Chapter 1

This is what I've got so far .... after deleting probably 10 different versions and rewriting them.

After nine hours of driving, Riley was elated and exhausted when she pulled up in front of the building that was now her home. She had rented the top floor of the two story building from a classified ad sight unseen, but the rent was good and she hoped having to use the stairs would help strengthen her still healing knee. The house looked recently renovated and well kept up; an old Victorian style in the historic part of downtown. It was painted a light sandy color with deep forest green shutters and a solid oak front door.

                Riley parked her truck along the curb and unfolded her stiff limbs as she climbed out of the seat. It felt good to stretch a little after being cramped in the cab. She grabbed her sea bag from the back of the truck, slowly climbed the old stone steps onto the front porch, and went inside to check out the rest of the house.

                Hobbling up the stairs, she leaned heavily on the banister for support and unlocked the apartment door. Riley dropped her bag unceremoniously on the floor and it landed with a loud thud at her feet. The large living room of the furnished apartment was institutionally clean, with blaring white freshly painted walls and a shiny polished cherry wood floor. Two huge floor-to-ceiling windows flanked a large built in entertainment center on the far wall.

                A well-worn chocolate brown leather couch sat in the middle of the room, a low wrought-iron table perched in front of it. In one corner by the window, large green papas an chair sat draped invitingly with a coffee colored blanket. A lamp sat on a small round table next to it.

                The open kitchen was off to the right, a dark bar countertop separating it from the living room, and a small hallway to the left. Riley quickly checked out the kitchen, satisfied to find it had a microwave since that was pretty much the only kind of cooking she knew how to do, and headed back through the living room grabbing her bag from the floor on her way down the hall. The same white walls and cherry wood floors continued throughout the hallway and into the bedroom where a queen sized bed sat bathed in sun light like a throne beneath a big picture window that overlooked the street.

                An old cedar chest at the foot of the bed and a huge dresser on the far wall rounded out the bedroom. Riley upended the green canvas sea bag, spilling its contents into a heap on the bare mattress. Fishing around in the pile, she located her laptop and let it boot up while she released the Velcro straps of her knee brace and quickly stripped off the rest of her clothes. She picked up a towel, grabbed her toiletries and hobbled into the bathroom. Setting her computer on the counter, she turned on some music. The soft background noises helping her relax.

                A moan involuntarily left Riley’s lips at the blissful feeling as she turned on the shower and stepped under its hot spray. Soon the soap and steam had reawakened her senses as she stood in the middle of her new bedroom and toweled off. After finger combing her short shaggy black hair, she threw on a pair of faded jeans and a white t-shirt and secured the clunky metal brace snugly against her right knee. Riley settled herself gently onto the edge of the mattress and neatly refolded the remaining contents of the sea bag to be put away.

                Three hours later, after stowing away all of her meager possessions and staring at the blank walls of the living room for a while attempting to take a nap, Riley realized sleep was not coming and decided to get out of the house for a while. She was unused to sitting around doing nothing for such long periods of time, plus she knew she at least needed some bed sheets and groceries.

                Riley pocketed her keys, hopped back down the stairs on her good leg and made her way outside to the truck. Getting all of her purchases back up the stairs was not going to be very much fun she realized as she looked back toward the house. In hind sight, she thought to herself, a second floor apartment was a dumb idea.

Reviews

[Call_Me_Miss_Imperfect]

I like this! I think you have a wonderful start :) Keep it up!