Welcomed to Chapter 1 of Running With The Wolves!
I hope you all enjoy this first chapter and are interested enough to stick around for the rest of the story :)
I am really proud of the character I have been developing, Miss. Abigail Wilder. She is a character I have been fleshing out for a while now and I hope to eventually have the ability to provide you with the link to view my Pinterest board with my inspiration for the character so you can really understand what she is like in my own head.
Anyway - please rate/review/follow if you like this chapter and want to read more!
Chapter 1: Room 12
The dense and lush trees passed by as she drove down the dirt roads she was all too familiar with. She had rolled her window down so she could smell the intoxicating mixture of the damp forest and the salty sea breeze. She turned down Crestview Road, the same road she had crashed her bike on when she was 10 and then went on to learn how to drive on when she was 16. The road was still littered with rocks and uneasy terrain and she could feel most of the bumps under the tires of her dated hunk of junk that she fondly drove. The overgrown plants and sky high trees made driving down the road feel as if you were being swallowed, but she enjoyed feeling like she was being shielded. It didn't take long for the twisted dirt road to lead her to her fathers house - the house she called a home her entire life - the house that still had a tire swing in the front yard and the unbelievably tacky garden gnomes and stone frogs that littered the front garden. Even though it was the beginning of summer, and the heat from the sun was enough to warm even the coldest soul, she could still see the familiar stream of smoke pouring from the stone chimney. She smiled as she parked her car and eagerly stepped out of the vehicle and ran up the creaky steps. Before her sneaker could even step onto the front porch she saw the screen door fling open and the bright smile of her father come towards her.
"Dad" She sighed as she fell into his arms and felt the weight of the world fall off her shoulders and melt into the ashy floor boards under her feet.
"Oh Abby. It has been way too long. We are so glad you are home"
She could feel the slight tremble under his copper skin as he pulled away from her and led inside. She tried to ignore the slight pang of concern and fear that ran through her as she realized how different he was in just the few years that she had been away at school. She felt guilt at that moment - guilt for not visiting more and guilt for trying to put distance between herself and the reservation.
Walking into the house, she pushed those feelings aside and instead was comforted by the timeless state of the house. It was just as it had been when she was younger and seemed like a museum for her childhood. Family photos littered the wallpapered walls and the extensive collection of baseball memorabilia still stood proud on the mantle in the living room. Even the scent was the same - tobacco leaves and lavender.
"Nothing has changed, huh?" She smiled as she watched him walk over to the same burgundy recliner he has always had and slipped right into the seat as if it was second nature.
"Well you know, old dog. I don't have very many new tricks left in me" He smiled as he pulled his tobacco pipe from his pocket and puffed on it until it came to life and slowly let smoke fill the air around him. His voice was rougher than usual and she had a feeling it was due to the constant smoke littering his lungs over the past 2 decades.
"So, what's new dad?" She sat on the couch next to him, losing herself in his cloud.
"Oh, I ain't up to anything. Tell me what's going on with you...my college graduate"
She could feel the blush under her cheeks as her father looked at her with such adoration and pride in his eyes. It was overwhelming to have so much love poured into her with just one look, but she could look back into the chocolate brown eyes forever. Her father was her everything and she couldn't imagine what life was going to be like when he was gone. He was her emotional crutch and her solo cheer leading squad. He was the one who showed up to every dance recital and cheered louder than all the moms in the audience. He was the one who would stay up late when she had nightmares and then turn around to wake up early and cook all of them breakfast. In her eyes, he was a super human - and it was humbling to see her hero slowly crumbling.
His health had always been a concern for her. Even as a young girl, she knew his smoking was excessive and she knew that he could afford to watch his diet and exercise more often than he did. It was clear to everyone that the death of her mother marked the moment when her father stopped caring about himself. As a newly single father of three young girls he kept it together enough to still provide and care for them, but he was also struggling with the new normal. He didn't have time to properly grieve and instead he let his heart slowly break more and more everyday until he stopped living and started just existing. For Abbie, it was clear that she needed to step into the nurturing role, and she took it upon herself to care for her clearly depressed father. For her sisters, it was just another reason to resent her.
When it came to her sisters, both of them looked at Abbie as their fathers favorite. Her sisters were older than her and both had a lot of anger and unresolved sadness from their mothers death, and they looked at how Abbie adopted the role of caretaker of both their father and the household as a slap in the face. Abbie got all the sympathy from the reservation and all the praise because she stepped up to the plate. For Abbie, she hated that her sisters obviously held so much negativity and hostility towards her, but she also always had a very strong and sound moral compass. She knew that she was doing the right thing and hoped that one day her sisters would see that all she ever wanted was to keep their family together like their mother would have wanted.
"You ok Abbie?" She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at her father to see concern written all over his face.
"Yah dad, just tired from the long drive" She smiled at him and then stood from the couch and stretched her tired muscles, "I should probably go check in at the motel"
"You just got here!"
