Chapter 1: Curiosity

After her father's death strange things start to happen.

Fallen

 

Chapter 1

Curiosity

 

 

 

The day seemed to drag on. A thin overcast that covered the sky; a small breeze blew through the leaves of the two or three trees scattered about the cemetery. She could smell the freshly mowed grass and the only sound was the cries from her mother next to her. The casket was slowly being lowered into the 6ft. deep hole and it only seemed to deepen the emptiness in the heart of the daughter.

 

The funeral ended shortly after that so she stayed and just stared at the grave her father was just put in. Her mother and cousin Stephanie were the only other ones left besides her and they sat with each other while she stood emotionless in front of a man she hardly knew. He had died in New York, a mugger shot him. She never was exactly sure what her father did for work and all her mom said was he worked for a large company and that he did a lot of the grunt work; meeting people, setting up accounts, solving problems, and things like that. He wasn't home a lot because of his need to travel for work.  Actually he was never home. She hasn't seen him once in the last 13 years.

 

She didn't say anything during the drive home and just looked out the window and tried to think about why she didn't feel anything. The many trees seemed to pass by slowly, each with their own defining qualities that made them different from each other.

 

Her mom seemed to be the only one that really knew him or anything about him. Her father didn't have any family members, he was an orphan and only the mother's side and a few friends of hers came to the funeral.

 

After they got home, the mother and the daughter climbed out of the black Dodge Neon.

 

The house was a fairly big house for just the mom and daughter. It had red brick and dark-tan panel siding all around. The yard was mostly grass except for right up next to the house was pine-needles and a nice, thick layer of 3 inches lined the house instead of the usual bark that is used for decoration.

 

They sat down in the living room across from each other. There was silence for the longest time and it seemed almost awkward to speak.

 

"Amber." The words barely escaped the mom's lips.

 

"Yes?" She asked as she wondered what could be going through her mother’s mind.

 

"How are you sweetie?" She said softly as she seemed to stare right through Amber.

 

After Amber took a deep breath she said, "Fine." She closed her eyes and smiled.

 

"Good." They sat there as the silence came back.

 

Amber didn't know how long they sat there, but eventually the mom got up and went to her room. She wanted to follow her mom and give her a hug and not let go until she felt better, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to move. It was unusual for Amber to see her mom like that because she was never sad or unhappy and was always upbeat and positive.

 

The front room seemed smaller since Amber was last there. She had spent the last 2 years at college and hasn't been home to visit in a while. When things weren't going well at school she decided to take some time off to figure things out and came home to spend it with her mom just a few months ago.

 

Amber noticed her mom put a new desk in the front room and placed the desktop computer dad got her on top of it. It was a dark brown wood, perhaps oak or mahogany. She didn't know anything about trees and their colors; just felt like she would try to guess and maybe occupy my mind with thoughts other than her mom and even her own thoughts.

 

The short but annoying doorbell broke the silence she started to feel comfortable with since first mention of her father’s death. Amber went and opened the door to see her cousin Stephanie who stood there with two cups of To-Go coffee from the gas station down the street.

 

"Hey, Amber" She said. Amber waved her in and shut the door behind her. They sat down in the living room across from each other, the same spots her and her mother sat in just a moment ago.

 

"So how are you?" Stephanie asked as she handed Amber one of the cups of coffee.

 

"I'm alright." She wasn't in the mood to have coffee, but Amber took it anyway.

 

"Steph, I don't know how to help my mom feel better." Amber said.

 

"Well, it will take time I guess." Stephanie said.

 

They didn't say much besides small talk mainly. The living room was silent except for the tick-tock from the grandfather clock the mother got for Christmas last year from the father.

 

"I'm feeling a little tired. Maybe you should go and we can talk later." Amber got off the couch and went to the kitchen and put the coffee on the counter. Stephanie followed her.

 

"Are you sure?" Stephanie asked.

 

"Yeah" Amber answered.

 

“Listen I know you didn’t know him, but he was still your dad, you know?” She said.

Amber didn’t reply.

 

"Okay, see ya later I guess. Call me if you need anything." She left the kitchen hesitantly as she considered if she should stay or not. Amber then heard the front door shut behind Stephanie as she left.

