The streetlights overhead throb as we drive underneath, so there was never a solid amount of light in the car, which is really annoying. So composing songs in my journal was out of the question. And my computer is dead, so I can't watch movies. I settle on listening to the radio. I find a station that doesn't consist of rap or screamo and turn it up just enough so I can hear it and yet still rest.
I lean my seat back and then look up at my dad's face. His eyes are slightly glazed, but he was opening them as wide as he could. "Dad…do you want me to drive?" I laugh quietly.
"N-no." he yawns, "I'm fine. Besides…you'd get us lost." He looks at me and smiles teasingly.
"Whatever. I'm not that bad…and I could always dig the GPS out of the backseat." I defend myself.
"That's okay sweetie. Just sleep. We're almost there anyway." He smiles, patting my head demeaningly.
By almost there, I know my dad means we have at least another 5 or 6 hours to go. I decide to close my eyes and think about what I would do on our first day in La Push.
We are going to the Quileuit Res for my dad's job. He's an author and he's in the middle of working on a mythical novel, consisting mostly of Indian legends. So of course, we need to research. I don't mind so much. I'm kind of secretly a mythology buff…not that I'd tell anyone of course.
The radio is still humming the song Lucky by Colbie Caillat and I find myself drifting in and out. I mouth the words, singing them in my head. Finally, I fall asleep.
I woke up with a jolt as the car slams down into a pothole. I gasp and look around. There aren't any street lights anymore, and the sky was a light perry winkle with dawn light. The trees collected the morning mist and made it seem like there were walls on either side of the road.
"Where are we?" I asked, my voice dry and crackly with sleep.
"Forks. Right outside of La Push. You were asleep for a while." Dad replied.
"Oh no…Dad I'm sorry. Do you want me to drive now?" I asked.
"Actually…if you wouldn't mind." Dad said. I looked up and noticed his bloodshot eyes. He pulled the car over and I got out to dig the GPS out of the back seat.
I plugged in the address and stuck it to the windshield. Dad got in and almost immediately started snoring. I have several pet peeves…and repetitious noises were one of them. Snoring being at the top of the list, but I didn't want to wake him up, so I turned the radio up just a little. I concentrated on the song, which nearly helped.
The farther in I drove, the more I fell in love with the area. I was also a huge nature lover and the mountains and forests were breathtaking. I couldn't wait to finally get out onto a trail and maybe go horseback riding. I finally caught site of the break in the trees. A big wooden sign said 'Welcome to La Push'. I followed the small purple line on the GPS farther into the Res. I saw a group of kids hanging around the convenience store. They waved excitedly, warm smiles spreading across their faces. I waved back and laughed quietly to myself. Thankfully, it seemed like it wouldn't be hard for me to make some friends.
It wasn't hard at all to find the house that we were staying at. It was just a short drive away from the convenience store. In fact I could probably walk. I was already starting to like this place, which made me a little overwhelmingly excited. I found it hard not to smile and squeal excitedly as I pulled the van in and put it in park.
"Dad." I said, in as much of a whisper as I could muster, "We're here." he woke with a start, looked around, and let out a big sigh.
"Hey, Hils…can you bring my bags in? I'm going to go crash in my room." He groaned.
"Yeah, no problem. Go sleep." I smiled, but secretly dreaded the thought of carrying all my dad's stuff up to the rooms. He packed worse than a diva. But instead of clothes, it was other stuff like pens, paper, and…well you know the saying 'he packed everything but the kitchen sink'? Yeah, well if he could figure out how to get it out, he'd actually probably bring that too.
I went around to the trunk as my dad went up to the house. I leaned in and grabbed the box with all of the kitchen utensils, which would probably be one of the lightest and carried it up to the house. When I started back to the car I saw a truck pulling into our driveway. In the truck was a group of 7 adolescent boys. All of which were enormously muscular AND good looking. There were 3 in the cab and 4 in the bed. An image suddenly flashed through my mind of the gangs back in New York when we lived there. My heart stopped and I silently prayed that they weren't ANYTHING like the New York gangs. Great…our first visitors.