Between the Stars

Chapter One

This will be good for us.

Sam pushed the front door open. There was no sign of life in the silent space except for the creak of the floorboards under his feet. The stale air that greeted him made it clear that the house had been empty for quite some time.

It's a fresh start, a chance to get away for a while.

His bag thumped against the hardwood floor as he scanned the dim room. Everything about this place seemed worn down— and he didn't just mean the house. Michigan had that feel. The neighborhoods they'd driven through, the stores they passed, even some of the people they'd met. It was all well worn compared to the constant growth of New York City.

Before him, the first floor stood open with the living room just inside the door to his left and the staircase to his right. The dark wood held onto the shadows and the cream walls and furniture did little to counter it. Sunlight strained to permeate the shades that covered the windows on the back wall, but it couldn't quite reach far enough to disturb the shadows that had settled in the corners.

This is only temporary.

His mom's words echoed in his mind as he stared dejectedly around the house. He wasn't sure he could even pretend to be excited about this. The twelve hour car ride had only exacerbated his perpetual bad mood and the longing to go home pulled at his chest so much it almost hurt. He didn't care what his parents said. A vacation wasn't going to help. A change of scenery didn't mean anything if it couldn't dispel all those scratchy little thoughts he couldn't quite drown out of his mind. He just wanted to go home and be miserable there instead of this strange, unfamiliar place.

This was going to be the longest summer of his life.

The door banged open behind him and he turned around just as his mom walked in, an armload of cardboard boxes balanced in her arms.

"Sam honey, did you— oh!"

Clothes exploded across the hardwood as the boxes hit the floor. His mom let out a heavy sigh and slumped back against the doorframe as she ran a hand through her sandy hair.

"At least it wasn't anything breakable." She shrugged and leaned down to gather the unfolded garments. "Oh— what I was going to ask was, did you know we're only a ten minute walk from town? Now we don't have to drive every time we want to go to the beach. Isn't that great?"

She glanced up; her eyebrows pinched a bit as she took in Sam's morose expression. He gave her a half-hearted shrug in reply and surveyed the house again with distaste. The sunken living room to his left was furnished with an oak coffee table and two overstuffed cream leather couches, and he could see the edge of the wooden dining room table in the room behind it. Just past the staircase, a wide doorway opened into the kitchen.

His mom sighed again, and when she spoke her voice was soft.

"This isn't forever, Sam. You know that. At least try to keep an open mind, okay? You never know what might happen."

Sam nodded, even though he had no intention of keeping that promise. Agreeing with his mom was the easiest way to get her to leave him alone. He didn't care if this town had a secret portal to Middle Earth; he would still hate it nonetheless.

"Thank you, honey," she said with a smile. "Why don't you take your stuff to your room, then you can go help your dad bring in more boxes."

Sam grabbed his bag and headed up the stairs. With every step, the worn wood creaked under his sneakers until he reached the hallway at the top.