(Day One)
“The Travel Channel really lies when they say that Europe should be on your “Top Ten Places to Visit before you Die” list.” I heaved my bags up the stairs in our moth ball smelling rental house, and looked around for anything fascinating. On our car ride from the airport to this place, there wasn’t a building in sight. It literally was a big open field, with a highway stretched down the middle of it. There were no castles, no fancy dining restaurants, no cultural land marks, nothing. If I didn’t know, I would’ve sworn we were in Nebraska. That is exactly what it looks like- just miles and miles of corn fields.
Since my dad forgot to call the touring agency, we were forced to find this home by ourselves, which caused a lot of screaming and arguing between my mom and him. That resulted in a silent, yet long car ride. If Matt or I spoke up, we were snapped at. That’s when I noticed all of the lovely scenery I was just describing.
I kicked the door to the top bedroom open and threw my belongings across the carpet. It smelled like wet wood, but I shrugged it off. There was no use in complaining about the smell when at least it smelled slightly better than the rest of the house.
Strolling over to the window placed right across from a big field, I pulled back the drapes and peered out. Our rental car looked odd. It looked like a car that belonged in the city, not some country ranch that we were apparently living at. I watched as my dad lugged bags from the car and into the house. It gave me déjà vu from when I was watching him back at home, stuffing the luggage into our cramped car.
Where was civilization? I really thought that we were going to be at least living somewhere close to the people who inhabit this continent. I don’t think I could live here, sanely, with my family’s faces only for three months.
Scratch that- I wasn’t going to.
I whipped around when I heard someone clear their throat. Standing in the doorway was Matt. His hair was matted in different directions, and he still looked exhausted. (So much for staying with the time zone).
“Your room smells weird.” He sniffed the air and made a face, before coming in and lounging on the bed.
“I’ve came to the conclusion that it smells better than the rest of the house, so this is where I will reside.”
“Touché”
Turning back to the window, I pointed my finger outside. “Big question: Where are people?”
I heard him chuckle as the springs in the bed lifted. “There’s supposed to be a town right down the road which leads you into London.” I felt the warmth of him right behind me.
“Where?” The sun was setting, which was making it harder for me to make out where anything was, or was supposed to be.
“Uh…” He trailed off, and leaned in closer to the pane. I squirmed as close to the window as I possibly could. “I think that’s it over there.”
I squinted out across the field, but still saw nothing. The sun was barely peeking its head out from the ground, so everything had a shadow.
“The lights Carter…”
He nudged his head over to the right, and I gazed to where he was squinting. A little ways down the road was a few, barely noticeable lights clustered together. If you squinted hard enough, you could make out the brighter lights off in the distance which was more than likely London.
“Oh.”
“Arent you a dumbass today?” Matt started patting the top of my head, but I shoved him away.
