The Accounts of Ruby Zibane: The Heirloom

Chapter 4

*Author's Note* Hello! Sorry I haven't posted for awhile. I feel rather ill at the moment and computer time makes me feel even worse. Plus, I've had to do last minute work on a book report due tom. Yipes! Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and please post a comment! A smiley face is also appreciated! Thanks you!

P.S. I apologize for the shortness of the chapter. Maybe I can have the next one up too?

Chapter 4

                  I carry my bags so out of my room so that they rest by the front door. I decide to leave tomorrow morning so that I’ll have time to do any last minute packing, although I wouldn’t know what else to pack. I walk back to my room and sit on the edge of my bed, too anxious to go to sleep. I had to get my story straight. Why was I leaving home? And where the heck would I be going? I groan when I realize I didn’t have any form of direction. From what I knew my phone didn’t have a GPS and my dad didn’t have one either.

                  ‘Don’t trust those electronics,’ he’d say when I looked longingly at a Best Buy store.

                  With no GPS that basically left my dad’s map collection. I head over to his Luggage Lode and grab an organizer along the way. I flick on the light again and look at his selection of maps. Knowing that the ‘Extra Copies’ maps are gone I grab the ‘Maps for Travel’ instead. I organize them very carefully by country and eventually all the maps are safely inside the organizer. I look around for anything else that may be of help and grab a small notebook with a handwritten title ‘Checklist for Traveling’ and another book titled ‘Tips for Travel’. It’s as if this whole thing was planned out beforehand.

                  With a heavier load than before I walk out of his Luggage Lode and back to bed. This time I lie down and try to find a comfortable position. Once I find one I drift off very slowly with worries in my head.

                  I wake up disoriented and dizzy. For a moment I think that I’m sick and even consider stopping my search, but I eventually decide that I’m just starved from lack of lunch and dinner from yesterday. I scramble out of bed and stumble towards the kitchen. I grab a piece of fruit at random, a peach as it turned out to be, and begin to eat. Once I’m stable enough I prepare a bowl of cereal and some leftover Belgian waffles with chocolate chips. I put the dishes away once I’m finished and head over to the restroom to rinse my face and brush my teeth. I undo my messed up ponytail from last night and awkwardly brush my hair. A few caramel colored knots of my hair fall out and I clench my teeth until my hair is smooth and glossy. After I smooth out my shirt I turn on my computer and open up my email.

                  I don’t want to draw any suspicion to myself if I leave for a few months so I brainstorm a few excuses to email to the principal. After three minutes of thinking I settle for this:

                  Dear Mr. Lancer,

(My school principal)

                  Please excuse my daughter Ruby Zibane from school. I’ve taken a last minute business trip to a designated area and I need her to stay with a relative until my trip has ended. The she spends away from school is undetermined at the moment but I assure you she’ll make up all her school work when she returns.

                  From,

                             Clyde Zibane

                  At least one thing is true from my email. I figured that I’d have to find someone related to my dad so I could get help in my search. My closest relatives are from my mom’s side and all of them live in London. My dad has told me that all of his relatives are dead, except for one person… My Uncle Neil. He lives in San Francisco which is about a two hour drive from my house. Only, I haven’t seen him in seven years, but he’s the only hope I’ve got. I send my email, close the web browser, and shut down the computer. After a few moments of looking around my room I head out.