The Forbidden Garden

I reached over to shut off my alarm as my eyes fluttered open. It was Saturday morning and the sun shone brightly through my open window. I sat up and stretched my arms as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. I could smell the sweet scent of bacon wafting up the stairs.

I walked out of my room and hopped down the stairs in the direction of the kitchen. When I entered the kitchen my mom was hunched over the stove simultaneously frying eggs and making toast.

“Good morning mom.” I said taking a seat at the small kitchen table. My mom looked up and smiled as she buttered the toast.

“Hi sweetheart, your father and I have a surprise for you.” My mom said excitedly as my dad walked into the room and began making himself a cup of coffee. My mom and dad both sat down each taking a seat on either side of me after placing our breakfast on the table. We sat there quietly eating for a little while before my dad finally spoke up.

“I bet you're wondering what the surprise is.” My dad stated as he munched on a piece of bacon. I lit up at the mention of the supposed surprise.

“Of course I'm wondering! I'd have to be crazy to not think about it!” I exclaimed laughing a tad at my sudden outburst. My mom an dad exchanged knowing glances and my dad nodded. I hated being the third wheel on these weird mind conversations adults always had.

“Well, your sixteenth birthday is coming up soon and we saw this contest online. The contest was for a trip to London, England for you and a friend, so we entered for you.” My dad said happily.

“We won! You get to go to London and you can bring a friend!” My mother said happily as she finished off the last of her eggs.

“You mean I don't have to go with one of you two? I can bring Lochlin?” I asked jumping up and down as my parents nodded happily.

“So when do we leave? Should I go call Lochlin? How long am I staying?” I shouted the questions too excited to breath in between them. They looked at each other and laughed happily before looking back at me.

“Your leaving tomorrow night. Yes, you should go call Lochlin although we already mentioned it to her. You're going to be there for one week and you're going to be staying with an assigned chaperone.” My mom replied happily, collecting our plates and putting them into the dishwasher.

“Oh my god, thank you so much! I'm going to go call Lochlin.” I said running up to my room to retrieve my phone. I dialled my best friend's number which I had committed to memory.

“Hello?” Lochlin said, clearly she had not checked her caller ID.

“Hey Lochlin, I have something to ask you.” I said happily.

“Hey, ask away!” She said cheerfully, I think she knew what I was going to ask her about.

“I won a trip to London for me and a friend. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me.” I said hoping that her mom would be okay with two girls who were 15 and 16 going to London.

“I'd love to, I'll just go ask my mom and then call you back, when are we leaving?” She asked curiously.

“Well, it's kind of short notice but our flight is tomorrow night.” I said wondering if she'd freak out at such short term notice.

“Alright well I'll call you back after I talk to my mom. Bye!” She said excitedly.

“Bye!” I replied before ending the call and going into my closet to retrieve my suitcase. I had to start packing if I was leaving tomorrow. I went into my closet to grab all my must-have shirts. I laid all my clothes on my bed and signed knowing this would take hours. I opened my suitcase and as neatly as possible, placed the clothes I had decided on, in my bag. I went over to my drawers and started pulling out shorts and shirts and of course my pjs. My phone started vibrating, signalling a new text and I jumped over to my bed where I had set down my phone previously. I picked it up to read my message.