Welcome Home

Anna is on the right! (:

I smiled as my three year old sister, Daisy, jumped into the pile of dying leaves. Our pile that we spent so much time creating quickly flattened as we played. She threw a handful of orange and red into the air and yelled,

"Red!" I copied her motions, only this time yelling,

"Orange!" She laughed loudly as leaves showered down around us. I smiled sad smile as a wave of nostalgia swept over me. Seeing my sister playing in the backyard reminded me of when I was young, when I was worry free. Those were the good days.

Although remembering my childhood makes me long to be that age again I can't really complain about my life currently. I live in a big Victorian Gothic styled house that looks as old as the people who built it. Along with the old style outside, inside wasn't any more modern. When you walked in my house you would believe you changed time periods. For example, we don't own any iPod's, iPhone's, radios, computers, televisions, etc. But we do have a record player and vinyl's, the craziest assortment of books, and the best board game collection you'd ever see.

My backyard was nothing special, just a shed and some grass. It wasn't missing anything but a fence; The family dog was constantly running off. The front lawn is covered with leaves but in the summer the usual, annoying, yellow dandelions take over. Most people would label them as a weed and hire a lawn company to take care of them but my parents were different. They believed everything was beautiful, that everything happened for a reason, that one day you'd reach your destiny. Can't say I'm the same.

My teachers at school refer to me as an analyst, or an over thinker. I believe that there is an scientific equation for everything, that there is no fate. You make your own fate. I don't believe that you are predetermined for anything. My parents are surprisingly accepting of my views on life, hell they even praise me for it. I think they like that I have my own mind, unlike so many other kids regarding their parents.

"Anna!" My sister shrieked. I quickly snapped out of thoughts and searched around for Daisy in a panic. When my eyes connected with hers I let out a sigh of relief- she was still in the backyard.

"Awh, Daisy," I whined as I approached her. I soon realized why she screamed my name, she had opened the backdoor and accidentally let out our German Shepard, Jolene.

"I sorry," She said in her small voice. I couldn't stay mad at her long once she smiled at me. I returned her smile and took her into the house.

"Derek!" I yelled loudly. My fourteen year old brother slowly trotted down the stairs, doing an awkward hair flip to reveal his eyes once he got to the bottom step.

"What?" He asked, obviously annoyed I disturbed him.

"Watch Daisy, she accidently let out Jolene. I'm going to look for her," I replied handing him the blonde child. He took her and walked into the kitchen. I sighed and returned outside. I began my walk into the woods, hoping I'd find her before it got dark out. "Jolene!" I yelled multiple times as I got deeper and deeper into the woods. After about thirty minutes of walking and yelling I finally heard a yelp in the distance. "Jolene?" I called for the hundredth time.

I turned my direction towards the yelp and began to get an eerie feeling. The woods have never phased me before so why are they now? Maybe it was because it was almost dark out, or maybe it was because I just heard a dog yelp, either way I was scared. I began to walk faster, eager to get Jolene and get the hell out of the woods. Suddenly, a figure standing to my right caught my eye. I turned to look at the person.

"Uhm, hi," I mumbled starring at the women. She looked around my moms age, maybe a few years older. She had a magenta sweater that was wrapped around her crooked body and a pair of jeans. Her greying hair was pulled tight against her skull finishing with a small bun behind her head. She looked like a friendly lady, but in her long, creepy fingers, held Jolene's collar, which had me thinking skeptically about her. Her eyes were transfixed on me as she replied,