Love In The Cold

Chapter 1

I never wanted to move to Alaska. But my dad thought that it would be a good fresh start for us. To get away from the past and go somewhere new, which is like totally bullshit. I mean anywhere in the world would have been better then fricken Tanana, Alaska. But maybe as my mom used to say, this might be a blessing in disguise. But I severely doubt it.

There is wifi, but it's really spotty. The internet connection is good as long as no one shoots the cable-lines....I heard that happened a few years ago. So the happy part about this is that my cell phone will still work. And so will my laptop, so I can Skype and Facetime with my friends and boyfriend.

Apparently my dad is going to have to go fishing and hunting for food for us. Which I guess is ok, since we used to live in Maine and he grew up there. So he knows how to hunt and fish. Me on the other hand, I hate fishing even though my dad says I'm good at it, which I am. But hunting, I absolutely hate it and I also suck at it so my dad has never tried to make me go hunting with him. He says I'm like the worst shot ever.

Oh, guess what one of the worst parts is about Tanana? There are only two months of summer! Just a little while ago I read that they have a wolf problem. And when I told my dad all he said was, "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now, sweetie."

After he said that I kinda just ignored him for the rest of our flight. Until we start to land and I finally look at him. "This is it?"

He nods and looks out the window as he says, "Welcome to Tanana, Amelia." Just by looking at the back of his head I can tell he's smiling and really happy to be here. So I do what any good daughter would do and lie.

"Well it looks kinda cool...I guess." I say as the pilot of our small plane chuckles at my failed attempt at trying to act happy about this. So I try again, "I mean Tanana can't be that bad.... I'm sure it's a great place, Dad." The pilot chuckles again because let's be honest here, I suck at this.

But my dad turns to me with one of his happy smiles, that I've missed so much and says, "You think so, sweetie?"

I nod smiling because my dad has one of those contagious smiles. Like if you see one of his smiles you can't help but smiling back. Which is something I love about him. But at the same time it sucks because like I can't stay mad at him.

But then the plane lands and reality hits me again like a huge slap in the face. That we are officially in Alaska and my life is now over.

Nothing good is going to come out of this, except maybe that my dad may finally start to act like himself. Which I have been waiting to happen for a while, so I'll try not to complain to much. But I honestly can't promise much.

When the pilot finally lets us off of the plane after like ten minutes of waiting, the coldest wind hits me almost like I had just done the ice bucket challenge. I tighten my arms around myself because this is awful. Have I mentioned yet that I absolutely hate anything cold?

But let's get off of the subject about things that I hate cause to be honest that's a huge list. My dad calls me a hater... see it's funny cause he doesn't understand what it means. My dad looks at me and chuckles cause I'm guessing that I have my "hater" face on, as he says.

And I just roll my eyes at him but smile a little bit cause come on he's so happy about this. But my smile soon fades as I look at the truck that's waiting for us. It looks like a piece of crap, I mean seriously. I don't think that I've ever seen a truck that looks as gross as this one. It's covered in mud and has a bunch of rust all over, not to mention the frost covering the windows. Ugh, I hope this thing doesn't break down.

It takes us about a thirty minute drive to get to the new prison...I mean house, the new house. God, I better not say that to my dad. But the house doesn't look that bad. It has a prettyish red roof and nice natural wood walls.

When my dad and I get inside I instantly understand why he fell in love with this place and why he hasn't stopped talking about it since the day he bought it. It looks very rustic with its wooden walls, wood floors, and a wood stove in the corner of the living room. The best part of it all though is that there is a tv hanging on the wall in front of a very comfortable looking couch.

"This place looks amazing, Dad." I say, which is evidently the only nice thing that I have meant about this place.

My dad's smile just makes this place even better as he says, "You really think so, Lia?"

I nod while smiling. Then I walk into a room down a small hallway to find all of my boxes in there, since we had all of our furniture and boxes sent over last week. "Dad! I'm gonna start unpacking!" I yell as I close my door and start blasting music from my iPhone 6S PLus.