Making it to the end// Joey Birlem

Mistake

Snow fell form the clouded sky, falling on the dead, yellow grass. The cold light wind left a shiver in every victim it claimed. Wallace, Idaho, was a small town with quiet houses that sat by ponds which froze over in the winter. Kids would ice skate on ponds surrounded by snow froze trees. The snow would cover the kids if they fell into the heaps of flakes.

Briella Barringer was a fourteen year old who lived in Wallace, Idaho, but wasn't like any of the other kids. Briella didn't go ice skating on ponds or go drinking like all of the high school kids did. Instead, she stayed inside her house, up in her room reading books and doing her homework that was assigned to her everyday.

Briella had two younger siblings and one older. The youngest was a girl, he name is Rachel. The second youngest was a boy whose name was Caleb; and the eldest was a girl whose name is Chrissy, short for Christina. Briella had parents, but sadly, they were divorced. Rachel and Caleb live with their dad and Chrissy had moved out two years ago leaving Briella with her mom. Ms. Parkton  worked as a waitress  at the local coffee shop.

Briella didn't have friends to hang out with which is how she developed the habit of staying in her room all day. When Chrissy came over, she would try to get Briella to go with her somewhere just to hang out, but Briella refused every time. One day, a special person changed that habit forever. Here is Briella's story.

I was sitting in my room reading Ransom Riggs's new book that was released yesterday when the doorbell rang downstairs. I got up off my soft memory foam bed to go downstairs to see who it was. My warm feet touched the cold wood floor as I stepped off the stairs. I shivered at the touch and slipped on some house shoes that were sitting by the door. After a few more seconds of walking to the door, my hand gripped the knob and I opened the door. A man in a black suit and sun glasses was standing in front of me.

 "Is this house home to Sandra Parkton?" the man asked, with a grumpy look on his face. I stared skeptically for a moment.   

 "Yes," I finally said. I blocked him from entering when he took a step forward. "And you are?" I was not about to let some stranger into my house. "No way," I said to myself.

 Footsteps came from behind me as my mom came to the door. "Don't worry honey, this is a man that I met at the coffee shop." Mom smiled kindly to the man.

  I gave my mom the look of 'are you crazy' before stepping aside to let the man in. He proceeded to the kitchen and disappeared around the corner. Suddenly a cold wind attacked my bare legs. I jumped a foot in the air and slammed the door shut.

"Briella, this man is offering me a job," my mom said as I looked at her. "He's giving me a great offer and I'm going to discuss the job with him. Head to your room and I'll come talk to you when we're done."

 I walked back up to my room and began reading again. Something began tapping on my window. I groaned, irritated, that something or someone kept interrupting my reading. I looked over at my window and smiled. A little black kitty was clawing at the window wanting in. Getting up, I opened the window and let the kitty in. It raced into my bathroom. A few seconds later I heard crunching.

"Do you need more food?" I asked the little kitty as I locked the window. A small meow came from the bathroom. I grabbed a cup of food that was sitting on the shelf and filled the food dish. He began scarfing it down not even bothering to chew. I made my way back to my bed and sat down. Before picking up my book I waited a few seconds before continuing to read. The little black kitty, also known as Black Bow, clawed his way up the end of my bed and fell asleep in my lap. He purred and when he had fallen into a deep sleep, the purring stopped.

 After what seemed like two hours of reading, a knock sounded at my door. I looked up as the door opened. My mom walked in and closed the door. I was assuming that man hadn't left because she never closed my door unless it was important.

"Honey," my mom said as she sat down on the edge of my bed. The movement stirred Black Bow and he began purring again. "I want to talk to you for a minute."

I put my book down and repositioned the soft kitten who continued to purr loudly. I got settled and then waited for my mom to continue.

 "I have been offered the job."

Smiling really big I congratulated her, "Mom that's great!" I was interrupted by the one word that was never ever good to hear. But.

Mom shifted uncomfortably like she knew I wasn't going to like the next thing she would say. The room was filled with a light tension. Even Black Bow, who was awake, could feel it. Taking a deep breath, mom explained the catch.

 "We would have to move."

I laughed like she was joking but the look on her face told me that she was not. I thought for a minute. Did I want to move? I didn't have any friends where I lived currently but, depending on where we moved I might not be able to see my family or be a person my younger siblings would look up to. After all Chrissy wasn't a good influence on them.

 I looked at my mom and responded with the worst decision I had ever made in my life. "Let's do it."

Hey guys this is the first chapter to this story so, so yeah, I hope you enjoyed! If you did please vote, comment, and share this to make it more discoverable. Ok baii guys!!!