 

Her house had always been big and empty except for her mom, she gave life to the house and now that her mom was depressed it seemed lonely and quiet. The house was bought by her dad as a wedding gift for the mom, but he was never around. Amber only had a few memories of him from when she was a child and he was kind and very playful with me. It seemed like he just left out of nowhere; for no reason. Thirteen years of her life without him around, so much time wasted. Amber last saw him when she was 7 years old and only asked her mom once why he left, but for some reason it didn’t interest her, not as much as it has started to since his death.

 

The mom said to Amber plainly, "His job is very important. He is trying to make the world a better place for you and me." She then smiled and said nothing more. They didn’t get divorced or have a fight and separate so she always wondered why her dad never came home or why they never went to visit him.

 

She got a glass of water and sat down at the kitchen table. There was junk mail and bills piled up from the past two weeks that her mom just hasn't cared to look at so Amber decided to look at them and start to get our lives back on track. As she scanned the mail and organized them she came across a letter addressed to our house with Amber’s name on it. It was sent from her father, but she had not seen it in the pile before but maybe the mom brought it in with her.

 

The letter was on white paper, but it seemed a little worn and after she looked it over Amber read it. The first part of it was in some weird writing, it used strange symbols and letters she didn't recognize and it took up about half the letter. The second half was in English:

 

My Little Princess, I’m sure this may seem strange to you. If you are reading this letter I am no longer here. You and your mother are my world. You are everything to me. I did what I had to do in order to protect you and your mother and I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but let me assure you it would be best that they are left unanswered. I have set up your lives so that the two of you could live happily. I just wish I could share it with you. Your mother is aware of everything and knows what to do so don’t worry. What you are not aware of is just how special you are. Remember that. I've always loved you and I wish so much that I could've seen you grow up or at least talked to you. My work has been distracting to say the least. Please live your life to the fullest knowing that I have intended nothing less of a wonderful life for the two of you so that you would never have to suffer. Be there for each other and do not give up at anything, ever. That is where you are strong. You're persistence. You are very smart and knowledgeable and as you grow you will see that more and more. Do not let anything change who you are. In the Real world, I want you to understand that love is one of the greatest powers. I love you Amber.

 

She set the letter down confused and didn't understand a lot of what he said. Amber picked up the letter firmly in her hand and rushed upstairs to her mom's room. She tried to open the door, but it was locked.

 

"Mom, open the door! I have a letter from dad." She knocked on it a couple of times, but there was no answer.

 

"Mom?”

 

She went to her room and grabbed a bobbie pin then rushed back to her mom's door. She bent it straight and stuck it in the hole of the door knob then pushed it in and twisted and turned it around until there was a small click. Amber had learned to pick locks back in high school when one of her locker's dials was broken. She told the school office and they gave her another locker on the other side of the school away from all her classes so she decided to keep the locker and her friend taught her how to open it with most small or tiny items, her favorite was a bobbie pin being as convenient as it was.

 

Amber twisted the knob and pushed the door open; her mom was on her bed face up, eyes closed.

 

"Mom get up this is important! It's about dad!" She went over and sat down next to her and tried to push a little to wake her. She didn't move.

 

"Mom wake up" She slowly opened her eyes.

 

"Sweetie, please. I want to be alone right now." Her mom's words seemed almost cold.

 

"I'll leave you alone in a minute. Just talk to me and explain this letter dad sent." Amber held the letter out to her and she slowly took it from her and looked it over as her dark blue eyes moved from side to side as she read the letter.

 

"He's just telling you he loves you and giving you some advice for the future." She handed the letter back to Amber and rolled onto her side. She could hear in her mother’s voice the pain she must have felt to lose her husband and she seemed so distant. Amber looked at her short light blond hair, which she recently cut, cover the side of her face and hide the tears she just started to cry.

 

"I know that much mom, but what about these other things like, "Your mother is aware of everything." Aware of what? What does that mean?" Amber asked, but she didn't answer.

 

"Mom! Talk to me!" Amber started to get upset as she raised my voice.

 

"What about this part that says he set something up for us that ensures our happiness?" I asked.

 

"Money" She said with a sigh.

 

"What do you mean?" Amber asked.

 

"Your father left us a savings account with a lot of money in it plus his life insurance policy. He wanted us to be able to live comfortably should he die."

 

Amber put her hand on her mom’s arm. "But why did he do that? Was his job dangerous or something? And what was it that he had to do in order to protect us?" Amber tried to calm herself down as she asked.

