Timelines

Chapter 1

  

Cordelia Miles laid her head dully on the car window. The car had been winding along the road for hours and she had stopped counting those hours. Cordelia's little sister, Bailey, had now fallen asleep after whining about when the trip would be over. Her mom and dad were in the front two seats of the car, her dad driving and her mom also sleeping. A slight trickle of rain had just started and it made a light tap-tap-tap on the windows. Even though it was the beginning of summer vacation, it still rained like no tomorrow in the North East. Apollo was snoozing on the car floor with his head on Cordelia's feet.

    Apollo was a huge dog. He was, in fact, a Great Dane mix, but you could hardly tell him apart from a purebred Great Dane. The only thing different from him and a purebred would be his bark, which was sort of growly and scratchy, but still had the faint booming, echo-like Great Dane sound to it. His paws were as big as a small dinner plate and his legs were very long. When he stood up, his shoulders were in line with Cordelia's hips. The Miles family had adopted him from an animal shelter in their old town. Apollo had been donated to the shelter because of his large size and the amount of food he needed. His last owners had claimed that the dog was anti-social and not good with people, too. That was a lie as big as the sun. Apollo was a very sweet dog and loves to be around humans. The dog looked very uncomfortable on the floor of the car at the moment due to the limited space he had, but Cordelia guessed if he could sleep in that position, he was comfortable enough.

    Suddenly, the car swung left quickly and Cordelia's head jerked away from the window. Bailey's head whammed against her window and she slowly opened her eyes. Cordelia's mom also woke up from her deep sleep and looked around.

     "Sorry 'bout that," her father replied. "I almost missed the turn."

   "Well, you could have given at least a little warning," Cordelia mumbled angrily to herself. She then leaned to the right a little to see out the foggy front car window. Just up ahead, there was a faint view of what she knew would be her new town. The rain was coming down a little harder now and the windshield wipers were moving back and forth to their unchanging rhythm. Apollo now woke from his somewhat peaceful sleep and sat up. He had a little trouble because of the tight space he was in, but he managed.

    A few minutes later, the car pulled up in the driveway of a huge, very old looking, two story house. The weather outside gave the house a looming and sorrow-filled look. Cordelia looked ahead at the structure as a shadow of uneasiness began to cloud her vision.

    "Welcome home!" Mrs. Miles said excitedly.

    "Will we live here forever?" Bailey asked.

    "Of course not," Cordelia replied.

    "Why can't we?"

    "I don't know!"

    "Okay, okay. Stop it you two. We'll live here for as long as your dad keeps the job here," Cordelia's mom said, slightly annoyed. The car stopped and Cordelia grabbed Apollo's leash and clipped it to his collar. The dog gave an excited tug and lunged towards the door. Cordelia almost toppled right onto him with the sudden burst of energy pulling her forward, but she managed to stay on her feet as she climbed out of the car and reeled in her massive dog.