SORRY HAVEN"T UPDATED IN AWHILE. MY COMPUTER IS FINALLY FIXED.
Nich woke up the next morning expecting to be home in her own bed, hoping the events of the night before was just a terrible nightmare. However, when she saw the light blue interior of the room she knew that everything was real. She, at the age of fourteen, had lost her mother and was currently staying with the complete stranger that was her grandmother.
Nich stretched her long legs before she got out of the bed. When she looked down, she realized that she had fallen asleep in the clothes she had worn the day before. Stepping out of the bed, she wondered what her father would be like. If he were half as caring as his mother she would be satisfied.
As she exited the room, Nich ran into a man with graying hair. "I'm sorry," she said.
"It's okay. You must be Nichole, I'm Frank Trish's husband. I'm very sorry to hear about your mother. She was a wonderful woman." Frank told the young girl.
At that moment Nich began to cry. The fact that Frank had used the word was made the situation more real. It hurt Nich to think that she would never see her mother again, or have her yell at her to clean the kitchen. She missed everything about her mother and she had not even been gone for twenty-four hours.
"I'm very sorry if I upset you Nich, here," Frank said as he handed her a handkerchief.
Nich dried her eyes and thanked Frank.
"If you're hungry there are muffins in the kitchen. I'll take you there if you want." Frank said guiding Nich to the stairs.
"Thank-you." Nich and Frank walked down to the kitchen in search of the muffins. Nich took a seat at the glass table in the kitchen after she had retrieved a pumpkin muffin from the straw basket that had been sitting on the counter.
A few minuets after she had started to eat her muffin Frank started to walk out the door, "I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer, but I have to go to work. Don't worry about anything Nich; it will all turn out okay. I know you don't want to hear this but you need to, everything happens for a reason. Things happen and we don't know why, but eventually everything gets better." Frank said before he had completely walked out the door.
Nich sat and contemplated what Frank had told her, and she had come to the conclusion that there was no good reason for her mother to be taken from her. No reason at all. As she sat playing with the leftover crumbs from the muffin, Trish walked in.
"Good morning Nich." Trish said as she sat down next to her granddaughter.
"Morning," Nich mumbled as she flicked a crumb across the table.
"I talked to Harm last night."
"Oh,"
"I told him that on Saturday after the funeral, we would take a flight to D.C. He wanted to come but I told him not to. I think it will be best for you if you meet him when he is more calm and rational. He needs time to adjust and find a more suitable place for the two of you to live." Trish said.
Nich continued to play with the crumbs on the table.
"If you are ready, I can take you to your house to pack and get your things. I know it will be hard for you, but you are going to have to do it soon." Trish told her.
"I'm ready now," Nich said looking up at Trish.
"Okay then, let me go get my purse and then we can go." Trish got up from the table to get her keys and returned a few minuets later. Nich and Trish walked out the door and to the car.
When they arrived at the house, Nich hesitated before she got out of the car. She took a deep breath and opened the door and stepped out. The last time I arrived home I expected mom to be coming home soon so that we could order dinner. Nich looked around and saw that everything looked the same even though it did not feel the same.
"Do you want me to wait here or should I come in with you?" Trish asked.
"I might take a little while to choose what I want to bring with me. You can come in if you want to." Nich said as she took out her house key and unlocked the door. It was a reflex unlocking the door. Funny, she thought, I don't even remember locking the door when the officer came and I went to the hospital.
Nich entered the house and made her way upstairs to her room. Everything was how she left it. Nothing was out of its place. She looked at the dirty clothes hamper—it held all of her best clothes. She turned around about to go find Trish when she saw that she was standing in the doorway. "Can I wash my clothes at your house?"
"Sure, it's fine with me. Do you need any help?"
"Yes. I'm not sure if everything will fit in my suitcase." Nich said as she looked in her closet.
"If you want, we can ship it to Harm so it will be there when you get there." Trish suggested.
"Okay," said Nich as she began to pull clothes out of her drawers to put into her suitcase. When she was finished Trish and Nich took it out to the car.
"Wait a sec I left some things." Nich said as she ran back into the house. She grabbed her field hockey stick and the picture of her and her mom that sat on her bedside table. She came back out of the house and locked the door. With one last look at her home, she got into the car and the two of them drove off.
"What about the other stuff in my home, what will happen to it?" Nich asked.
"It all depends on what her will says. If it all goes to you then I'll put it in storage for you. The lawyer called yesterday and said that he will read it after the funeral on Friday, since you are flying out on Saturday."
Nich nodded her head and watched the trees pass by through the window. It's strange how everything keeps going when the world should have stopped. My mother died and here I am riding in a car watching the trees still standing erect when they should be tumbling down, just like my world. Nich thought.