Nothing ever goes right for me. It's like I am cursed. Did I do something horrible as a child that I forgot about that is causing me this much pain? Did I sell my soul to the devil on some drunken night that I don't remember? All I know is; everything has changed.
My mother just passed away in an automobile accident. It was a one vehicle crash; she ran into a guardrail head on and died instantly, at least that's what they are saying. The weather was bad; it was down pouring, lightening, thundering. She should have pulled over until it passed like she usually did. I don't know why she didn't, and that makes me feel worse.
Not only did it wreck my life, it also wrecked my fathers. He went back to drinking. He used to be an alcoholic when he met my mother and she got him to stop, and now that's all he does since she's been gone, which has caused him to be mean. He has never hit me, but it doesn't mean he won't. He says I remind him of her too much; he can't even look at me half the time.
One morning when he stayed sober for more than a half hour, he decided the best thing for me would be to ship me off to live with my Aunt Mara. She lives in Texas on her ranch that's called 'Shadow Ranch'. Lucky for me it's the beginning of the summer so I don't have to worry about the new school just yet. And once I turn eighteen, I can leave.
And to top it all off, my boyfriend Mark of a year broke up with me because he doesn't 'do long distance relationships'. And my best friend Sally called me and told me she heard he's already hooking up with other girls. So yeah, I guess I have a reason to say my life sucks.
()()()()()()
My father and I's goodbye was short… Because he didn't even get up in time to say anything to me. He didn't even have the decency to roll out of his hung over state for five minutes to say goodbye to his only child. The sadder part is I'm not surprised. I tossed and turned all night wondering how the goodbye was going to go if it were to happen, and I didn't see it going well.
My taxi turns down what looks like a very long dirt road. The bumps are making me queasy and I shut my eyes and take a deep breath. We're here, I know it and I'm nervous. I've met my aunt one time. She came to visit my father (her brother) when I was about ten. She only stayed overnight and it went by so fast, I barely got to talk to her.
I open my eyes when I feel the car come to a stop. I see a bunch of barns, and many farm animals and an old beaten up wooden sign that read 'Shadow Ranch'. "Here's your stop miss." The taxi driver says.
"Thank you." I tell him and hand him his money as I get out. The dirt ground feels weird under my worn out converse.
I grab my backpack and two suitcases out of the taxi and he speeds away, making dust fly everywhere. I look over and see the farm house. It's huge, and white, and modern. I figured it'd be an old building that could fall apart at any moment.
A black haired woman comes out of the house then and walks over to me. "Oh Ally!" She says and hugs me tight.
"Hi." I say against her shoulder.
"You've grown up!" she says.
"Well I was only ten the last time you saw me and now I'm sixteen so I'd say."
She laughs, "Oh jeez, I don't know what I was thinking letting a sarcastic teenager come live with me. I already deal with another one!"
"I didn't know you had a young kid?" I question.
She laughs again, "Oh don't be silly. Of course I don't. I'm just talking about a young boy that works for me. He's around your age." She says and then grabs one of my bags, "Here, I'll help you."
She guides me into the house, which is even more beautiful on the inside. Everything is country style and there are so many windows that let the beautiful sunshine in. We go upstairs and she shows me my room. It looks like a master bedroom. I even get my own bathroom, which I didn't expect. I'm really not thrilled to be here, but it sure is nice.
"Thanks." I tell her.
She nods and rests her hand on my shoulder, "I am really sorry about everything that is happening. I just wish your father…" She starts but shakes her head, "I'm just sorry."
"It's not your fault." I tell her.
"Well I sure hope you will make yourself at home." She says.
She gives me a tour of the house real quick and tells me to un-pack while she makes lunch for us. So I go back up stairs and toss my clothes in a big white wardrobe in the corner of the room. I take the picture I have of me and my mom and set it on my bedside table. It's the last picture we took together. We went to the lake one sunny day and had a picnic and it was just one of the best days ever. I'm so glad I at least have this picture to really remember it by.
I change from my tank top into a comfortable baggy tee shirt to go with my ripped jeans and go downstairs to the kitchen. It's one of the most beautiful eat in kitchens I've ever seen. It's like something you see in magazines, and it must have cost a lot of money.
My aunt is setting down a plate of sandwiches on the table as I enter, so I walk over and take a seat. "Help yourself." She says as I eye the turkey sandwiches. I grab a half and take a bite. The bread is definitely homemade, and I know the lettuce and tomato are from her huge garden.
"Wow, this is delicious." I say with a mouth full.
She giggles and takes a seat across from me, pouring us a glass of fresh squeezed lemonade.
"Thank you." She says and grabs her own piece.
Well, I definitely don't mind this fine dining now. But it still doesn't feel like home, and I don't know if it ever will. Home is where my mother was…
"When you're done you can take a walk around the place and check it out. I have some pickles I need to jar and then I'm knitting this blanket for our neighbors Tom and Bailey. They just had a little girl." She says.
My aunt is the type of person that's always doing something with either food, or crafts. She loves to do stuff for others too. Even though she didn't visit often, I could always count on having a quilted blanket in the house that she would send every Christmas.
"Okay." I tell her as I pick up my dishes.
"Dinner is always at six o'clock sharp!" She says and I do thumbs up as I walk out the door.
I stop and look around; I don't even know where to start. She has so much property and so many different things going on, oh and many farm hands. I see a group of chickens and head for them then. When I get to them I realize they have the coolest chicken coop. I could go in there and sit with them if I wanted to it's so big.
The rooster stops in front of me and stares, and I stare back. I'm waiting for it to attack me but instead it gets bored and walks away. I shrug at it and walk towards the cows that are fenced in near one of the big barns. One of the cows is near the fence chewing on its cud, looking away from me.
"So this is my life now; surrounded by a bunch of smelly animals." I say out loud.
"Well that's not nice, you just hurt her feelings." A voice says from behind me. I jump back and turn around. A boy around my age, maybe a couple years older, is walking towards me carrying a bale of hay. He's tall, like really tall compared to me and is muscular. His shaggy blonde hair is full of sweat and his muscle shirt is showing off all of his muscles.
"I thought I was alone." I say, watching him as his throws the hale bale into the barn next to me.
"You're never alone here. Either one of the workers are around, or the animals. And now you're going around insulting them." He says, showing off his beautiful white teeth.
"Well they do smell." I say.
"You get used to it."
I shake my head, "I don't think so."
"So if you don't mind me asking, who are you?" He says.
"I'm Ally; Mara's niece." I say and cross my arms.
His eyes bug out for just a second and he suddenly stands up straighter, "Oh! Hi. I didn't know you were coming so soon. I'm Austin." He says and puts out his hand. His dirty, sweaty hand…
I cautiously take it and shake it quickly, causing him to laugh, "Please tell me you aren't one of those city girls that hates getting dirty."
"Well I'm from New York, but I lived far from the city. I don't care about dirt, but some strangers sweat well…"
"Hey, you know my name now. We are acquaintances." He says.
I roll my eyes but smile, "Whatever you say."
"Well I have stuff to do. See you around Ally." He says as he turns around and walks off.
"See you." I say, but I don't think he heard me.
Well, I didn't think my aunt would have hot workers…
