Interval

Chapter one

"I have something terribly wrong with me." I thought to myself whilst I stare awkwardly down at the potato salad my mother had made the night before. I wasn't hungry, and this wasn't normal.

Maybe it was because I was nervous, picking at the stinky hard boiled eggs with my fork. I wasn't ready to leave the comfort of my home for an entire year, I just wasn't! I've barely left my hometown, let alone the entire continent; and this is my first time going 32,000 feet in the air.

My eyes remain so fixated on the salad, and my mind was so drifted off into space, that it took a second to process the fact that my mother had begun to speak to me. I had to perk up and slump back a bit, looking up so that my vision met hers.

"Oh Dulce, aren't you going to finish your potato salad? It's been about ten minutes since you've last took a bite." She says, her voice calming my ears like a million chimes.

"Yes mum, I'll finish it. I've just been thinking-" I was interrupted before I can even finish my words, of course. My mother has always had it as a habit.

"Thinkin' about what? Your trip abroad? You've wanted to do this so badly, ever since Primary school. What has you tickled now?"

I had to take a moment to think, my fork tapping against her quirky plates that she and I had painted when I was in the Nursery. I was only three and they're hideously ugly, so I have no idea why she had kept them in the first place. I suppose memories.

"I'm just nervous." I look away, "I don't even know what classes I will be taking, they never sent the schedule over to me."

"Foreign exchange is scary at first, love. I did it and that's how your father and I met." My mother tries to reassure me, but it's hardly working. My mind is still at the edge of a flood gate. And that flood gate is cracked.

"Yes, but; you went to Germany. I'm going to the States." Carefully moving the fork up to touch my lips and poke at them, I continue. "And dads gone."

My mother frowns at my words a bit as I hear her get up from her chair and pick up her plate. The sounds caution me to look over, so I do.

"Alright darling." She walks to me and gives my head a small kiss, before walking to the connected kitchen. "Well, when you're finished make sure to clean your dishes. If not, wrap it up and place it in the fridge, alright?"

"Yes mum. Understood."

"I love you Dulce."

Twirling my fork a bit between my fingers, I finally plunge it into the slimy food before me and scoop up the potato salad, holding it to my lips.

"Yeah mum, love you too."

〄

Soon after I barely finished my salad, I headed to my room. I was lying on my side somberly in bed, my thumb a bit tired from scrolling through my social media. I rarely used it, and only ever did when I was bored or wanting to catch up on what was new. My eyes kept drifting off, heavy from the stress that my mind had put me through the past couple of days.

I drop my phone from my palm onto my bed, releasing a loud groan to myself before turning onto my other side. I grip at my bedsheets, knowing this is the last time I'd be in them for a while before my departure the next morning. I'd miss my room, yes, but I'd miss my cat Mozart the most. Alongside my mother, of course.

Mozart sat at the end of my bed, fluff and all. Her grey tail moving up and down like an excited puppy, her head rested soothingly against my ankle. At least she'd get a good night's sleep.