 

"We will talk about it later. It’s very important that I be left alone right now." Amber paused for a moment to think about what to do, but with her impatience and the fact her own thoughts just confused her more she got up and stormed out of the room in frustration.

 

The next week was hard for Amber, but it was even harder for her mom. Amber guessed after the funeral the reality of her dad's death caught up to her mother.

 

She stayed in her room all day and night and sometimes Amber would wake up to the sound of her mom as she got out of bed in the middle of the night, but she never left her room. Her mom just paced around, her footsteps slowly got softer and louder. After a few minutes Amber couldn't listen to her mom walk anymore and would slowly drift back to sleep.

 

Every time Amber tried to talk to her she would tell her to leave and that they would talk later, but Amber wouldn't drop it and they got into a lot of arguments. Amber had never been more frustrated in her life and every time she tried things just got worse, but Amber had no idea why her mom wouldn’t tell her anything about her dad whenever she asked. She never really questioned a lot before now because when she was a little girl her mom would just tell her the same thing over and over again, "That he was a wonderful man and he loved us very much." and now for some reason her curiosity began to drive her crazy as she wanted to know everything about him.

 

"That he was a wonderful man and he loved us very much."

 

Finally the itch of curiosity got the best of her and she went into her room infuriated and demanded she tell her everything she asked about.

 

Amber stood there and waited.

 

Waited.

 

As Amber looked at her she slowly realized her mom was still in the dress she wore to the funeral and it was strange she had not noticed it before then. Amber guessed her mind was so focused on other things she didn’t notice until she stopped to really look.

 

"Mom?" No answer.

 

Amber went over and touched her, she was ice cold. The color from her face was gone and she didn't breathe so Amber put her head to her chest, but couldn't hear or feel a heartbeat. Amber’s lungs tightened and heart skipped a beat when she realized what happened.

 

"Mom!" Amber screamed as tears were already down her cheeks.

 

 

 

It was darker, colder than just a little over a week ago. The clouds rolled low in the sky as the smell of rain lofted in the air and the cemetery looked the same; unchanged in the time since her dad’s funeral not very long ago, but it felt different.

 

Amber sat with many people around her in front of her mother’s grave, but it felt like she was all alone. Things did not sit well with Amber as her mom's tombstone was placed next to her dad's.

 

Amber felt nothing for her father just a few days ago, nothing, but a few small semi-happy memories from her childhood until he left them. At first, she felt nothing for him, but now a surge of emotions from an anger that burned her chest and swirled around her stomach that begged to get out, to confusion, sadness, and hate. She hated him. Amber hated him because he left her and because he left her mom and now her mom is dead because of him and she hated him even more for that.

 

Amber’s uncle had given the eulogy. She hadn't seen him in a long time and he was still bald by choice; under his eyelids you could see he hadn't slept much and his eyes were red from tears over the loss of his sister. Most of his speech Amber didn't pay attention to as her mind was somewhere else, but near the end he said a few words before they lowered her mom's casket into the grave that stuck with her:

 

"They say that there are two blue birds, two soul mates, that when one of them dies the other cannot go on living without them and they simply give up living and die so that they can be together again. As sweet and romantic an idea as it sounds we lose another good soul in this world. She is now in heaven with God. She is now with her soul mate. She is happy again."

 

As he said those words Amber wondered if her mom really let herself die to be with him, to be happy again. Then the realization came to Amber hard, that they both left her. She was all alone. Her anger faded away and was replaced by sadness.

 

Once again Amber was the last one to leave the cemetery. There was rain that poured down as she walked through the rows of graves. All of them looked the same to her with the light gray color of the marble stone that sat embedded into the ground to show the resting place of the dead.

 

The only sound was the light thuds as the drops of water hit her umbrella and her soft footsteps on the damp grass below and then she stopped and stared across the cemetery as the rain fell from the sky with so many thoughts that went through her mind and at the same time felt like she thought nothing. 

 

As she turned around to take one more look at her mother’s grave Amber saw someone at the grave. It looked like a man with a brown trench coat, brown hair, and held a small bouquet in his hands. The man bent down to set the flowers on the grave and as he rose turned and stopped to look at Amber. Her body froze. She couldn't see his face, but could feel his gaze bare down on her. The rain made everything look kind of hazy as it started to pour harder around them. She told her legs to move, to turn me around so that she could leave, but my feet refused to move almost like she was paralyzed. The man didn't move either as he stood there and looked at Amber with a look that could pierce right through her. A bolt of lightning crossed the sky quickly followed by an earth-shaking clap of thunder.

