I was almost blinded by the bright sunlight streaming into my room as if it was determined to burn off my eyelids. I winced and squinted against the brightness, bringing a hand to my face as I sat up. I cursed under my breath and gave the window a sideways glare. Curtains turned out to be way more of a necessity than I had first thought. Groaning, I stood up. My room and its bear walls didn't seem like a very inviting place to sit, and I eyed the door, before turning and approaching the offending window. The quiet street below seemed like a calm exterior to the mahem that was people's lives. Everything felt so cheerful and bright. In any other circumstance I would have been thrilled to be here right now. Pennsylvania's thick woodland didn't ever allow this much sunlight through. Our house had been sheltered so that only patches of light would be visible outside. That would have worked way better with no curtains. I sighed and reached to run my fingers through my unkempt dark hair.

I crossed back over to the mattress I was temporarily using as a bed and sat down cross-legged. Turning, I reached into the pocket of the jacket I had tossed haphazardly onto the floor last night and pulled out a silver pen. I held it up to the light streaming through my window and just stared for a moment. The light gleamed off the pen like it was made of pure crystal, making it shimmer like an otherworldly gem that had just been unearthed. I shook my head before grabbing my notepad. I fiddled with the pen as I stared at the smooth white page in front of me, its plain appearance both enticing and daunting. I picked at my thumbnail and used the pen to draw the faint outline of a tree. I carefully sketched out every branch and then stared at it. A frown played across my face as ow scrutinised the thing. Why had I drawn a tree of all things? It wasn't even that good. I had unintentionally blurred some of the lines and exaggerated the curves of the branches where they joined the trunk so that the whole thing looked messy and unfinished. I covered a portion of the drawing with my hand and then reached to tear out the page.

A swift knock on my door made me freeze in my tracks. I glanced up as my mother stuck her head around the door.

"Hey, I'm going to run to the grocery store. You think you can entertain yourself 'til I get back?" I gave her a frown.

"For half an hour? Yeah, I think I can manage that." She leaned forward and searched my face, before nodding.

"I left some fruit on the kitchen counter if you want anything." She paused and glanced around my room, her eyes settling briefly on the silver pen clenched forgotten in my right hand, before she turned away. I turned fully towards the door and watched her retreat from my room. Of course, she completely forgot to close the door as she left. I sighed to myself as I stood and slammed it shut. I leaned against the door and closed my eyes. Chaos to this extent was not something I was used to. Sure things could get crazy sometimes, but moving had officially become one of the worst experiences of my life. I opened my eyes and straightened. Now I was just being unreasonable. I had been here for one day. Surely I could muster up the will to survive here for at least twenty-four hours before I went insane.

I hastily pulled on some presentable clothes and then headed downstairs. I fiddled with the lock for way longer than was necessary and finally pushed the front door open. I paused on the threshold, staring out at the street beyond. I realised there was a lot I'd missed from my window. A few of the scraggly trees that had lined the road last night now lay crumpled on the ground below like dominoes that had been pushed over by an agitated five-year-old. I blinked. Perks of having a hurricane destroy town the night of my arrival.