undecide fate, Dionne Newman [fb2 epub reader txt] 📗

UNDECIDED FATE
Tale Of Moonbeam

CHAPTER 1

I woke up listening to the calming beat of the rain hitting against my window. I took another ten minutes to lie still and listen, today would be the last day that I heard or saw rain in any form. My stomach flipped at the thought of what today was going to bring. You see today I was leaving my hometown of Gladysville in Pennsylvania to go and live with my papa in Reeth valley just outside of Austin, one of the warmest cities in America. I have lived in Gladdysville nearly all my life and I have grown to love the rain and the wind but starting from today that's all going to change. Three months ago my mother, an amateur dancer, was offered the chance to go to Chicago and become a choreographer for those in musicals, the offer was great but there was a small problem she couldn't take me with her. My mom really wanted this but she couldn't see an answer to the problem as she couldn't leave a sixteen year old girl by herself with no money and no clue what she would do all alone and my mom didn't want to be a burden to anyone by leaving me with a neighbour until I had enough cash to rent my own little apartment, so I decided for her, i phoned my grandfather who lived I Reeth Valley and he said i could stay as long as i wanted to, so today at 2 o clock me and my mom would be saying a heart breaking goodbye. This morning was a disaster i had already packed my clothes but it was only now that i realized that the clothes in my suitcase only suited weather like Gladdysville, cold, wind and rain. I searched through my entire summer closet and only found a small amount. This meant one good thing and one bad thing. The good thing was having no clothes meant shopping trip and according to the net shopping in Austin was a great experience. The bad thing was i had no money and no form of transport. I threw myself down on my bed and closed my eyes again listening to the sound of the rain falling. I took my suitcase down to the hall corridor and left it at the front door, turned back, went into the kitchen and sat down for a last meal with my mom. My mom's eyes were red and puffy probably because she had spent most of her night awake crying. I wanted to cry too but i had to be strong for my mother so i sucked up my feelings, gave a big smile and assured her that this was for the best; she gave a small nod in return. I went over to the large window in the sitting room looking out upon the great view of my little village. Gladdysville was in short beautiful with big mountains, lots of trees and grass and small puddles of rain water spotted all over the ground, Reeth Valley was a whole lot different too warm for plantation to grow much and narrow, dusty dirt roads. I had lived there until i was three, until my father passed away then after that my mom decided it was time for a change of scenery and the start of a new life. Two hours later i was sitting in my mom's green ford fiesta driving to the small airport with my mom silently sobbing, when we reached the airport i gave my mom a quick kiss and hug then walked through the huge main entrance. I thought it might have been better for both me and my mother if our goodbyes were short and sweet.


CHAPTER 2

i got checked in by an over-friendly redhead with a false smile after that i sat at a small quiet cafe reading my favourite book the "The Artful Dodger" i was engrossed in it and shocked when a robotic sort of voice came over the tannoy announcing that my flight was being boarded. “Right on time" i thought to myself. I headed towards my gate just up the corridor from the small cafe that i had just spent the past two and a half hours at. There was not many people boarding the flight to Austin and i felt like turning around and going home so i reminded myself that this was for my mom to have a chance at the life he's been missing out on. When i was seated i brought out my tiny MP3 player and sat listening to a variety of old and new songs the next thing i new i was sleeping and i felt as though i was floating away from earth and tumbling freely through space. I have no idea how long i was sleeping for but i was woken with a start as a smooth voice sounding as if it belonged in one of those "ole country and western films" came over the speakerphone above my head stating the flight had reached its destination. The small clump of people on the aeroplane cheered and clapped as we came to a halt. I looked out the small dusty window of the aeroplane window and heaved a sigh, the sun was absolutely shining as expected and the ground was dusty and cracked also expected stood up and started to make my way to the exit door of the flight. As soon as i got out of the door and into the long windy corridor that connected the aeroplane to the airport the heat hit me. I made my way forward to the luggage pick up point and collected my suitcase and started for the main doors. Outside the doors, in a small rusty truck was my grandfather or as i called him papa Joey. i ran towards the big old truck, wrenched the door open and hugged my grandfather, at first he seemed a bit shocked and i thought he might pull away but he wrapped his arms around me and kissed the side of my head, we sat like that for another couple of minutes and went i released him from m grip i saw that his eyes were brimming with tears. A bubble stuck in my throat and hot tears started running down my cheek. Papa Joey burst out laughing "look at us, both crying in the middle of an airport" he said with his gruff Texan voice, at that i started laughing too, though i don't know why. He held my hand as he pulled out of the airport and towards his house, my new home. We talked the full twenty minutes of the short journey. "You’re looking a bit thin aren't you"? He asked concerned. “Naah” i laughed “i take my figure of my mom” he smiled at me. We talked about a variety of things from school, growing up to be a young adult, clothes and fashion etc. We turned into a small street with three cottage type houses as the maximum capacity. The houses looked sweet, like the ones you read about in fairy tales. We pulled into the drive and got my luggage together, then papa Joey took me up to my room, showed me how to work the air conditioning and then left me to let me get myself sorted. I lay my suitcase flat down on my bed and had a look around the room. The wallpaper was a deep burgundy floral design. The curtains and bedding was also a deep burgundy, there was a small dressing table complete with a mirror by the window and by the door there was a plain wardrobe. There was a cheap glass chandelier type light hanging down from the ceiling and a burgundy lamp beside the little wooden bed. The room was simple but all in all it was quite pretty. I put my little bundle of clothes in a folded, neat pile in my wardrobe, put my other bits and pieces into the drawers in my dresser then went over to my window and looked out at the scenery of my new hometown. It wasn’t bad. The sun reflected off the ocean at the beach that was a mile off, there wasn’t much foliage but what was there was nice enough, there were many little, dried up dirt roads probably taking you into other little schemes around the small city, from my bedroom window you could see the village town and all the people casually strolling through it window shopping. I smiled, maybe i had overreacted a little, and maybe life in Reeth Valley wouldn’t be so bad. ”Claire” Papa Joey shouted “dinner is ready.” i left my bedroom and went downstairs, on the dinner table Papa Joey had laid out two plates of Shepherd’s pie with roast vegetables. It smelled good and it was now that i realised how hungry i was not having eat sine seven o clock this morning. I sat down and Papa Joey turned on the TV set and turned up the volume a little. I looked at my grandfather’s face and took it that he wanted some quiet until the news was finished. I respected that and silently tucked into my meal. It was delicious as far as pie and Vegetables could go. When i finished i took my plate into the kitchen area and searched for a dishwasher, there was none, so for the first time in my life i hand washed my dish and cutlery. I went back into the sitting room and sat without a sound until the news finished. As the news finished the phone rang, my grandfather got up and crossed the room to answer it. He talked for a couple of minutes, just about some stories he had heard on the news, then all he said was “yeah”, “uh-huh” or “mom-hmm” and a wide grin spread across his face “yes, okay, thank you, yes alright, goodbye”.

CHAPTER 3

He put the phone down and sat back at the table. “Claire, i forgot to tell you that you’re starting Reeth Valley high tomorrow, but don’t worry you’ll be fine”. I smiled at him and nodded “okay, sounds fun” but inside my stomach was flipping over and i started to feel dizzy, everything went black and the next thing i knew i was lying on the floor, my grandfather had my head cradled in his arms and he was staring down at me, his eyes wide with fear. I realized what happened and turned beet red. “Ummm, when i get nervous i faint, sorry” i mumbled. “It’s okay” he said sounding relieved. I stood up slowly and sat back down on my chair and Papa Joey handed me a small glass of water.