side either in a braid, fishtail, you get the point. She rarely ever puts her hair down, unlike me. Her eyes had the same color as mine, except they were bigger and her eyelashes were longer - and she always hid them behind her huge, round glasses - ones that always reminded me of John Lennon.

My dad, from what I was told, was a different story. He had bright blonde hair that reached down to his shoulders. He was a hardcore hippie, the one that brought you in during your times of need and got you so high that you forgot about the world. From pictures, I saw he had these light grey eyes that screamed for attention. It was kind of creepy in a way, but if you think about it, it actually had this feeling of belonging to it that you'd never want to look away.

My mom and dad met each other at a church funeral when my grandfather died. My dad was the scheduled pianist, and well my mom's exact words were "It was love at first sight. Even though we hated each other." I laughed at her story because quite frankly, I don't believe in love at first sight. Like, really? Being completely enamored with someone the very first millisecond you acknowledge them, and also hating him at the same time? That's got to be an irrational impression of love.