Chapter One

Hours had passed since we embarked on this journey but we are nowhere close to our destination. The journey seems endless and my feet feel numb for sitting too long. 

"How long till we get there dad?" I asked with a grunt to show my discomfort. 

"Very soon Mona." He replied while adjusting the car rear-view mirror so he could see my face while Mom gave me a pleading look.

After minutes of driving on the highway, dad pulls off the tarred road at a sign that reads 'Welcome To Denvon Community' and into a dirty muddy road. The more we continue down the road, the more it feels like we are leaving civilization behind.

Both sides of the road are lined with tall trees and all there is to see is a very thick forest that goes as long as the eye could see.

I roll down the left door window and put my face out of it.

I can feel the wind on my face and the fresh intoxicating smell of nature filled my nostrils; I'm a lover of nature.

As mad as I am with moving, this place feels oddly welcoming to me and despite the fact that it's beyond civilization and nothing like Chutterston, my old home, I feel I might like it here too.

"Roll the glass up Amar, it's dangerous to do that in a place like this." Mom warned. 

Dad prefers to call me Mona, a pet name I had grown to love while mom will only call the short form of my name, 'Calling Amaris is too mouthful.' she claimed.

I rolled the glass up and rest my head on it, immediately missing the fresh air coming from the forest.

I didn't realize when I fell asleep but I woke up to the call of my name.

"We are here Mona," Dad called out to me excitedly while knocking on the car door. 

I open my eyes lazily and open the door, putting only my left foot out.

"C'mon Amar, don't be too lazy." Mom said impatiently from the other side of the car when I remain unmoving.

I put my other leg out then brace myself with the door and stood up from my sitting position, moving away from the car in a lazy manner.

Urghh! My bones felt stiff.

"How long have I been out?" I asked in-between a yawn while stretching my limbs.

"Long enough for us to offload everything in the car." Came mom's curt reply. 

I must have been really tired to have passed out like that.

"Don't be too harsh Laura, she's just exhausted by the long trip, we all are." Dad put in for me and I gave him a thankful look which he acknowledged with a nod. He's always there to save me from Mom's tongue-lashing. 

"Then she shouldn't just stand there like she's got nothing to do, she should get started with moving the bags in. We are not going to leave them all out, are we?" 

I took my time to take in the features of the house which is a brown roofed old bungalow coated in French gray paint faded by sunlight, with a brown wooden door and a parking shade that wouldn't admit two cars. The house stood in a clearing but not too far away from the trees. I wasn't expecting much for a place like this.

I pick up an old duffel bag lying next to me to avoid more complaint from mom and drag it into the house because of its heaviness.

Mom can be strict sometimes, but Dad is the complete opposite of her, gentle and more affectionate. I often wonder how the two of them ended up together.