To The States

part one: new adventures.

"woah" one word. that was all annie anderson could use to describe what she had just walked into. it was an airport. an average, crowded, slightly smelly airport. but it was america, the place annie had dreamed about for years.

annie looked around in awe. she couldn't believe it, after 14 years of waiting, she had finally made it to the states. before, annie lived in london with her mother and father. they lived in a tiny apartment as they weren't the richest family in the world.

recently, annie's parents went through a very rough divorve. annie's father was a very violent man, who put very harsh rules in the house that his wife and daughter had to abide by, it was like prison. annie's mother couldn't take it anymore and had an affair with a barman called rico. rico was from cuba and worked in the local pub.

one day, annie's father came home early and found them together. what annie witnessed next was truly horrendous. annie's father beat rico within an inch of his life. annie's mother quickly grabbed annie and ran out of there.

the next two months were hectic. annie appeared in court over eight times as a witness. they were soon evicted from their apartment, annie grabbed her guitar and songbook. she didn't have much else in that apartment.

the court provided annie and her mother with a temporary home for a week whilst they decided what to do next. annie's mother reached out to her sister, annie's aunty, in america and told her about the situation, she immediately demanded that annie and herself go and live with them.

within a few days, they had their visas, done their medical checks and they were on the first flight to charleston international airport, south carolina.

now, annie stood beside her mother at baggage reclaim, awaiting their suitcases,

"ok so there's only the three" annie's mother said to herself, annie's mother had started speaking out loud ever since the rico incident, "two light grey... no, one light grey and the other charcoal, then the red one, also the guitar case which is a turquoise blending into a pink? like an ombré"

annie was listening to her mother, she always did. it sort of soothed her in a way. annie and her mother were both already holding two bags for personal belongings such as laptops, annie's songbook, annie's mother's diary and paint pallet, magazines and activity books from the airport, etc.

the pair waiting for atleast twenty minutes before any bags began to come through,

"oh, there they are" annie's mother said to her self, "look, annabelle, i have a plan. you should go over that side and then when you see our cases try and grab them as soon as possible and if you don't, i'll be here getting the remains ok?" annie nodded,

"ok mum,"

"oh and don't forget" annie's mother called as annie made her way to the other side of the conveyer belt, "one light grey, one ch-" she began before annie smiled and continued,

"one charcoal grey, one red and the guitar case" annie's mother smiled at her,

"there's my girl"

annie's mother had brown hair and green eyes. her hair had been turning grey over the past two or three years, she had tried to dye it back to the beautiful light brown it once was but soon decided that she didn't need to, because she didn't need to keep her youth. she had one constant reminder of her youth. annie. annie and her mother were identical, the only thing seperating them was annie's burns.

when annie was beginning her second year of secondary, she got into the wrong crowd, they would manipulate her and once, they pushed her into a skip that they had set alight, luckily, one of the girls realised she was burning and got her out. her scars are all over her tummy and chest and she is really insecure about them.

but atleast the burns didn't damage her beautiful face. her eyes, brown like chocolate sauce and her button nose and cute smile pictured off her face perfectly. she wore her light brown hair in one perfect braid going over her shoulder, she also had a fridge, just above her freckly face and chubby cheeks.

they were waiting another five minutes before the first of the three cases came. annie's mother was rapidly tapping her feet against the floor as the charcoal grey one came down. annie's mother began to frantically point at it before annie nodded and picked it up. it was another five-six minutes before the red case came down and not long after, the light grey. annie's mother joined her daughter after the crowd had cleared away.

they waited a while for the guitar case until they were the last ones there. annie's mum began walking around the other ones until a man approached her and with a thick canadian accent asked her

"hey, can i help you today ma'am" he was tall, seemed about the same age as annie's mum. he had short jet black hair and brown eyes. his skin was a smooth dark colour and his smile brightened up annie's mum face,

"hi there, i was just looking for my daughters guitar case, we've been waiting for it for about 53 minutes now, it's a turquoise- pink ombré colour and has lots of stickers and badges on the strap"

annie noticed the man and walked over just to hear him say,

"actually, i've just seen that case. yes, a man just walked off with it" i'll chase him down immediately ma'am. how about you-" he was cut off by annie's mum saying in a panic tone,

"no, i want to come, i'll track him down, annabelle hurry" she took off around the corner and annie shortly followed. the man gave an order to search for the man with the case.

the three of them along with airport security searched for a while before looking at the cctv cameras.

"first bit american drama, eh annie" annie's mother said her, showing her smiling teeth. annie gave her mum a big hug before noticing something,

"there" annie shouted, pointing at a man in que to catch a coach outside the airport. he had the case by his side. he noticed and began to run. the man from before chased him at full speed.

annie's mother and annie both chased him too. they got to the first street outside the airport before the man jumped the theif and cuffed him. annie grabbed her case and sat on a nearby bench to see if there was any damage.

as she sat down she happened to look up. she was in america. every went slow for a while as she took everything in, the tall buildings and in the distance the charleston bridge. this is it. she was finally in the states.