Story #1: Moving Away

Moving Away

  I looked around my room. Well, what used to be my room. All that was really left was

my bed. My closet was completely emptied, my desk was cleared of everything except

for a few books from my childhood, and my floor was completely cleared of any clutter.

It was a sad sight like seeing a stray puppy on the street with no mother in sight.

  My name is Meloney Melody Marks, and I know it’s a really weird name. My mom

has a thing for names with alliteration. I lived outside of a town called Buffalo Lake,

which is in Minnesota. I was eighteen and graduated my high school as valedictorian. I

was sort of a genius, not to brag. I was short for my age, and had wavy auburn hair

that went to my waist. I had two older brothers, Michael and Mason. Mason actually

played in the NHL for the Carolina Hurricanes. Needless to say, I was the baby of the

family, and my parents had issues with letting me out of their sight.

  It was the first week of August, and I was getting ready to leave my tiny home town

forever. I had been accepted to Duke University, and my plane to North Carolina was

leaving later today. I know this sounds really bad, but I was excited to leave. I really

never wanted to come back home, and I made it very clear that I wouldn’t ever be

coming home. My parents however, weren’t very thrilled about the idea of never seeing

me again.

  I heard my door open and turned around to see my mother, Linda. My mother was in

her mid-forties, and everyone always commented on how much we looked alike. I used

to be called her mini me. She asked me, “You about ready to head to the airport.?”

  “Yeah,” I said sitting on my bed, taking everything in for one last time.

  My mother sighed and started the conversation we had had about forty times, “I

don’t understand why you can’t come home during the holidays? You know we will

miss you, and I can’t stand only seeing my daughter on skype.”

  “You know it was my understanding that airplanes went both ways,” I said with

venom in my voice.

  “You’re just being selfish,” my mother yelled back losing her short temper.

She walked out of my room, slamming the door as she left. The noise echoed

through my empty room. I put my head in my hands and took a shaky breath. It was

one of those breaths that felt so hard to take, like right after you had just balled your

eyes out. I wasn’t trying to hurt my parents by not coming home. I really did like them,

but I hated this town. I swore that once I left I was never going to come back, and I

intended to keep that promise to myself.

  I lifted my head from my hands and pushed myself off the bed. I took one last look

around my room, and then slowly walked out of it. I made my way to the car that my

mother was waiting in. I slid into the passenger seat and tried not to make eye contact

with her. I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach. It almost felt like I wasn’t being

honest with myself about something.

  I felt really bad about saying that to my mother, but she knew how I felt. Not even

my family could make me come back home. There was that feeling in my stomach

again. As we got closer to the airport the feeling grew worse and worse. I stared out

the window and tried to think about what was causing this. It was getting so

unbearable that I thought I was going to puke.

  I would really miss my family. My stomachache seemed to lessen. I mean maybe I

could come home every once in awhile. My stomachache stopped. No, I wouldn’t

come home, and that was final. It felt like somebody had just punched me full force in

the stomach. I just needed some fresh air that was all that was wrong with me.

  My mom pulled up to the airport entrance and helped me unload my stuff. A majority

of it was already with Mason in North Carolina, just waiting for me to get there. She set

my final piece of luggage on the curve and looked down at me. I could see tears sliding

down her face as she said, “Make sure you tell Mason that we love him. Call me when

you land.”

  She pulled me into a hug as I let a single tear roll down my cheek. I took a deep

breath trying my hardest to keep my composure. My mom went to pull away, but I held

her in the hug longer. I just felt so safe in her arms. It was like nothing bad could ever

happen to me. I whispered into her ear, “I’ll be home for Christmas.”

I let go of her and saw the smile that engulfed her face. She wiped the tear from my

cheek and proclaimed, “I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” I said with a smile. I no longer had my stomachache. I picked up

my luggage and walked into the airport. I took one last look over my shoulder and

waved to my mom who was watching me walk into the airport. She waved back after

wiping the tears from her face. Maybe coming back home wouldn’t be so bad.