The Drive
Sammie watched the trees, against the gray, cloudy sky, whip past as the car barreled on towards its destination. She adjusted her head on the cool window, softly
brushing back a lock of short, curly, jet-black hair. She fixed her earphones, quietly playing Vampire Weekend. Once again, she stared at the road map, searching for
the tiny, almost invisible dot in the middle of the state. Nobody lived in Wellsville, Iowa. Why did her parents have to move her there? Her father could have chosen to
move to San Francisco, New York, or even Paris, France. But no. Wellsville it was. Refolding the map, she began staring out the window again. The trees were still thick
as they were five minutes ago, but now it had started to drizzle. Oh great, she thought, now I have to unpack in the rain. She watched the droplets of water
spontaneously merge as they were pushed back and down by the wind. The cool glass on her forehead, and the soft chorus of music were too much, and Sammie
drove to a different state in her mind – sleep.
As she drifted away from the waking world, she focused on the lyrics of the currently playing song:
Walcott, don't you know that it's insane
Don't you wanna get outta Cape Cod,
Outta Cape Cod tonight?
If Walcott were me, he'd want to stay in Cape Cod, she thought. Stupid Wellsville, she continued, moving here is making me lose all that I ever cared about. No more
friends, no more amazing ice cream after school (because no one had ice cream like La Glace – creamy, sweet, and oh-so-satisfying), no more almost-boyfriend (she
and Jeremy were getting quite close) … it had ruined everything.
All because of her family's dark, wounding secret.