𝐅𝐚𝐞𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐌𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞.

Chapter one:

Normality was a weak definition. It's flimsy and can be catered to various experiences and perceptions. Why was defining something with such a label flimsy? Now it could just be her mother's wine that she'd snuck from the fridge speaking, but once you really think about it; nothing would be classified as 'normal' it's what you define the familiarity of your experience as. Shaylee scoffed at how poetic her own thoughts sounded. Her raccoon-eyed mother glanced at her in the rearview mirror but said nothing. Paul was dead. Her father was dead, a car accident around six months ago. And here Shaylee ironically found herself in yet another car, being driven to her parent's hometown.

"I think you'll like Esoteric Shay." But she was hardly listening to her mother. "The culture is very-" she paused, searching for the right words. "Vibrant." Vibrant culture? She'd never heard anyone claim something so ridiculous. Shaylee hummed in response and scribbled down on her notepad. "Are you still working on that assignment?" Her mother half sighed. Shaylee resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and instead muttered a simple. "Obviously." Nowadays her mother was just as rhetorical as Shaylee's answers. Esoteric was- pretty? Quaint even, but too posh for her taste. Esoteric was one of those small towns in those picture-perfect, romance films. The trees twisted in odd shapes, and seemed like a protective dome around the town. A singular road cut straight across the town, and without it, you wouldn't even realise the small, posh town existed. The town was very good at keeping itself off of most maps, and websites like it didn't want to be found. But here they were penetrating the town and its secrets. Paul was the proud owner of the family's' vacation house'/ his childhood home, which they visited very rarely when Shaylee was younger to see her now dead grandparents.

The car halted, and Shaylee's gaze remained fixed on the window. In silence, the pair unbuckled their seatbelts and stepped out of the car. Paul had left the house for them in his final written will. It was a surprise to Shaylee that Paul even had a will, it was as if he knew death was awaiting him. The 'vacation house' was just as she remembered it, tall, white, with mint green roof tiles and arched windows. The definition of fancy living. Her mother inhaled sharply, and the pair of them shuffled across the lawn. With trembling hands, her mother put the key in the door and twisted it. The door creaked open, the house was in utter darkness. Moving slowly, Shaylee pushed open the door and flicked on the light switch. 

Everything was left untouched, family photos of Paul and his siblings hung from the walls. Wedding photos of Paul and Maya were framed and perched on a unit. Photos of Shaylee as a child were on every surface, and the furniture was in the exact position since the last time they'd been here. Maya inhaled a shaky breath and went back towards the car to get their suitcases. She took her suitcases, and bags from her mother and set off towards the stairs in silence. Shaylee already had a room made up for her, it was to the right and down the hall inside the furthest room. It was her aunt Antonioette's old room. She creaked open the door and flicked the light switch. Her room had mustard colored walls, which Shaylee oddly liked. Fairy Lights hanging from a loft-like area that was a built-in extension from Paul's family. The left side of the room had a big arched window and the right side had a big bookshelf filled to the brim with all Shaylee's books. Her bed was king-sized, and was under her loft area, her big arched window being a compensating desk. Shaylee ditched her suitcases beside the door and made a beeline towards the ladder leading up to the loft.

She climbed the ladder, into her familiar reading space which was completed with a beanbag and a stack of novels. But what was greater than that wasn't inside the house. A small window was embedded into the ceiling of Shaylee's room. Her fingers found the handle and pulled it down. Her arms stretched above her head and weaved through the gap before pressing against the roof and pulling herself up and through it. She sighed and inhaled the crisp air. Goosebumps began to form on the exposed parts of Shaylee's skin but she ignored them. The view from her little slice of paradise was breath-taking. Woods lined the whole backyard of the house and stretched behind the backs of the houses on the whole street. To her right was a contrastingly, gloomy house which had a black roof, and darker coloured bricks. A tree stood firmly in front of what seemed to be a bedroom window as if holding purpose. A branch of the tree stretched across the white, trimmed dividing fence of land. The branch stretched out towards her as if reaching for her. She watched as the sky began to darken, and the crickets began to chirp to life. The stars above her twinkled menacingly, fading in and out of her vision. A light drizzle of rain began to fall, and then heavier by the passing minute. A black, fancier-looking car pulled up in her driveway, the headlights beaming onto the street as it reversed. "Shaylee! Come downstairs hon." With her curiosity growing, she took one final glance at the scenery before her, opening her window back up again and sliding through effortlessly. Leaving the moment behind as a distant memory.

Shaylee bounded down the stairs, just as her mother opened the front door. "Maya." The familiar, Latina woman said her arms outstretched. "Aunt Antonioette." Shaylee breathed. Her aunt Antonioette was the youngest of her father's siblings, she wore a leopard print shirt and bandanna with a leather jacket and red coloured pants. Her knee-high boots clinked across the floorboards, as she moved in on Shaylee's mother and crushed her into a tight hug. "Ah! Maya, it's been too long. Your so stunning." Shaylee came down the stairs hesitantly and joined the scene.

"Ahh, Shaylee! You're so beautiful." Her aunt squeezed her cheeks, making Shaylee flinch as the light beaming off of her aunt's many many bangles hit her in the eye. Her aunt hugged her tight, making Shaylee gasp for air. After a moment, Shaylee hugged her back, finding odd comfort in the familiar smell of vodka, cigarettes, and the lavender perfume her aunt always wore.

"I thought you were still in rehab...?" Shaylee had to tread cautiously, her auntie has quite a short fuse. "Didn't your mother tell you?" She glanced back at Maya, who smiled sheepishly. "I got out last year, didn't stay sober for long." She cackled. As if on cue a golden retriever bounded through the door and lunged happily at Shaylee, knocking her straight off her feet. "Rex!" Shaylee beamed, patting the slobbery dog's ears as it began to lick her all over. "Such a character," Antonioette sighed, "Must've jumped through the open window."

Shaylee laughed and hugged Rex lightly. "Missed you too boy."

"Feels good to be home." Antonioette sighed, her arms outstretched. "I'll just take my suitcases upstairs, c'mon Rex." She called patting her knees. Shaylee stood up as Rex bounded towards her aunt. "Do you need any help Ant?" Her mother offered. Antonioette glanced back at Maya, a sudden bitterness in her mood. "I think I can find my way around my own house." And with that, she walked up the stairs tossing Maya her keys. "Put my windows up, and lock it up, will ya love?" It was more of a demand than a 'can you.' As Antonioette rounded the left corner, Shaylee turned on her mother. "She's living with us!?" Shaylee absolutely loved her aunt, it's just- she could be a bit much.

"Yes. Only for a while," her mother paused, lowering her voice. "It was either us, or back in rehab." Her mother gave her a look, her pearly blue eyes were piercing. "We owe her this much." And with that, her mother went outside to lock the car. Shaylee sighed, turning on her heel and thudding upstairs.