Counting Stars

chapter 1

(Amy POV)

There's nothing more beautiful than a drive through the country. Nothing but green grass for the next twenty miles in both directions. I, however, was too excited to watch the fields as I drove through. I was on my way to something far more spectacular than green grass and rolling hills. The songs on the radio played in the background of my thoughts, and the winding roads seemed monotonous.

My finger tapped the steering wheel, my blue flannel sleeves seemed bright against the blackness that surrounded me. I wished I'd worn a tank top, I was boiling in long sleeves. Only my shorts provided relief from the heat. If the air conditioner hadn't conked out two hours earlier, I would've been fine, but no, it just had to give way only twenty miles into the trip.
The music was interrupted by Siri's mechanical voice saying "2 miles to the nearest rest stop."

Thank goodness I thought as I pulled into the parking space. While I was walking to the little girl's room, I checked my phone. There was one new message from my foster mom.

Are you sure about this? She said

I've been dreaming about this my whole life! I replied.

It was true. My birth mother used to tell me about her graduation camping trip all the time. It was the only thing she didn't regret, I guess.

"Baby, there's nothing like it." she'd say as she took a long draw from the joint she never stopped smoking "Nothing but stars and trees for miles, and no sounds except the chirping of birds in the morning, and crickets in the evening. For one moment you think 'God really does love us.'"

It was the last thing she'd talked about before she died of a drug overdose. That overdose shook my whole world. I was 10, and my dad, well he wasn't a part of our life. Last I heard he was in prison for murder.

But I'm lucky, I guess, because Lisa and her husband Brent took me in. Up until a year ago, I used to pretend It was only for the free babysitting, but I've always felt loved in their little home in the country, with the horses, and the smell of hay during morning chores.

Besides, if it weren't for them, I'd be out on the streets. That's why I'd always tried to be a good kid. I even went to their church even though part of me thought that if God really loved me, he wouldn't have given me to my birth parents. The other half thanked him for sending Lisa and Brent. They saved my life, after all. God must be good, though, because somehow, he convinced them I was old enough to go out on my own. I'm 18... so maybe that came into effect as well.

As I got into the care, Siri reminded me that I still had an hour left to drive.

1 hour until the best experience of my life. I could hardly wait.