Ticking Clock

Chapter 1

"Don't you think that this dress is pretty? Or what about these flowers?" Her young mother asked. The young girl glanced down at the hefty binder and nodded.

"What kind of food would you want?" The woman asked, continuing to slip through the laminated pages.

"Pizza, hotdogs and chicken nuggets! Oh and lots and lots of chocolate cake!" Her daughter's small voice spoke happily.

"No, honey," a frown quickly appeared on her face. "Real food,"

  She sat there while she listened to her mother go on and on about marriage. At 5 years old, Adalynn wasn't interested in hearing her mother ramble on about what needs to be done to have the perfect wedding, she just wanted to play with her barbies.

This is what her life was like, her mother's constant reminder of "One day, you'll grow up, get married and have children. You know I want grandchildren." But Adalynn didn't want that. She wanted to adventure around the world and see things that many normally don't get to see. But, Adalynn could never get away from her mother's nagging and persistent reminders. Adalynn was a homeschooled and very isolated child which lead her to be reserved and sheltered, especially after her mother moved her and her older brother out to the middle of nowhere near Lake Ontario, and this continued into her teenage and early adult life. At the age of 18, Adalynn couldn't wait to leave it all behind.

"Do you have everything you need?" Her mother asked. Adalynn looked around her almost empty room and nods.

"I think I have everything," a small smile forms on her lips as her mom envelops her into a bone crushing hug.

"My baby girl is growing up," her mother sniffed. "You're moving out, you're going to college. Hopefully, you can find someone and get married soon too," Adalynn rolled her eyes at her mother's commentary.

"Adalynn, you forgot these!" Her mother exclaimed, letting go of her daughter and rushed over to the nearly empty bookshelf under Adalynn's windowsill. There, her mother pulled out four 3' binders that were almost ready to burst open.

"I didn't have enough room in my boxes, also I thought that you maybe wanted to add something to them," Adalynn replied. Her mother shook her head.

"I think you should take them with you. I can go get another box for you," her mother placed the overflowing binders on top of the shelf and shuffled herself out of the room. Adalynn sighed deeply and ran her hand through her messy hair. She thought that this would be her chance to get away from it. She thought that moving away for college would be her chance to start anew without the constant pressure to find a partner and get married by her mother.

Within minutes, her mother rushed back into the room and fumbled as she tried to strategically place the binders in the box. She closed the box and tore off the lid to the marker that coincidentally lay on the now barren shelf.

  "I'll go put this in the car for you and then we can go," her mother smiled. At that same moment, Adalynn's older brother appeared in the door frame.

"Hey, are you two ready?" Adalynn's brother, Jonathan asked. Their mother looked at her two children. All grown up. One moving away for college, and one getting married. It made their mother happy at the moment to see that despite what the siblings have been through, they have always made it out on top and have always been able to make her proud.

Their mother's mind travels to when her children were younger. She tried her best to make sure that they had a good childhood even though they never had a father figure in their lives. Adalynn's older brother did everything to make sure that his sister who was 4 years younger was safe. Whenever she cried from a nightmare, had a scratch from falling off her bike, or was scared from the monsters under her bed, he was always there right by her side. But as the two grew up, their bond slowly diminished, especially after Jonathan left for school, found himself a girl, and was now getting married. That's exactly what their mother wanted for Adalynn.