So This Is Home...? (OPEN)

[ROSALYNDE MARIE WILLIAMS]

Rosalynde woke with a start as the car drove over a pothole, causing her to knock her head against the window. She mumbled something along the lines of "mmnghfff," as she looked around confusedly at her surroundings. It took her a while to remember where she was. But it came to her. She had gotten on the plane in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at four o'clock that morning, and had spent the majority of the day flying to Seattle, where she had transferred to a tiny passenger plane that took her to the fairly small city of Port Angeles, though she had slept through the majority of the flight. She was met at the little airport by a man who had apparently been hired- whether by her great aunt or her mother, she was unsure- to drive her to her Great Aunt Zelda's house, in some tiny little town called Forks. She had been determined to stay awake, so she could remember how to get back to Port Angeles, but that had lasted maybe ten minutes. She checked the time on her cell phone and saw that she had been out for a good forty-five minutes or so. They had to be almost to her aunt's house. She looked out the window, but that only made her groggy brain even more confused. What was on the window? Why was it making everything look so... so... green? She stared out at the picturesque forest, trying to figure out what was making everything look like that. Then she realized. It wasn't the window. Everything was that green! She gaped for a moment before turning to look at the driver, hoping to catch his eye in the rear view mirror. "Ah! About time you woke up!" He said cheerily. "We're just about to your aunt's house." "Mmkay." Rose responded as she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to wake up at least a little bit more. She yawned as they rounded a corner, and suddenly there were houses, and not just trees. She tried to remember what Aunt Zelda's house looked like, but it had been so long since she'd visited. She must have been five or six. All she remembered was that she hadn't been able to play outside because it had rained the entire time. The driver turned another corner and began to slow as they approached a gravel driveway. He turned up the driveway and finally stopped the car. Rose ran a hand through her messy hair and tried to fluff it up a bit more, hoping it hadn't gotten too flattened out when she'd slept on it. She grabbed her backpack, then opened the car door slowly, and stood up almost hesitantly. She looked up at the ordinary-looking blue-gray house in front of her. The shutters and trim were a few shades darker than the rest of the house, and the floor of the front porch was a few shades darker than that. She sighed and walked over to the back of the car, where the driver was already unloading her two large suitcases from the trunk. "Thanks," she said with a half-hearted smile and took the handle of one of the suitcases. She walked slowly up to the front door, her suitcase bumping unpleasantly as she wheeled it across the gravel. Once she hauled her heavy suitcase up the stairs of  the front porch, and across the porch to the door, she found a piece of yellow lined paper taped to the door. Rosalynde, it read, I had to run into Port Angeles for an emergency. The back door's unlocked, you can let yourself in. Your things haven't quite made it here yet. I'll be back in a few hours, make yourself at home! Love, Aunt Zelda. "Great." Rose muttered as she watched the driver pull out of the driveway and disappear behind the trees. She managed to pull her suitcase back down the stairs, stubbing her toe in the process, and wheeled it to the back door, limping a bit as she did so. Once she reached the back door, she actually smiled a bit, hoping to finally have something go right. But of course not! The door was locked tight, and wouldn't budge. She left her suitcase at the back door, and walked around to the front, hoping that maybe her aunt meant that the front door was open, not the back. But that proved just as useless as the back door. She walked over to the stairs  and sat down heavily, her head in her hands. She felt like screaming, like crying, like throwing a fit. Could today get any worse? She thought to herself. But of course, that's the worst question anybody could ask in a situation like this. She began to tremble, only a little at first, but as she began to panic, it only got worse. Her eyes widened as she looked around, hoping none of her new neighbors were looking. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remember what her mom told her what to do. Come on, Rose... Breathe. Take deep breaths. You are human just keep telling yourself that. There's no reason to be stressed out. Just calm down. Take deep breaths. For the first time since she'd discovered her "condition," as her family called it, she felt the shaking begin to subside. She sighed with relief as her violent shaking was reduced to little shivers. Feeling quite proud of herself, she pulled a hoodie out of her backpack and slipped it on, looking around and hoping for a miracle- or at least an open window.