The Other Half of You

Chapter 1

          There was a sweet humming in the distance. Everything was dark around me. I followed the sound of that enchanting humming. Louder and louder it was till it was almost ringing my ears. Nearly pealing my eyes open, I found myself facing the window in the car. That sweet melody was coming from my mothers humming at the left side of me. I stayed staring out the window. Tree after tree we passed seemed to become more like a green blur. So fast but yet slow at the same time.
          Groaning, I stretched every joint in my body till they all popped. The humming stopped. "Well good morning peaches!" my mother exclaimed, brightly and cheerful. I mumbled morning clearly not as enthused as she was.
      I continued to look outside of the window clearly trying to figure out where we were. "We're almost there." Mom said as if she read my mind, "Just a couple more towns over and we'll finally get out of this tiny box." She gestured at her small 2003 Honda. I smiled at her way of comparing things to random objects.
       "I'm pretty excited to see a shower, since we decided to spend the night in the car." I said. Mom laughed. Mom has always been beautiful. Long curly straw berry blonde hair and striking ivy green eyes. Clearly age has changed her appearance a little, but she could be mistaken in her late twenties. She is very thin and tall. She exclaimed, "yea, you really could use a shower. I'm pretty sure the town knows we're here with your smell."
        "Oh yeah? You're one to talk as well you old hippie." I said in a teasing way. Coming up to a sign it had read, Welcome to Charleston. Then behind that sign was a clear opening of the town. We finally entered town. I noticed how old many of the buildings looked. Like maybe in the late 1800s to early 1900s. It was very charming looking town. After driving though the town we pulled into the neighborhood.
           We pulled to the back of the neighborhood. My mom parking the car in front of a small but humble looking house. It seemed like it hasn't been lived in for years. It needed a lively touch to it. Mom and I both got out of the Honda and stood in front of it. She wrapped her arm around me and said, "well this is it Carmen. A new chapter."
          I smiled a little though I was kinda bummed about the reason why we moved here. Mom then turned and started pulling boxes out of the backseat. "Come on. These boxes aren't gonna walk themselves inside." She said ushering me to the car. I grabbed a couple of boxes and we walked towards the house.
        The house was a baby blue at some point but the years on the weather made it really faint to see the baby blue. What use to probably be a vibrant white porch was now slowly chipping away the white paint. The pathway, to the house, was littered with dead tree limbs. The grass next to the pathway was very dry and withered. We walked up on the old porch, creaking at each step we took. Mom pulled the key out of the old welcome mat in front of the entrance and unlocked the chipped white door.
           I was shocked on seeing the inside of the house was clean and well taken care of. Mom and I placed the boxes on what seemed like the living room. "Well the moving company should arrive later this afternoon with our furniture, so we won't be sleeping on the hard wood floor tonight." Mom said, "the lady, who owned the house, was very kind enough to send someone over to clean the inside before we arrived."
         Mom is very good at convincing people to do things. Just a secret talent of hers. We continued to empty the car. As soon as we pulled the last box out of the car the movers pulled up next to our car. "Wow, they're way earlier than I expected." Mom said very excitedly.
          After the whole day of unpacking and putting together furniture, mom escorted me where my room was. We were in front of old stairs. "You got the best spot in the whole house." She said with a grin on her face. Looking up, there was a white door at the very top of the steps. I slowly walk up the creaky stairs with mom trailing behind me. Slowly, I open the door. On the inside was a huge room. The walls were covered in flowery wallpaper. It was obviously vacant, due to it not being decorated. My bed was under a window that overlooked the whole street in the front yard. There was a couple of dressers and an elegant wardrobe to the left side of the room. A small vanity to the right of the room. Next to my bed was a desk.
        I turn to my mom and hugged her tightly. "It's perfect momma", I murmured into her shoulder. She hugged me back and I could feel her faint smile. We then brought most of my boxes up the stairs carefully and started unpacking. Upon unpacking I came across a familiar picture. It was a picture of, my sister, Janet and I.
         Janet was literally the spitting image of my mother. Well except my sister has freckles dusted on her slim face. My sister is like five years older than me which I'm turning seventeen this September. My sister who's also the free spirit is somewhere in New York, living her dream at Broadway.
         I placed that picture on my vanity mirror and then looked over at my reflection. I look very different from my sister. I'm very short and my face is a little more round. My blonde hair has very small curls in it. My eyes are a mixture between blue and green. I do envy my sister genes that she inherited from our mother.
        Turning my attention away from the mirror and I continue unpacking that summer night. Hopefully this new chapter in will help us move on from the past we came from.