A Crash for Change

I seated myself in the back of my mom's car. She had just picked me up from school and my backpack was in the trunk.. Looking out the window I saw leaves dancing around people's feet. It was only late September, but the wind was strong so people wrapped thick scarves around their faces to keep themselves warm. I could see some older kids from school waiting at a bus stop. I remember my mom asking me what I did in school and I remember telling her that I went outside for class or something like that. But I also remember being cut off by the screeching of tires and the shouts of car horns. I remember calling to my mom for what seemed like hours without a response. I shot upright. “It’s just a dream, it’s just a dream.” I reassured myself. I still remember that day, it wasn’t exactly the happiest day of my life with my mom dying and all. I remember that day as the only day I saw my dad cry and the memories still burn in my mind, even though it happened about 8 years ago when I was 6. “Guess there’s no point in going back to sleep anyway it’s already 5 a.m.” I had this habit of talking to myself no matter who I was with or where I was. I pushed my curtains aside, the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, making one side of the sky a dark blue and the other a golden yellow. “Guess it’s time to get ready for school.”

Arriving at my house I started to feel nervous. I had to tell my dad why I’m late. I know I can’t say I had detention. I already had detention twice this week and it was only Wednesday. I checked my small electronic watch. 4:46. I guess this time it’s a bit better because it was only one hour long and not one and a half like last time. I slowly opened the front door.
“Robyn?” I didn’t answer. “Do you know what time it is?”
“Yeah I do, you gave me a watch didn’t you?” I walked into the living room. Dad was seated on the black leather couch reading a book bound in light brown leather.
“What are you doing home so late?” I searched my brain for a believable excuse.
“I was studying with Ashley” He gave me a puzzled look..
“We have a science test next week” I explained.
“Well you could’ve called me so I could pick you up instead of you having to walk to the subway station.”
“I left my phone at home.” I responded a little too quickly. I strolled out of the room and rushed up the stairs before he could ask me another question. Entering my room I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tossed it on my bed.
“Meeeooowww!”. Before I knew what had happened, the cat bolted out of the room.
“Stupid Cat” I got out my books. I sat on the floor and started to work on my homework.

That night at dinner, my brother and sister Sam and Kim were quietly having a discussion about a movie they saw. They were twins and looked similar. They both have dark blonde hair and brown eyes like Dad did. They were both about 5’5” ,but Sam was about an inch taller. Apart from their quiet chatter the only sound was the clatter of silverware against plates. I glanced at Dad, he was looking at a map.
“I need to tell you something.” We all looked at him
“Who died?” I blurted out.
“We’re moving in with Grandpa and Grandma” He announced ignoring me.
We all looked at him.
“They live on a vineyard in France and Grandma used to be a teacher ,so she could homeschool all three of you.”. We nodded.
“Since we’re moving can we get rid of the cat?”
“No Robyn, we have to keep Mittens”.
“So that’s what his name is.” I thought. I put my dish in the sink and sat back down at the table.
“When do we leave?”.
“Friday morning’ he answered.
“I’ll go pack” I went up the stairs, careful not to make a noise.

BEEP! BEEP! My alarm screamed. Mittens screeched and tumbled off my desk before dashing out into the hall. “Why does he always have to be in my room?”. Today was Friday, so I guess that meant I had to leave this city behind. I heard a knock on my door.
“Robyn, you awake”
“Yeah Dad I’m awake.” I replied
“We’re leaving at 6”
“Ok” I went into the bathroom and attempted to tame my hair with a brush. After I was done changing I opened my bedroom door. A wave of my sister’s perfume and Sam’s cologne assaulted my nose. The smell wasn’t pleasant it reminded me of  sweaty fruit.
“Do you have to put so much on you are stinking up the house!” I yelled down the hall. I could hear footsteps getting closer.
“It smells like a stink bomb went up in here” Dad shouted from the stairs. I grabbed my backpack and dragged it down the stairs. Sam warned
“Careful.”. When I was downstairs, I tossed my backpack into the garage. Sam came in with a Cat cage while Kim tried to hold the cat in her arms. We all got in the car while Dad made sure we didn’t forget anything. During the car ride Mittens was howling and it took about 2 hours for us to get there because of a traffic jam.

The time we spent up in the air made me feel sick. When we finally got out I breathed a sigh of relief. Outside I saw Grandma and Grandpa. They looked a lot older than the last time I saw them. Grandpa was tall and thin with thin gray hair and Grandma’s hair looked like it was dyed. We had to walk around in the parking lot to look for their car. They owned a royal blue truck that looked as if it had just been cleaned. Since there were 5 of us I rode in their truck while Sam,  Kim, and Dad got driven by Dad’s brother. His name was Tom and he looked nothing like Dad, he had shiny black hair that was slicked back and had warm brown eyes maculated with silver specks.

When we arrived on the Vineyard I could see animals in the front there was a small pen with the chickens and another pen with pigs. Out in the pasture was a couple sheep and cows. Their house was a large cream colored Victorian style house. My room was in the attic. There was a large triangular window facing the pasture.
“Doesn’t seem like such a bad place I whispered as I shut the door.