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{ c h a p t e r o n e }
“Meredith...? Are you even listening to me?”
The voice belonged to my mother, who was once again pestering me about something. I wasn’t entirely sure what it was, however, seeing as I had once again zoned out during her rant. Although I knew my ignoring her was rather disrespectful and I was likely going to be grounded (again), I simply couldn’t help it. Tuning people out had become second nature to me. Half the time I didn’t even think about it. My mother didn’t seem to understand that though...
“Sorry Mom. I thought I saw something outside. What were you saying?” Playing the part of the penitent child, I looked at my mother attentively as I waited for her to continue. Unfortunately for me, my attention simply couldn’t remain on the woman for more than a few seconds. As soon as she continued speaking, my gaze wandered back towards the window. It was raining outside, as it always was. Forks was such a gloomy town. I knew that I would never grow to like the constant rain, nor would I ever come to like the small town atmosphere of the town. In Forks, everyone knew everyone, and I hated it.
Just as my mother shot a disappointed glare in my direction, I snapped back to attention. She was droning on and on about something...I just wasn’t entirely sure what it was.
“...And I think a trip to Alaska would be wonderful—”
At that, my eyes widened with shock. Alaska? That definitely wasn’t going to happen. I opened my mouth to protest, to tell Mom just how terrible an idea that was. Alaska...? Who in the world would want to vacation in a freezing wasteland like that? Just as my frenzied thoughts were about to spiral into absolute panic, a burst of laughter escaped my mother’s lips.
“That...that was cruel!” I stammered, folding my arms across my chest defensively. She was kidding...seeing if I was listening... My cheeks began to burn as I turned away from the woman, irritation flashing through my mind. “That wasn’t funny at all, Mom.” I glanced over my shoulder at her. The brunette woman’s lips were curved into a smirk as she stared at me, and I soon came to realize that she hadn’t been kidding. “Are you serious? Alaska, Mom?” I turned back to face my mother as horror began to seep into my senses. The mere thought of spending a month in Alaska was worse than any medieval form of torture. Go ahead and test me. I would much rather be stretched apart or perforated by a row of spikes than be forced to endure the abomination better known as the forty-ninth state.
My mother, whom most people addressed as Elisabeth Kofsky, simply shrugged and turned around to face the window. I could picture the look of amusement on her slightly wrinkled face. After all, the woman was at least forty-three. Her light brown hair was French braided to the middle of her back. Although I’d always told Mom that she should get a haircut, she always refused. She would say something about long hair being a tradition or spout something else. As usual, I would tune her out after the first few words. Of course, it would never be entirely on purpose.
“No, I’m not serious. Alaska...Alaska’s too far away for my tastes anyway.” Elisabeth shrugged and stepped towards the window. Her gaze absentmindedly studied the greenery of the landscape outside before finally returning to me. “But I’d love to go,” she added, a wistful tone in her voice.
I sighed loudly as I caught the unspoken request. Even if I personally didn’t want to go, I would doubtless have to. My mother would find some way to guilt or bribe me into “vacationing” in Alaska. At the mere thought of Alaska, a shiver ran down my spine.
“But...it’s really cold there Mom. Do you think you’ll be able to handle it?” I protested weakly. That was my last attempt as an Alaska-free summer. Unfortunately, I could already tell that this was a losing battle.
And that was how I found myself standing in the middle of total whiteness.
A total whiteness that was actually a raging blizzard.
A blizzard that I honestly had no chance of surviving.
 wayxtoxdawn · Sat May 10, 2008 @ 04:44am · 1 Comments |
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