 

The man was gone and all of a sudden Amber’s body was released as she moved backwards a step to catch up with the commands she had been giving her mind. She turned and looked around the cemetery for the man, but he was nowhere to be seen and yet there was nowhere for him to disappear to, no nearby trees or tombstones for him to hide behind. She looked directly at him and he just vanished into thin air. A part of Amber said to turn around and go home, but the other edged her on to go look at her mother’s grave, not long and the curiosity of who he was and that maybe she would find something about him if she went over there like a note on the bouquet. The latter suggestion won over my better judgment as I moved towards my mom’s grave.

 

Amber cautiously walked over to where her parent’s graves lay. Before she got up to leave she watched them cover up my mom's grave with a tarp to prepare for the rainfall. Small puddles of water started to gather around the cemetery as the rain got heavier and as Amber arrived there was a small bouquet of roses, about four or five that sat on my mom's grave. She leaned over and picked them up and brought the flowers under her umbrella out of the rain to look at them and her eyebrows furrowed with surprise and confusion by what she saw. The roses were all dead. Amber lifted them up to her nose to see if the roses still smelled, but all there was to smell was the rain so she set them down and just stared at them with a strange sense of familiarity that lingered on her mind.

 

A powerful gust of wind caught hold of her umbrella and bent it outwards as it broke; she lowered it to her side and just continued to stare at the dead roses to make her brain work. She stood there in the rain that continued to blanket the cemetery in rolling waves for what seemed like a long time and her clothes got heavier as the rain soaked her completely. After a little while Amber couldn't think anymore and nothing made sense anymore so she turned to leave the cemetery.

 

Amber didn't want to be alone so she drove to her cousin Stephanie's apartment who let her inside quickly to get her out of the rain and immediately followed her to the bathroom to get out of the wet clothes.

 

She let Amber borrow her bathrobe while they let her clothes dry. She crawled into Stephanie’s bed and pulled the covers up to her face. Stephanie sat down on the ground with her knees to her chest and rested her head on her knees. Stephanie had a nice complexion that Amber was always jealous of since they were teenagers. Stephanie looked at Amber with her dark blue eyes that reminded her of Amber’s mom's eyes and her long dirty-blond hair was like silk. They didn't talk for a little bit, but eventually they got past the awkwardness from the funeral.

 

"So what are you going to do now?" Stephanie asked.

 

"I don't know." They both sat there without an answer until Stephanie suggested something.

 

"Why don't you go back to college?" She said.

 

"I can't go back now."

 

"Why not? I mean it would be good for you. Get away from all this sadness and depression for a while." She said as she tried to sound optimistic.

 

"Maybe" Amber said as she sat up in the bed and pulled the covers off to about her waist.

 

"I mean you came back to take a year off. I don't think it would be bad to go back a bit early and catch the last semester before the year was over." Stephanie’s idea made sense and Amber couldn't let herself dwell in this negative place for long. They talked for a while and Amber decided she would sleep on it because the thought to go back to school so soon did not excite her however, more importantly she didn't feel like she could just leave now that her mom was gone because it made her feel like she was abandoning her mother should Amber leave the house.

 

“My mom seemed different at the end.” She stated quietly.

 

“What do you mean?” Stephanie asked.

 

“We always talked and shared everything whenever I was home and even at college. We were so close and when my dad died she just shut off. She stopped talking to me and wouldn’t share anything. Barely said anything either.” Amber started to cry so Stephanie got up and came over to me to comfort her, arms wrapped around Amber and she just let herself fall into Stephanie’s comforting embrace. Stephanie even cried a little with Amber.

 

"Everything will be okay." She said softly. "You've got the whole family here for you."

 

"Thank you." Amber whimpered out loud as could while trying to recover her composure.

 

Shortly after that Amber got tired and decided it would be best for her to go home. She thanked Stephanie for the conversation and said goodbye.

 

It was late at night as Amber drove her mom's car to the house after Stephanie’s place. She didn’t know what time it was and didn’t really care to know as nothing really seemed important anymore. The drive seemed very long; a lot longer than it usually was, at least it seemed like it and whenever Amber drove at night it made her a little drowsy, with the hum of the engine and the repetitive patterns on the road and streets pulled her eyes shut, but she always managed to stay awake.

