Afterlight

Chapter 1. Leaving

10 years later

My room was so. . . small. Quiet. Empty now. All that remained was the paper shade that the new owner had her eye on when she came to the viewing. She couldn't stop complimenting its credibility and charm. How fitting it would be for her daughter's room should they decide to buy the house.

I'd had the lampshade on the ceiling since I was 8 and decided it was best we part ways now. It was white when we got it, shaped like a cloud. Now it was kinda cream colored and old. I took one last look at the orange room, closed my eyes, and let all the growing up that took place in here go. I flipped the switch for the last time, shutting the door behind me on my way out.

"Charlotte! Come on let's go! Get your bags in the car please." My Mom called from the porch. I was already running down the stairs with only my cell in hand. I skipped out the front door past Mom and picked up my travel bag. "You don't wanna say goodbye?"

"Already did!" I shouted without turning around. I could tell she would be laughing quietly at me. I threw my bag beside me in the car, backseat of course, and shut the door behind me. I was ready to go. Ready to leave Napa and head on up to our new home. Rainy and cloudy Forks, Washington. Dad was walking from around the backyard with the keys to the car in his hand.

"Back doors locked. We just have to drop the keys off to the Realtor's office and then we hit the road. All 13 hours of it."

"15!" I shouted from the car.

"We are NOT taking any pit stops!" He responded. He walked up to the car and looked in the open window to me.

"Have you MET Mom?" He sighed and then winked at me. Knowing his wife better than I could ever, he knew that she was a scenic driver. Liked to stretch her legs and get out of the moving vehicle.

"Charlotte. Come here!" Mom urged.

"Mom no. I don't DO long goodbyes."

"No, get out of that car now so I can take a picture of you in front of the house." Urgh. I put my phone in my pocket and climbed out of the car. Dad patted my back as if to say 'Sorry kid.' I walked up to my mother who was ready with her phone to take a photograph.

"Mom you're just gonna cry," I said.

"No...I won't." Noticeable tears already trickling down her red cheeks "Stand in-front of the house Charlotte. And smile, fix your hair. Don't put your hand in your pocket." I did as I was told and the photo was taken. I walked up to her.

"Feel better?" I asked,

"No!" Now she was weeping. She pulled me in for a long hug and I just let her. 

The thing you have to understand is, Mom and Dad have lived in this house since they were in their early twenties. It was the first thing they ever owned together that made them feel officially adult. They were married here, they even had the wedding in the backyard. They both had good jobs, they got pregnant with me, extended the house so there would be more room for us and a dog (which we never got), and that was it. My whole life up until now was in this house. First steps, first word, chicken pox, tantrums, kindergarten all the way up to high-school. So I guess you could say I saw the emotional pull it had on my Mom and Dad, but to me, it was just a house. One I had long outgrown and was looking to break away from. The only thing I would miss was the view from my room of the ocean. The sunrise behind the house in the backyard in the morning and the sun setting behind the ocean from my room at the front at night.

Dad took Mom out of my hands, literally, and cradled her. He gave me the keys to hold so he wouldn't jab her.

"Clair honey come on. We REALLY have to go if we wanna beat traffic." She blew her nose, took one last look and whimpered all the way to the passenger seat. Dad carefully placed her inside.

"George. Did we get EVERYTHING?"

"Yes, and if we didn't I will drive back down here myself and get whatever we forgot okay?" She nods and he kisses her nose. She is smiling now. Finally, maybe she would stop crying. Dad took the keys from me and started the engine.

"Ready?" He asked looking at my Mom and then looking at me. I nodded my head, Mom was a combination of nodding and shaking. Tears erupting from her petite face.

The drive went just as planned. Mom took four pit-stops. Two of which I stayed in the car reading and the other two to grab a bite at some highway diner. It was exciting to me, learning that I was going to a new school, and meeting new people. I'd outgrown the kids in Napa. They were...boring. I needed newness in my life. I hated things remaining the same. Change was one of the most beautiful gifts life could give us. And I was looking forward to a new surrounding. Clean crisp fresh air as opposed to musky dry. Rain. The woods. The new house. Everything was going to be different, but I was ready.