Thank you for the positive reviews! Another short chapter. Written in a very different style than how I usually write… let me know what you think.
"I can't undo the things that led us to this place,
But I know there's something more to us than our mistakes!"-
Believe
It wasn't an impressive house. A typical three bedroom two bathroom. The front yard had too many trees in it to make a clean setting, and the house wasn't quite built to take advantage of being on the hillside. Sara parked her car on the curb next to the driveway, glancing at the for sale sign in the front. Despite it being close to dark, she saw no lights on in the house, no cars in the driveway. The street was quiet and empty as she got out, walked to the front, up the three steps, onto the porch. The chairs she had sat in so many times, texting or eating a snack, weren't there anymore. She peeked through the front windows. The current owners had arranged the living room a bit differently, different furniture, a tv she thought was too big for the room. She pictured where their couch had been years earlier. Friday nights, the popcorn bowl had gone on a coffee table that was long gone. Mom and dad had always been together on the couch, and she was on the floor next to the couch with a big cushion and a blanket. How was it she had always been looking forward to things getting better, when it had been so close to perfect? College classes and dates and family nights and no worries.
She stalked around to the back of the house, to the set of windows next to the kitchen, then hopped over onto the back porch. Remembered posing for a picture she wanted to put on facebook, so proud of those shiny gold aviator sunglasses she had just gotten… Laurel laughing a bit but still taking the best picture possible. It had gotten a lot of likes. Now it felt strange to be back there, everything so similar but looking different. Like she had misremembered a dream, or she was in one. Had it been a lifetime ago, or yesterday that she was raking leaves in this yard? She looked a little closer at the windows… along the kitchen, then the dining room… and one was unlocked. She glanced around, knowing full well how stupid an idea it was, then slid it open and climbed in, pausing to remove her shoes and carefully pick them up, not wanting to get and dirt smears on the carpet. Mom had been so happy when she finally had it cleaned.
Sara walked silently into the kitchen. So many fights had happened there. So many good times. Dad cooking and so proud of his meals. Gleeful when he finally found a recipe to make good homemade eggnog for cheap. She paused, trying to remember what it had been. Pudding mix… milk… she couldn't remember the other parts. There was a different kitchen table than she remembered, but it was in about the same place. So many serious discussions. So many happy meals and holidays. She looked around, the warm wood colors still greeting her even in the dying light. She padded up the familiar steps, feeling the plush carpet against her feet, her hand finding the same old place on the railing. How had it been such a short time ago she was focused on fashion and daisy dukes and whether the family was going to their favorite tavern this weekend?
She glanced into her parent's old room, seeing not the new decorations but her mom's favorite nightstand with the mirror and three pieces of marble. The huge wardrobe they had got at auction, only for her, laurel, and dad to barely get it in the house? The high bed where the kitten, muffin, would leap up and beg for attention.
She glanced into Laurel's old room, imaging her favorite posters back on the wall, the dirty laundry heaped by the hamper, the small jewelry collection proudly displayed on a shelf. How many times they had fought and locked themselves in their rooms. How many times they had made up. The sharp pang of betrayal the last time she had seen it, knowing she was probably sacrificing the relationship to be with Oliver. Sara paused, stepped over to her old bedroom, cracked the door open. Pictured college student Sara in the room. How had she always been so focused on the future, not seeing what was there? Sara took a heavier breath, felt her eyes water a little. Family had mattered a lot to her once. She had wanted to have her own, one day. Go home to a man who loved her, someone she could count on. Be one of those couples that would do anything for each other. Maybe kids even, eventually. And now… now what was she? Had she become that cold and whittled away… like some feral cat that had forgotten life in a home?
She glanced at her watch, realized how much time she had been wasting. She forced herself to pad silently down the stairs. When had she lost this future? When had she stopped being the sort of woman who earned a happy life? That future home with a man she loved, it had always been there growing up, and she knew she would have it, as if it had been real and just waiting for her. She raised the window up enough for her to slip through, put her shoes on, and stepped down to the outside world again, feeling sadness crash into her as surely as a blow. She stretched up the close the window behind her, taking a last look. She headed back to her car, somehow feeling isolated in the dark, alone. She paused by her charger, looking around the neighborhood, the familiar sights, feeling a cool breeze sweeping through the trees. Sara reached into her pocket, took out her phone, and clicked on a name, feeling the weight lift off her chest as the phone dialed.
"Hey." She said. "I'm fine, Ollie. I called to ask, could I see you? Tonight?"
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