Today I woke up feeling refreshed, looking forward to the promises that the day held for me. I wanted to practice my trumpet for the annual football game in which the 8th graders played with the high school marching band to get a taste of what it’s like. I wanted to make a good first impression so that when I joined next year, they would all like me. Oh yeah, I’ll call my friends later to see if they wanted to play tennis. I knew I had to drastically improve my game if I wanted to make my high school team next year as a freshman. Saturday is my favorite day of the week because I can finally relax after a week of schoolwork. I was determined to not let anything spoil my day. When the smell from my dad’s scrambled eggs floated into my room, I knew it was time to get up because my breakfast was ready. As I frolicked down the stairs, I was unsuspecting that today was the day my world would crumble before my eyes. “Good Morning”, my dad said cheerfully, and without changing his tone, “We’ve decided that we’re going to move away”.

I froze in my seat and paused to comprehend the words that just passed through his lips. Then I cried out in protest “What? Who’s we? Why haven’t you told me before?”

“Aw, don’t be like that. The new house will be closer to our work so we can spend more time with you, instead of commuting”, he reassured, pushing some scrambled eggs toward me and beckoning me to eat.

“No, I don’t care. I don’t want to move! I don’t want to!”, I objected angrily, pushing the scrambled eggs away. How dare they? Who did they think they were to rob me of my perfect life?

“Our new house is very nice. I’m sure you’ll love it. The education system there is a lot better too. Your sister used to never be able to do anything afterschool, but that won’t be the case with you because we’ll be close enough to support your afterschool activities”, my mom insisted, who was washing the dishes.

What afterschool activities? There won’t be any afterschool activities if I don’t have any friends to do them with. What kind of logic is that? And why in the world would I love the new house when our house is already perfect? I angrily shouted back, “No, I don’t want to move!”

My dad’s face hardened. Putting his hands on his hips, he firmly replied, “You don’t really have a choice here, either you stay here alone while the rest of us move, or you can come with us”.

Us? Has everyone else already agreed to it? I looked at my mom; I saw no sympathy in her eyes. I shifted my gaze to my sister, who I knew I could always count on for support. I desperately searched for signs of sympathy but found none. She put her arm around me as if I was some wild puppy she found on the streets and told me in the most soothing voice, “Trust me, everything is going to be okay”.
How could everything be okay? It was going to be everything but okay. I can’t believe my sister would betray me like this but I realized I didn’t have a choice, which proved to be too much for me to handle. I looked at my sister’s arm, which was a snake ready to squeeze the life out of me, and was filled with utter disbelief and disgust. I tore away from her sickening comfort, stood up with a jerk, causing the floor to screech as I did so. I furiously shouted “No! I refuse!”, even though I knew I was already defeated, and ran into the living room, crashing right onto the carpet. I already had my next four years planned out in my head, how could they just take it away from me? As I lay there on my living room floor, I thought: How could this be happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? My life is over. I wanted to wake up to realize that this was all just a bad dream. I didn’t want leave my perfect house, my nice neighborhood, my irreplaceable friends – I didn’t want to leave this life. I began to weep on the floor, feeling as if my will to live had been sucked out of me. A chasm had opened beneath me and swallowed me into its depths.
I opened my eyes and realized I was back in my bed. Maybe this was all just a bad dream after all, but then I heard the sound of my dad taping up a box and felt my heart sink as if it was tied down to a rock at the bottom of a lake. I guess my dad must’ve carried me back. I wanted to complain to someone so I decided to message my best friend, Ben, on Facebook. As my computer slowly whirred to life, I wondered why, after all this time, I still haven’t accepted my father’s offer to replace it with a new one. It was my sister’s old computer so it was a little slow at times, but I thought I didn’t need one because it was working fine. It has caught a quite a few viruses in the past, but each time it easily fixable. Sometimes it gets dusty and dirty, but when I wipe it down, it looks just like new.
Ben is one of those guys who you wonder how many times he’s been held back. We were in the same grade, yet he’s a nearly a year older than me, or at least he says so; sometimes I think he’s at least five years older because he was a fairly easy going, mature guy. He face was dotted with pimples and he was starting to sprout a mustache – I felt so childish next to him. He dressed really simply, always a T – shirt with jeans or shorts, depending on the weather. There was something about this guy that was reassuring. He seemed to always know exactly what to say at the right time. As I complained to him about my dilemma, I could feel my keyboard groaning under my ecstatic typing. I found that the more I typed, the more worried and doubtful of my new life I became. After listening to my complaints, he sent back the message, “Life is hard”.
A tidal wave of realization hit me as I read those words. I realized that although there are some things in life that are beyond my control, the one thing I can control is how I deal with them. I can either mope in sadness and get nothing accomplished, or look at it with an optimistic perspective. This whole time, I thought I was alone in my struggle, but in reality, the rest of my family was going through the exact same thing. They were just more mature and looked at things more optimistically. It was me who was selfish, not them, because they understood that the move would be better for the family as a whole. By accepting that life is difficult, I knew if I wanted to enjoy it, I had to work with what I had and make the best of it. These three words pulled me out of the deep dark abyss that I thought I could never escape. These three words imbued me with a newfound strength and created a shield around me – I was invincible. I felt like I could deflect any bullets that life shot at me as long as kept calm. Nothing can hurt me now.
I thanked Ben for listening and closed Facebook. I turned around in my chair and scanned my room slowly and realized how dusty and disorganized everything was. Maybe moving wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. I’ll finally be able to clean my action figures and cars, and rearrange my books the way I want. I guess that change isn’t always a bad thing because it gives me the opportunity to try new things. I wondered what my life would be like. I haven’t given it much thought since I've only been sulking about how unlucky I was. I thought to myself: What color will I paint my room? What will my new friends be like? Will I even have friends? Suddenly, I remembered that I was pretty angry with my family earlier so I put the biggest smile I could and skipped lightly down the stairs. I saw my family and asked them in a cheerful voice, “So when are we moving?”. They looked at me as if they just witnessed a miracle happen right before their eyes. It’s true, a miracle did happen.
The day finally came and I bid my friends goodbye, but I wasn't sad – it was more of a bittersweet feeling. Yes, I would miss everything here, but I looked forward to my new life. While unpacking my belongings at the new house, I realized how tired I was so I placed the half unpacked box down and sat on the edge my bed, pausing to admire my surroundings. It seemed as if the atmosphere around me was holding its breath. It was the kind of tension you feel before something great is about to happen, in fact, I could feel the excitement coursing through my veins. I didn't know when the tension would be released, but I knew that when it did, all of the dust of my old life would be blown away and I would be thrust into the next chapter of my life to start anew whether I liked it or not. My job right now is to prepare myself for the new life ahead of me and all of its challenges. Sooner or later, dust would start accumulating again because life can throw unexpected daggers at me from all directions. But I know that all I have to do is stand up, dust off my shoulders, and everything will be okay.