Connie's always been a very bright little girl. She was rather advanced for her early age of three and a half. She could accurately express her emotions and she had begun showing a great interest in reading and math. She had already been in enrolled in a special program at her last elementary school for gifted kids. She knew the alphabet, could count higher than one hundred, and was the best speller in the program. She was also known for her nearly perfect memory.
So when she woke up one morning and saw her parents packing up their belongings; wrapping their precious things away in soft paper and stripping their house bare, she sat right down and sobbed.
She knew what moving boxes were, what the big smelly truck meant and that no matter what her parents said, 'things weren't going to get better' She would not make new friends, she would still get bullied and the new town would not be any more fun than the last. If anything it would probably be worse.
Her mother had bought her a new book to make up for it-it was a big book that smelled like new parchment and libraries and it was about Arthurian legends-knights, unicorns and magic. She had held it tight in her arms the night when the house had been devoid of her belongings, listening to the lonely chirps of the invading crickets. She had slept between her parents-her own bed tucked away somewhere far away, their warm bodies smelling of coffee and antiseptic spray and warm spices. Their gentle snores lulling her to sleep in place of her usual violin lullaby on her CD.
She had held it even tighter when her mother had lifted her into their beat up mini-van and strapped her tightly into her car seat. She had stared straight ahead into her familiarly neighborhood, ignoring her mother's worn gaze and familiar words.
"Sweetie, I know you're upset. But this is all for the better. We can go live in a better house now and you can go to a better school."
"I wanna just stay here, we don't need a new house or a new school." Connie mumbled drearily, caressing the crisp parchment as if it were the most precious thing in the world. "I haven't even made a friend yet. You promised, we were gonna stay!"
"I know, baby. But things change, another opportunity has risen for your father's job. I wish we could just stay put a little longer too, but your father and I agree that this move is for the better. Besides, while we wait for the new house to be ready for us, we'll live next to your favorite little town."
"Beach City!" Connie yelled, kicking her tiny feet in excitement, ignoring her mother's gentle scolding for the use of her outside voice. "I wanna go to the beach and play in the sand and swim in the ocean."
"And we will!" Connie's Dad said, carrying the last of their most personal belongings to the trunk-mom's wedding dress, mom's college degree, Dad's security license, Connie's grandmother scarf-the first article of clothing she had been swathed in, and some of their jewelry and fragile trinkets. "The condominium will be ready in two weeks. So we'll stay in that hotel we always stay in."
"The one that serves free bagels for breakfast." Connie said, vaguely remembering the thick carpet that smelled like sea-salt and taffy. The bagels were stiff and stale, but apparently were quite delicious by her father's standards. Connie and her Mom usually just ate the fruit and drank tea for their free breakfast.
Connie liked Beach City. The people there were different than her usual neighbors, they talked slower and seemed more relaxed. They were kind, even when nothing was in it for them. Connie's mom said there might also be another reason her liking the quiet town so much.
When her mother had been pregnant with Connie, apparently she had been quite a painful baby. She was always rampant and energetic; kicking and punching all day and all night. If Connie's mom had dared eat anything with caffeine or sugar, Connie wouldn't stop dancing until it was gone from both their bloodstreams. Her energetic tirade only dissipated when her parents had taken a vacation to Beach City.
'You were so big and so strong. And I was happy for that, but you made sleep impossible. We visited Beach City because your father was hoping a change in environment would help you and I get some rest before I gave birth. At first, it was no different. If anything you kicked even harder, so hard that you left violet blossoms up and down my side. The strangest thing happened though, we met a woman who was also pregnant on the beach one day. She touched my belly and almost like magic, you were calm. You still danced occasionally, but you would finally let me sleep at night.'
They had been visiting Beach City ever since, because Connie's mother had wanted to speak with the woman again and because Connie's delight at seeing the ocean only grew with each visit. But each year, Connie grew taller and the woman was never found.
"Perhaps, this time we'll find our mystery woman?" Connie's Mom asked from the front seat. Connie nodded, feeling especially certain that they would find her this time. She had expanded her reading collection, having now taken interest in detective fiction. She knew all sorts of new skills that would surely help them find her. She would be just like Sherlock.
They made it to Beach City, no problem. There was a single hotel about ten minutes from the little town and that's where they would be staying until their new home was ready. Dad had been enthusiastically explaining about their new house; telling her how much bigger it would be than the last. Her room would have a window, a nice closet and they would paint in whatever color Connie wanted. There would be a library only fifteen minutes away, Beach City thirty minutes away by car and that her new school bus would drop her off right in front of the condominium complex.
The hotel room wasn't the one they had gotten last year, that one had been sky-blue. Their new room was pink in theme, with frames of seashells and pictures of pretty sunsets, one large bed, a kitchenette and a big bathroom with a bathtub. Their room even faced the ocean. She and her father had rolled around on the lush coral-colored carpet, talking about the mechanics of static electricity, while her mother put away their clothing and complained about the dust.
After her parents had fallen asleep that night, she had slipped from the crib the hotel had provided (not that Connie need one because she was a big girl now) and snuck to the window-door leading to the balcony. From here she could see the large blue expanse of the ocean. If she closed her eyes, she could already feel the sand underneath her toes and the water washing around her waist. Last year, she had still been in diapers and the water had pooled uncomfortably in it.
She hoped this time around, she would be able to move much better. She wanted to search for seashells, seaweed and maybe go searching for a dolphin or a mermaid! She looked out at the wide black sky, thousands of glittering stars shone-usually the smog of whatever city they lived in hid them from her curious gaze. She watched as a tiny glittering star twinkled shyly into existence and she bowed her head and wished:
"Please let us find that mystery lady for Mommy. And please maybe help me make a new friend so that I won't be lonely anymore."
A/N: Prompt courtesy of the lovely RainbowPyro17. Sorry about the long stretch of nothing. Majoring in English means I'm always writing, just not what I want to write. Break coming up for Thanksgiving so hopefully some time to write for the special, CGA and the other stories I've been so rudely neglecting. Sorry if not up to usual standards, not a lot time but wanted to put something out. Hope you guys are surviving the hiatus, as always thank you for taking the time to read, favorite, follow and review.