She just smiled in response, not wanting to admit that she was a little too overwhelmed by the reality of her being back on the reservation. Sitting in her fathers house had put it all in perspective for her. She had lived a life completely away from the reservation and the depressing memories of her mother that remained on it, but now she was back. Now she was going to have to deal with these feelings that she had worked so hard to forget about.
"I hate that you are staying there" Her father was gruff and you wouldn't have been able to really understand him if you weren't paying attention.
"I get that dad, but I have been really used to being on my own. I kind of like having my own space" She lent over and kissed her dad on his wrinkled cheek and smiled at the familiar smell of his bar soap lingering on his skin.
"You coming back over for dinner tonight? I told your sisters you were back"
"I might just want to get some sleep. Tomorrow?"
Her dad nodded and got up from his chair to give her another tight hug, whispering in her ear how excited he was to have her back home. She could feel the relief behind his words and it made her both content in her choice to move back home but also worried for him. While she liked being so close to her father, she had always been worried about how he would handle her moving out of the house and away from the reservation for college. He assured her constantly that he would be alright and he didn't want her to worry about him, but clearly she had every right to worry.
She walked back out the front door and felt the overwhelming sense of deja vu slowly trickle away as she stepped out of the time capsule that was her fathers house. She noticed that her shoulders were a little tense and rolled out the muscles as she descended the porch steps and went back to her car.
The motel was the only option for any kind of hotel on the reservation other than campgrounds so the choices were limited. It was very clear to her that just like pretty much everything else on the reservation, the motel was a little dated and made her feel as if time just froze after she left. The main lobby had rows of brochures emphasizing the limited attractions in La Push perched neatly in their holders against the walls and then a fragrant smell of freshly cut flowers that were perched on every possible surface.
"Good morning hun"
She heard the raspy voice before she could see where it came from but she spotted the sweet and smiling face of an older woman behind the front counter; barely visible from behind the massive bouquet and stacks of books littered around her.
"Oh, hi. I was hoping to get a room…"
She walked right up to the desk and smiled down at the woman. Her long grey hair was tied into the neatest braid that swung behind her back as she moved and her slim fingers had so many rings that she would have thought it would be difficult to move them as nimbly as she was able to.
"We have plenty of space. It's hard to compete with the camp grounds this time of year" She flipped open her giant book of blank reservation and spun it, placing a pen on the page expectantly.
She grasped the pan and started filling out her name and other contact information before returning it to the woman in front of her. She watched as she pulled her bright blue reading glasses up from their place in the pocket on her shirt and situated them on her very slim and wrinkled face.
"Abigail Wilder? Joe's daughter? I thought you looked familiar. What brings you into town?"
"Yah. I finished school and decided to move back to town. I just haven't found a place yet…"
"That's great. We get the newspaper every morning, I will make sure to save you the real estate listings"
Abbie smiled at the woman before pulling the cash from her pocket, "I appreciate that"
"Since we have no idea how long you will be needing to stay, why don't we do a weekly rate?"
Abbie finished up paying and then getting to know the very sweet but relatively nosy older women, whom she learned like to be called Rosie because of her passion for gardening. Rosie gave her the key to her room and told her that she got one of the best rooms in the whole place, situated on the back side of the motel so it faced the ocean but down at the end so she didn't have to deal with much foot traffic.
"You just have one neighbor, but he is very quiet and keeps to himself so he won't be trouble" She placed a stack of freshly washed towels on the counter and then a small bag of complimentary toiletries.
"Thanks, Rosie"
She grabbed her stack of stuff and made her way around the back of the motel and down the long corridor of rooms.
Room 12. Home for the time being.
Opening the door she was met with a stale smell, leading her to believe the room has been sitting empty for a while - which definitely didn't bother her. She kicked the door shut behind her before walking into the bathroom to set her towels down. The bed called out to her, and she desperately wanted to take a nap but she knew she had to get the rest of her stuff out of her car before she even thought about sinking into the cloud-like comforter. She didn't realize how tired she was, both physically and emotionally, until she saw the bed waiting for her. Leaving so early in the morning from the city and then driving straight into an abyss of old memories and emotions took a lot out of her.
She dragged herself out of the room and started making her way back to the parking lot so she could figure out how to magically get enough strength to carry all her bags in one trip, when all of a sudden she was startled by a sound behind her. Whipping around, she saw the back of her 'neighbor' as he marched out of his room and walked in the opposite direction, towards the forest. It didn't go unnoticed that this strange neighbor of hers had a very attractive backside...if that was even possible. His incredibly broad shoulders and narrow waist gave him an upside down triangle shape that pointed straight down to his very muscular lower half.
Not wanting to pant as she observed this poor guys back, she quickly turned around and continued her mission to get her luggage into her room….however, she definitely distracted herself as she thought of what her neighbor's face looked like. Surely it wasn't possible to have such a stunning back and front...right?