 

She pulled into the driveway and pushed the garage door opener then drove the car inside and pushed the button again to close it. The dim light from the garage was the only light inside the garage with a little that came in from the street lights outside.

 

Amber looked towards the door and saw a shadow move across the garage wall in front of her; frightened she stopped and looked back through garage window where the shadow’s source had to of come from the outside.

 

A couple of windows in the garage door peered out to the street and a few other houses which wasn’t very well lit with just one street light that flickered on and off from time to time. Amber walked over to a window and looked out, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary as she had to stand up on her tippy-toes just to look around the sides where someone may have passed by and then the dim garage light went out leaving the garage darker except for the light that came in through the windows.

 

Amber didn't see anyone so she returned to the flats of her feet and balanced returned as she began to turn towards the door that led into the house when she noticed on the wall the shadows cast from the windows that outlined a dark figure of a man that could hardly be made out in the dim light. She gasped and almost screamed as she turned her back to the garage door to face whoever was there, but no one was. As she let her eyes focus on the small dark-lined shadows cast from the bars across the windows that took the shape of what looked like a stick figure man. Amber laughed at herself and went inside the house and straight to bed.

 

In her sleep she felt as though she was awake somehow on the borderline or being awake and dreaming. Amber believed she had a dream where there really was not much to see and she did not know where she was. Amber then stood in the middle of an alley, alone. There was no light except for one beam of light that came from straight ahead, it was kind of like the light that peeked in through a cracked door, but there was no door just the alley walls. The alley seemed old and cracked with black asphalt that soon the color seemed to fade to gray then to white as it just went on forever into that light. She started to walk, but her legs didn't move like they usually do even though her mind was quick and alert, her body just seemed to be slow like it tried to catch up with the commands she gave from her mind as if everything was in slow motion and just then something dark pierced the small amount of light that filled up the alley. A shadowed outline of a man immediately consumed all of me in that small space as she looked at him no distinguished features could be seen. Then it started to walk towards her quickly and as soon as he took his first step Amber was struck with an unearthly fear. She turned to run, but still moved so slowly and did not seem to go anywhere in the endless alley way. She looked behind her and the shadow was closer, it seemed to almost move like it jumped from spot to spot and the figure itself was blurred as it got closer and closer in just a matter of seconds as it covered too much ground for a normal person. She turned her head forward again and tried with all her strength to push forward, to force herself to run faster. Amber screamed out for help and heard nothing, there was no sound so she turned back to look at the shadow which was right behind her, its hand stretched out. All Amber could see was just an outline of a man with no face, no hair, no skin, and no eyes, just a pitch black darkness however, she could feel this gaze; this piercing stare from it that made her hair stand on end. Its hand slightly landed on Amber’s shoulder and she jerked her back to shake it off, but there was a brief stab of pain, ice cold pain where the shadow touched me. It lasted only a second as Amber was able to brush the shadow off her.

 

She forced herself awake and finally came out of the nightmare in a slightly cold sweat. Her breath was staggered a bit as she looked around her dark room and felt safe as she realized it was her room and pretty soon calmed down; she lay back down, and wrapped her arms around her little teddy bear, Stuart. Amber has had him since she was a little girl, just another reminder of her dad since he gave it to her. She did not move for a long time and just stared at the wall for what seemed like hours until eventually she slipped back into a comfortable state and fell asleep.

 

Amber woke up feeling strange. She didn't know what it was, but just felt like something hovered over her, like something or someone was watching her. Amber got in the shower wash to try and wash away the feeling.

 

She could see her reflection in the shower head; her brown hair looked black from the water which she did not mind the way she looked with black hair in fact she kind of liked it, her hair wasn't that long unfortunately because she wanted it very long just made the mistake to trim the frayed ends just a little too much, too often, it was just below her shoulder, but wanted it longer because she thought she would look prettier and could do more things with it. Amber got out of the shower and dried off, after that wrapped a towel around her and did her daily ritual to judge herself in the mirror and stared at everything she wanted to change as she brushed her teeth, except she was proud of her teeth because they were a beautiful pearl white that she kept healthy.

