The Forbidden Woods

12 Eighteen

Chapter Twelve

Eighteen

The next few weeks leading up to her party were stressful. Her parents always set up the big party but she dreaded facing her mom. She was still upset about the way her mom treated her whenever the topic of the woods came up. She had a lot of unanswered questions, and she wanted to know why.

Then the day of her party arrived, Sarah was finally tired of being cooped up in her room. It was getting way to hard to avoid her parents, and, it wasn’t easy to sneak downstairs for food. She quietly opened her door and peaked into the hallway. Looking around, she didn’t think anyone was up. But when she walked into the kitchen, she found everyone eating breakfast at the table.

“So nice of you to join us today.” Her mother said, forcing pleasantness.

“It was getting boring in there.” She said, with a weak smile.

“What do you want to eat? After all, this is your special day.” Her mom asked.

“I’ll have a little bit of everything of whatever your cooking mom.”

“Okay, coming up in a few.”

“Thank you.”

She sat quietly at the table, feeling slightly irritated. She was still trying to figure everything out and almost didn’t notice when her mom set the plate of food in front of her. Eventually the intoxicating smells finally overpowered her senses and she was happy to be eating real food again. Cold left overs and stale soda wasn’t much of a picnic.

Sarah was always able to out eat everybody, and her mom knew the right amount to cook for her. That morning was no different. Sarah was once again setting a new record with eggs, bacon, sausage links, toast, pancakes, and cinnamon rolls. She topped it all off with a tall glass of milk. Her family watched in amazement, as she ate every last crumb. They always wondered where she put it all since she was so petite.

Later that day, Stacey stopped over to take Sarah out shopping. This gave her folks time to get the house ready for the party. The mall was a small one, but functional enough for the size of town they lived in. All it really had was a couple of clothing stores, a few restaurants, and a small movie theater capable of showing two movies at one time. Then, there were the small competing toy and hobby shops. It was always a great spot to hang out after school.

Sarah and Stacey mostly talked about their plan that would be executed early the next morning. They were getting really excited. To pass time more quickly, they went and saw the newest movie at the theater.

A few hours later, it was time to go back to Sarah’s house. Even though no one had said anything to her, she knew that her parents were going to try and surprise her with a party. It never worked, but she was nice enough to act surprised to please her parents and family.

They entered the dark house, and before she could do anything, the lights popped on and everybody yelled, “surprise!” As usual, Sarah did her best to act completely shocked. Her mom had gone all out for her. This was by far the biggest party she had thrown. It looked like the whole town was there. A lot of them she knew.

She went around and thanked everyone personally for being there and hugged her grandparents. Eighteen was a big age for her. Finally, a legal adult, she could make all her decisions for herself. It was a good to know that her mom wouldn’t be able to tell where to go, and, what to do. She had big plans for after her adventure in the woods. She was going to get her own apartment to start living on her own, and maybe even attend college in the fall.

In the kitchen, there were three tables filled with lots of food and deserts. Over on the counters, were bottles and cans of pop for everyone to drink. Everything was so nice, that Sarah wished she hadn’t thrown such a big attitude over something so small. Those woods were nothing compared to her family, and for a while she had completely forgotten about her plan to leave.

When the party was over, Sarah carried her gifts up to her room to open them and write the thank-you cards. She was always excited when she opened her gifts and she liked doing it in privet.

She set the pile of gifts on the floor near the bed, and pulled over her beanbag chair. She wanted to be comfortable as she went through everything. Ready with a pen and paper, she began to write down the names that were inside the card and next to it the gift or gifts, that person gave.

Someone gave her a few popular books she’d been wanting, another person gave her some CD’s. She got a nice boom box, and Her parents got her, a decked out, laptop PC. Jeremy bought her a nice new journal, and most of the other gifts, were, gift certificates or money.

Stacey was knocking at the front door as Sarah had finished writing out the thank-you cards. She put the cards on her desk and went downstairs to greet her friend. Stacey had her duffle bag in one hand and a stack of movies in the other. Everything was going according to plan.

Sarah went into the kitchen and made a huge bowl of popcorn, while Stacey went and put her bag and the movies in the bedroom. Then, she came back downstairs to help bring up left over soda from the party. Sarah’s mom didn’t have a clue, about what was about to happen. Sleep overs were such a longstanding tradition for the two girls that Mrs. Deary never gave much thought to it.

In her room, Sarah and Stacey popped in the first round of movies. They were going to watch all three sets of horror trilogies. They had, a big night ahead and they were eager to get started.

Around midnight, Mrs. Deary popped her head in the room and told the girls good night, and not to stay up too late. She knew they wouldn’t listen, but as a parent she felt compelled tell them anyway. If they didn’t listen to that advise, she knew they keep it down, since Jeremy still needed his sleep.

Even though it was supposed to be a cover up, they really did enjoy watching the movies. All night long they watched their selections and talked over their plan. Hours later, they heard Sarah’s dad get up for work.

“Your dad works weekends?”

“Yeah, but only for, a half a day.”

“He owns the Auto repair and supply store right?” Stacey asked.

“Yeah, he’s been working to get it turned into a 24hr, shop. He goes in at 4:30 in the morning to get all the paper work ready. He only does this on Saturday, I think it’s inventory day for him or something.”

“Oh. So what time do you want to do this wood’s thing?” Stacey asked.

“You still want to do it?”

“If you go, then I’m going too.”

“We have to wait for my to leave. Then, I’ll use the bathroom down the hall and check on my mom. If she’s still sleeping, then we can go.” Sarah explained.

After her dad left, Sarah crept down the hallway and slipped into the bathroom next to her parents’ room. She waited a few minutes, then looked around the corner into the bedroom. Her mom was snoring, which was a clear sign she was sound asleep.

“It’s all clear. My mom is sawing logs in there.” Sarah said with a light laugh.

“Good, lets grab our jackets and go.” Stacey said excitedly.