Shadowood- H.S

one |1|

Welcome to Bristol, Rhode Island, settled in 1680, home of America's oldest Fourth of July celebration. I read the sign for the thousandth time as we enter the town. Almost instantly, I smell the familiar scent of cattle and farmlands, and the crowd of bakeries near the heart of the city. The same friendly early risers wave to us as we pass them by and the same theme song plays quietly throughout the town square. Everything seems exactly as it was just before we left.

I trace my finger along a drop of water that races towards the end of the window. The rain has just stopped and the sunrise is now approaching. The sky has a light periwinkle tint in it with a fiery orange glow rising just above the town's tallest building.

When I check my phone, it's already six A.M. We've been driving for three hours already. Even though I got a total of four hours of sleep last night, I'm not even slightly tired. I've been awake the entire drive, thinking about absolutely nothing, but haven't found it in me to sleep.

"Almost there, hang in there guys," my dad says as we pass a couple of farm fields.

I look over to my brother, Brandon, who is still asleep, and has been ever since we left the apartment. My mom is also still asleep, moving occasionally as we drive over potholes in the road.

"I don't miss it here," I say to my dad as he hums along to a jazzy song softly playing on the radio. "This town is so dead."

"Well Mel, you're going to have to get used to it again. We're here to stay for good this time. Plus you used to love it here. You and Brandon have so many memories." He sounds tired as he steers us along the narrow roads. "All of your childhood memories are here," he adds.

"I liked Manhattan better, Vic lives there." I get upset thinking about it. We only got to be together for a short period of time when we lived there.

"You barely knew him," he says.

I sigh and rest my head against the window. "I knew him more than you think I did."

-

"Brandon, can you give me a hand with the table?" My dad asks my brother as he tries lifting it off of the ground.

"Ask Melanie, I'm busy," Brandon replies.

"You're not busy." I look over his shoulder to see what he's doing on his phone. "You're just playing amateur games on your phone, don't be such a prick and go help dad."

I snatch his phone from his hands and point towards our dad, struggling to lift the table by himself.

"Just because you're two years older doesn't make you the boss of me," he says as he grabs his phone back from me. "But I'll help him because I'm a good person."

"Right," I snort.

Brandon walks over towards dad and helps him lift up the large table. They both grunt as the heavy piece of furniture is lifted off of the wet pavement.

"Melanie, do you want to run to the store with me real quick? I need to pick up a few things," my mom asks me, stepping outside of the house while digging through her purse for her keys.

"Sure. I just need to take these boxes up to my room real quick," I tell her.

"Okay, I'll be waiting in the car."

I nod towards her and then stack a couple of boxes on top of each other before bringing them upstairs to my old room.

When I open the door, I instantly smell the scent of fresh paint. The bright yellow color that my room used to be is now a dark blue shade of the sea.