Intro
It was beautiful here. The opposite of the hot, humid air I was used to walking outside to. The sun still shines here, but in a way where it's not overbearing to step outside just to get the mail or take out the garbage. It's a good warm, the kind where you can even take a walk to the park and not break out in a sweat. In fact, here, you can actually experience of season of the year.
Living in this place wasn't a problem. You can probably even tell that I actually like it here, and I do. It's just change. The people are new as well as the places and the things to do here. I'm not used to it, living in one place your whole life can do that to you. I used to live in a tiny little apartment a couple blocks from the beach in Jacksonville, Florida, with my mom. Now that she's traveling all the time though for her new photography job at some travel magazine, she won't have time for me. She'll be gone in places all over the world and it's too expensive to take me with her, not to mention, I have to finish my high school career and graduate. So here I am in Danistown, North Carolina, moving in with my aunt and uncle, standing on the doorstep about to walk through the door of my new life carrying a luggage and a box with the few things I wanted to take with me. Just like that saying. "When one door closes, another one opens."
Chapter One
"Aunt Esme?" I asked her timidly. She had bleach blonde hair that went straight down, ending just above her shoulders and pale skin, that was unblemished. She was a very modern woman that dressed well enough. The only way you could tell she was aged was by looking at her eyes. They were a dark brown that contrasted greatly with her hair and skin and had a certain wiseness and knowing look to them.
"Yes, honey?" It felt weird having her call me a name so often used by mother and it made me feel a little more homesick.
"Do you know of any parks around here, within walking distance maybe?" That was my comfort. As childish as it was, whenever I was feeling a little off or was in some kind of mood. Sitting on the swings or under a tree listening to music always helped to soothe me. It's a kind of habbit I've had since I was a little girl, when it was the one place me and my mom could go and not have to worry about anything.
"Actually, yeah, Bella. You know the trail right outside the neighborhood?" I nodded. I remembered passing it on the way here. "If you keep walking down the trail about three quarters of a mile, it's there."
"Okay, awesome, you don't mind if I head down there do you?"
"Not at all, but do you think you could be back around sevenish? Your uncle should be here by then and I'll have a nice welcome meal for you, maybe some nice southern cooking. What do you think?"
"Sounds good. I'll be back then."
It was around four when I arrived at the park. You could tell it hadn't been visited in a while, all of it was older and made out of wood and rustic looking, opposed to the newer brightly colored playgrounds. The playground here consisted of a set of monkey bars, a slide, a teeter totter and off to the left there was a pavilion. There was even a tire swing hanging by a rope tied to a tree. Which was beautiful. The tree was large and was set up on somewhat of a hill, a little away from the playground. The perfect spot to relax and wind down. I decided to go test out the tire swing and see if it was sturdy enough to use, and it was fine, if not a little a mucky, but that was okay.
Swinging on a tire swing was something I had never done before but it was nothing like sitting on the swings back in Florida. It was a ton more difficult to get yourself going but once you did, it was well worth it. I sat there for ten minutes on that swing just thinking about swings in general and how me and my mom would have contests to see who could get the highest. Then my mind wandered to her new job, and how now I have to be here. I got off the swing in a huff and headed to the slide. It was one of those with the cover over it, so I decided to go sit in it and put my feet up against the top of it, how I used to when I played hide and seek.
I just sat there thinking and eventually I drifted off into a kind of sleep.
I was woken up later by something being dropped on the concrete over by the pavilion. Silently, I climbed to the top of the slide and peeked over the edge.