Finding Hope

• Chapter Two •

"We're lost aren't we?"
I turned to face my mum sitting in the drivers seat attempting to read directions off a map that was in desperate need of an iron.
Her hair was brown like mine and it sat just on top of her shoulders. She had eyes the complete opposite to mine. Where I had deep green eyes like emeralds, mom's eyes were very pale grey, all the colour drained from the irises, almost as if they seemed lost within the rest of her features.

"No, Hope, we are not lost." She said looking intently at the huge mess of squiggly lines and long names of places we've never heard of.
"Are you sure? Because you're reading the map upside down which I'm pretty sure, won't help in the slightest."
She snapped her head in my direction and glared harshly at me.
"Don't start getting all smart with me miss know-it-all," she said sarcastically before handing me the now ripped map. "You try and find out where we are then."

With a sigh, I looked down at the map closely and tried my hardest to figure out what it all meant.
To be completely honest, my navigation skills aren't exactly the best. I can just about find my way around my own neighbourhood without getting lost and calling someone to come pick me up.
Eventually, I gave up and threw down the map.

I took a look around for any clues as to where we were. In the distance I could spot a row of trees running along the side of a far off, empty looking road. Either side of the road we were currently on was completely covered in fields of different shades of green with the odd horse strolling around or munching on grass. No other cars passed by us as we sat there in silence, helplessness rapidly washing over us.

"Maybe we should ask for directions," I suggested, soon realising that it wasn't the best thing to say when mom turned and shot me another glare.
"Sure, great idea. Let's hope the horses speak English, or we could have a very awkward situation on our hands."
I felt the need to throw in a clever comment at this point but knew it wouldn't make things any better so kept it to myself.

"This was supposed to be a nice day out for us both. A bit of fresh air to clear our heads so we could forget about home for a little while. Its what we need." Mom leaned forward and buried her head in her hands, frustration clearly coursing through her.
A deep sign escaped me as I reached over and gently moved a stray piece of hair behind her ear, noticing a tear falling down the side of her face.
"Don't worry mom, we'll find it, I promise. We just have to keep driving otherwise we'll never get anywhere, okay?"
Mom slowly lifted her head up and nodded then wiped her cheek with the back of her hand.

Moments like these happened more often recently. Moments when we seemed to swap roles and I suddenly turned into the parent, comforting mom and making sure she was alright. It's not her fault, it's just how she gets sometimes, it doesn't really bother me. It just reminds me that we both have to be strong for each other and that's all that matters.

With a reassuring smile, mom started the car back up and we continued driving in search of our destination.

*********************

After about half an hour of driving we found ourselves in a small town with row upon row of perfect white houses twice the size of ours with huge, well kept front gardens bursting with flowers of all different colours and cute white picket fences lining the sidewalks.
It was like looking at a scene from one of those movies where everything was perfect and in it's place. I never knew a place like that could actually exist.

We came across a tall, tidy looking man in a clean grey suit walking down the street, briefcase in hand. He kindly told us where to go and jotted down which roads to take on a small piece of paper, a bright smile pinned across his face the entire time. He seemed trustworthy enough and was obviously intelligent and possibly fairly wealthy by the way he talked and dressed.
Mom seemed to like him anyway. I'm surprised she didn't ask him to write down his phone number along with the directions.

She smiled widely and thanked him for his help.
"That's no problem at all, always happy to help." He said with a grin before straightening his tie and continuing with his peaceful afternoon stroll.

Now with a set of directions in hand, we set off towards this middle-of-nowhere park that mom claims as being the most amazing and beautiful park anyone could ever visit.
She's always said about wanting to take me when I was younger but just never got round to actually doing it. She'd only ever been there once when she was a kid but that didn't stop her from remembering every single detail about what was there and using it as the bases of near enough every single bed time story for years.
She was so excited about finally being able to go that she made me get up at the crack of dawn that morning so we'd be able to spend the whole day there.
It was too bad she never thought to actually look up how to get there, as we wasted half the day trapped in this slowly over heating car, driving around and listening to old, unknown rubbish on the radio.

"What's with the music these days?" Mom blurted out, randomly punching at the buttons on the radio until she gave up trying to find a decent station and eventually shut it off.
"Hope?"
I pretended not to hear her and continued looking out the passenger window into the distance.
Mom yanked both earphones from my ears and threw them into my lap.
"Would you just take these out and listen to me for once, please?"
I turned towards her annoyed expression and rolled my eyes. "Fine," I said, "my ears are wide open."
She went back to facing the road again.
"Well you better have your eyes open too because it looks like we're here, and you won't want to miss any of it."

I whipped my head round to the direction she was looking and found myself gaping at the dazzling view before me.

Fields beyond fields of freshly cut grass spread out as far as I could see. Hundreds - maybe thousands - of bright yellow daisies shot up from the ground, decorating the park like a colourful spring blanket resting upon the green canvas. Blossoms fell gracefully from the trees and danced elegantly in the light breeze whispering through the branches.
Happy and excited children were playing in the warming sunshine; running, jumping, skipping and laughing, not a care in the world.

I turned to mom and saw the huge grin plastered across her face. It didn't take long for her excitement to crack a smile on my own face and soon enough, I couldn't wait to finally get out of the car and stretch my legs after hours of sitting in the same seat.

Mum pulled into a parking space and shut off the engine. She reached into the back seat and grabbed her little black handbag. From the bag she pulled out her professional camera and placed the strap around her neck, flashing another great smile my way as she reached for the car door.
"Come on, Hope. Let's go make some memories."