 

The other thing she did like about herself was her eyes because they were a beautiful hazel color; a nice green color around the pupil then layered with brown, her eyes kind of looked the way an eclipses sun looks, the moon all black with a slight fiery ring of light around it except with green and brown and she loved them. However she was continually told by her mother she had her father’s eyes and that bugged her now more than ever.

 

Amber finished up in the bathroom which helped a lot with the strange feeling which seemed to disappear except for a moment when she passed my mom's room. She stared into it and hoped to see her mom as she used to be when she was happy, but now she could only imagine how she looked on the bed the last time her mother was here. It was very traumatic for her and was still having trouble with thoughts of it, but this weird thought rose as she looked at her mom’s lifeless body at the funeral that she seemed, peaceful. Amber shook it off and went downstairs to the kitchen to make breakfast.

 

Amber sat down at the table with a bowl of Captain Crunch cereal and started to eat it and read over some of the mail that was still left on the table. She came across the envelope that held the letter her dad wrote and looked at the address it was sent from which was New York City. When she started to think about it she got curious at who sent the letter because it was a personal letter, especially with that weird writing so she did not think the company he worked for sent it, maybe a friend or even a co-worker sent it after he died, like they found it in his office or at his apartment.

 

She got up and went to the living room to turn on the desktop computer. Amber had to teach her mom how to do everything from the Internet and email to operating the music player. It wasn't that hard for Amber, but it was for her, it is just the product of a different generation.

 

After a minute the computer booted up and she logged onto the Internet and did a Google Earth search on the address on the envelope and zoomed in very close once it finished and it came to an apartment building which she thought that maybe that was where he lived, but that seemed stupid from the amount of money her dad had. At the funeral, her father’s, her mother got his will and when she died Amber got both their wills and she was the sole recipient of everything. The dad left millions of dollars for her and her mom which she couldn't believe, she still doesn't. The house was given to her too, but she didn't care at all about any of that because she just wanted her mom back more than anything.

 

Amber’s curiosity started to really bug her and couldn't help but wonder about her dad, New York, his letter, and everything. Something just didn't seem right and she looked at herself in the reflection of the glass on the grandfather clock off to the side of the room.

 

"What should I do?" She asked herself. Amber stared into her own eyes and hoped they would give her an answer just as a loud knock at the door broke her concentration.

 

She pulled her towel up and made sure it was tight and got angry with herself because her clothes were upstairs on the bed. Amber went to the door anyway and opened it, Michael, her boyfriend stood there with flowers, a bouquet of roses, not her favorite at this point as her mind flashed back to the dead ones on her mom's grave. He smiled and put his arms around her and she hugged him back.

 

"Are you okay sweetie?" He asked. Amber nodded and let him inside and they went to the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase with water.

 

"I came as soon as my conference ended." He said. Michael was a rich boy and his father was a huge broker guy or something on Wall Street. Amber did not really understand what he did regardless of how slowly he explained it. He started to follow in his father’s footsteps and is doing well for only being 25 years old and they have been dating about 2 years and she loved him. He was a good boyfriend, but she didn't know what to think about anything more serious then where they were right then because he has brought up the idea of marriage once or twice which Amber wasn't too keen on for only being 19 years old, she didn’t feel ready.

 

They went into the living room and talked about everything, the funerals and how she felt mainly, but she didn't tell him about the dream because that did not seem important at the moment, but did tell him about the letter from her dad and he was confused as well, but was sure there was some logical explanation.

 

Amber liked to look at his face as they talked because he was a beautiful guy with a great smile; nice round cheeks, but not in the fat way, more like dimples, but not quite. He had very light brown eyes to match his short wavy hair. She definitely considered herself lucky that he picked her over the many girls out there that Amber thought were a lot prettier than her. She always wondered why he loved me because Amber didn't think much of herself, she knew all of her good qualities and she knew she was smart, pretty, and kind of funny, but she hasn't done anything fun in her life and doesn't have crazy or fun stories and experiences to share. She had a very normal dull life, nothing extraordinary about it.

 

Amber told him about going back to school early and he thought it would be a good idea and he tried to cheer her up about it, but she just wasn't in the mood.

 

They spent the day together and just relaxed then he ended up spending the night at my house. It felt good to have someone there with her while she slept, she felt safer, but didn't fall asleep at first because so many thoughts still ran through her mind. When she did finally fall asleep there were no nightmares and as she slept it felt good to be unconscious and not have the stress of the world weigh down on her. Amber wished she could just sleep and never wake up, but no one gets what they want most of the time.

