Afterlight

Chapter 5. Unexpected

The bright sky outside my window woke me on the first Saturday of my school week. The light was blinding coming through the attic skylight. Oh crap. I'd fallen asleep up here again. I was instantly cold. The heating didn't work in the attic, there was no need for it of course. I had been sleeping on a fold out bed that my Mom bought for any visitors we had. It was comfortable enough. The candle from the night before had burned out. I pulled the comforter up over my shoulders and felt my whole body shaking from the cold. I had come up here last night to study, but that turned into reading 'Anna Karenina.' One of the books on the reading list I hadn't read. I looked at my watch, it was 07;40. Too early for Mom to be awake, too late for my Dad to still be here on a Saturday.

I closed my eyes to dream. But I could only think about yesterday and how wonderful the day started out.

I was in the bathroom brushing my teeth when my Dad called on me from the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey Char? Get down here! Your Mom and I have a surprise for you!" I dabbed my face with a towel.

"You guys know I love you right but I'm gonna be late for school!" I yelled as I grabbed my bag and skipped down the stairs. I had slept in a lot later than I had time for.

"You won't be late with this." My Mom said in a child-like voice. She walked outside to join my Dad who was already stood on the front porch, a cup of coffee in his hands.

In front of the house parked on the grass was a large, yet faded orange chevy truck.

"What the hell?" I whispered taking small steps towards the truck. "Is this mine?" I emphasised on that last word.

"You have your mother to thank for it." Dad said. "The man at the junkyard said he's never met a more beautiful woman, or ate more delicious oatmeal cookies in his life." My Mom told me that she was going around town that day to hand out flyers for her art workshops. So of course she gave them to everybody. Even the man at the junkyard?

She was turning red. "He didn't say I was the most beautiful woman! Gosh George calm down." She said nudging him embarrassed. "I simply asked him about it and he gave me a really good price. Said his son had been working on it for 3 years, when he finally got it working nobody wanted to buy it. So I did. It's yours." My hands were clinging to the beast now. The truck was MINE?

"But sweetheart, we know it's not as pretty or attractive or sporty as you might like it. But we thought you might like it for the time being, so you could get around town easier." I was silent. I was stunned. I was in disbelief. "We could always get you something better later on in the year..." My Dad's words were muted by my body crashing into the both of them. Hugging them tightly.

"I love it." I whispered "Thank you so much. I can't believe you got me a car!" I went back to the truck and opened the door.

"Told you she'd love it." My Mom said nudging my Dad who was sighing with relief. I climbed inside and closed the door behind me. The seats smelled of a very old leather. The wheel felt at home between my hands. It had a glove box and lots of space in it too. I had passed my drivers test in Napa but we couldn't afford a car when I passed. But I was on the insurance on my parents car. So I knew what to do when it came to the real thing.

When I decided to get out of the the frozen attic, I went to my room and dropped off my books. I was tempted heavily to go back to bed, but I needed coffee. I walked softly through the house. It was the first time I'd been in it alone. I knew Mom would be in bed but I still felt alone.

The house we were living in was refurbished 11 years ago. It used to be the ranger station for the greater olympic park but since the area was now quartered off and new houses were built on the land, the use of a ranger station in the area wasn't needed anymore. It lay empty for about 40 years until 11 years ago, it was refurbished all the way down to a new foundation. But the house went on market at the bank and my parents came into it by pure luck. No name attached to the previous owner, or anything detailing who it could have belonged to. Except for that box in the attic with Bella's things inside. Whoever she was. I searched on social media for her. To contact her to see how I could return her belongings. She didn't exist on any major social network platforms. I gave up the ghost and decided to stop the search. Whoever she WAS, either didn't want to be found or was dead.