Just a Little

            “Okay, see you Saturday? Bring whoever you want. I know! I can’t wait either! We’ll go for ice cream after. My treat. Okay, okay.” I stuffed my phone back in my pocket and lifted my head up and took a whiff of the crisp autumn air. You could almost smell the new beginnings that the season had to offer. And the misfortune too. It was a day like this one when my parents had revealed the secret.

            I knew something was up from the moment my parents brought me the expensive pair of boots I had my eye on, all wrapped up in pink paper with a big bow on top. Hey pumpkin, they had said. We brought you something.

            I had cautiously picked off the tape, and all my suspicion forgotten when I saw the shoes. I squealed, and my dad nodded at my mother, a serious look in his eyes. And then they told. Everything came out, from how it started to how it’s going to end. Nothing in our plan is going to change, then told me. You will have to adjust.

            I remember I cried for a week, until it was time to go. I had refused to touch anything but my bed, so my parents packed for me. My room was empty, gone, everything that made it homey were in brown cardboard boxes.

            The day came, and the boxes were loaded into the moving truck. I was dragged into the car, screaming the whole time. We drove to the airport, and my mom and dad took turns pulling me through security, through luggage check-in, through the airplane doors. I was limp, lifeless, my life left behind along with my soul.

            The five hour flight ended, and I stumbled behind my parents out of the Madison airport. We sat in the rental car, and drove another hour to our new home. The little cottage looked so welcoming, but so did those beautiful boots. Little blueberry bushes grew by the slightly crooked front steps, and ivy crawled up the peach walls. The sun suddenly came up, and raindrops on the roof glistened. My mom had pulled me close, and whispered in my ear. I promise you everything will probably change, but in the best way, she murmured. I had given a small nod, before taking the keys and running in to choose my room. I found a bedroom with the same pale pink wallpaper as my old room. Except instead of the tiny little raspberries that had dotted it, this wallpaper had small blueberries. I had thought back to the ancient raspberry trees in our backyard back in California, and then remembered the little blueberry bushes by the steps.

            I gave myself a slight smile. My mom was right. Everything would change, but just a little.