 

Amber woke up to the smell of bacon that Michael had got from the kitchen to make breakfast so she quickly joined him after a trip to the bathroom to pretty herself up. She really loved the smell of bacon; it just had this aroma that when she smelled it she craved it like a dog craves a bone.

 

She enjoyed her time with him again because he was always so busy with work lately so after breakfast Amber took a shower and cleaned herself more thoroughly and took her time with the make up to look good for him. When she came back downstairs Amber had thought about it more while they talked it over she decided to go back to school.

 

Michael agreed and said he was happy she was, but he had to leave for work in two days so they should make the best of the time they had together. Amber jumped for joy and they left the house to get out and have fun. He took her shopping which was always something that cheered her up and then got some ice cream and took a walk in the park near the mall. They shared a wonderful dinner together at the restaurant they had their first date at and even ordered the same food. The next day was even better as he cooked for her again and then we went boating on a lake and had a picnic, they did not get to spend a lot of time together as he would only visit for a day or two and so they made the best of it.

 

After all the fun she had and was able to get her mind off things the day came where he had to leave again. He said it would be okay and would visit again soon. He thanked me for loving him; she smiled and felt a little better when he said that and then they said their goodbye's which Amber always hated.

 

Amber procrastinated the next few days, but the curiosity of New York and her dad drove her crazy so finally she drove to the university. She had only worked on generals because Amber was unsure of what to do with her life. She didn't have a major or even a minor; she supposed she had to look around to find her place in the world and in life, with no success so far and because of this lack of direction she decided to take time off from school and see what she could come up with before she continued.

 

Amber lived in Fayetteville, North Carolina her whole life and it was a nice place; very green because of the many kinds of trees everywhere, there were lakes and rivers and ponds all over the state that she liked to go swim in or take a trip on a boat, but she did not go often so it was always something exciting to go do.

 

She never really went anywhere else or traveled so when it came time for college Amber was really excited she got to go somewhere different, but was still close enough to home in case things did not work out so she could still feel kind of safe and familiar. In fact now that she thought about it she never had the desire to travel, but now she felt really pressed to get out and go somewhere else in the world.

 

After a few hours’ drive Amber pulled into the university parking lot, it has been a few months since she was last there, but it felt like it was such a long time ago as she made her way through the parking lot and into the main building. She visited her counselor a lot since she struggled with the choice classes for a major, his name was Mr. Grainger and he was a strange man. He liked to talk about old T.V. shows a lot though she never really listened, just nodded and smiled. Amber laughed every now and then when he made a joke to make it seem like she paid attention, some of them were funny, at least the ones she understood. He was in his forties and in her opinion he was a jolly, plump man with an obvious receipting hairline and glasses.

 

She surprised him and he almost had a heart attack he was so excited when he saw her come into his office because he wasn't expecting her for at least a few more months in the fall. No one was that excited to see me, as she thought, strange.

 

"Amber? What a lovely surprise. Please sit down. What can I do for you?" He asked all giddy.

 

"I'm looking to come back to school a little early." Amber said with a polite smile.

 

"Well, that's just fine. Let's see what classes we can set up for you." He spun a little in his chair to face his computer and started to type. She looked at his fingers type away at the keyboard as he licked his lips with excitement, everything else just seemed to go quiet except for the small tap of his fingers on the keys, Amber seemed to have spaced off for a moment, but it was then she had this strong feeling this was not right. She couldn't figure out what it was until her mind remembered New York and her dad and that feeling grew stronger and told her right then what to do and she was not ready for it, but knew that it was right and it was something she had to do.

 

“New York.” The words slipped her lips.

 

“What?” He asked.

 

"Mr. Grainger?" Amber asked.

 

"Yes dear?" Mr. Grainger said with a smile on his face.

 

"I've decided that I want to transfer to a university in New York." She said. Mr. Grainger first had a confused look on his face like he did not understand, but then it quickly turned into a sad look as he realized she was about to leave again.

 

 

Author's Note

This is the first chapter of my book. :)

Reviews

[Brittany]

This was very descriptive. Does the boyfriend move the story along later?

[Joel Adenyn]

Yes I have the whole book written. I've only put out this little bit to test the water. The boyfriend does participate in the book here and there. And I can't really explain his role without giving away story. :)