A Road to Something More

4. Moving Day

Mom helps me out of the car once we arrive home after picking me up from school and parks next to the large moving truck. I head inside to discover more piles of boxes in our now empty living room.
"That's the last load," Dad says, carrying a box in from the kitchen, "Oh, hey Danny." We've been working hard to pack up all our stuff for weeks now, and it feels kind of refreshing to finally be done.
"Kinda sad how we're never gonna see this house again," I say as Jaklyn walks outside, carrying one of the boxes to the moving truck. Then, Mom comes inside.
"I'm going to pick up the girls from the babysitter's and then I'm gonna head to the new place, do any of you wanna join me?" She asks us.
"I'll go," I reply, "I'm not much help here in my current state, anyway."
"Can I come, too?" Darin asks, putting down the box he had in his hands.  
"Sure." We follow Mom outside and back into the minivan, me taking much longer, of course. We drive a few miles to the babysitter's house to get Lucille and Lola, who are very happy to see their mommy. After strapping them into their carseats, we drive off again to get to our new house. The new house in a whole different town, in Chasten City, so it takes us a little longer to get there.
The new place is certainly bigger than our old one, it has two more bedrooms and another bathroom. I've only seen it from the outside before, so going inside is exciting. I roll through the door and into my room on the first floor. It's about the same size as my last room but it has a nice, big window this time. - as I requested so I could paint outdoor scenes - I go over to it and look out at the neighborhood. I spot a girl outside at the house across from us, her dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail. She's playing with her dog in the front yard. I don't know if she ever spots me, because I look away after a few seconds.
"Daniel, Darin, come help unpack everything!" I leave my room and join Mom with the unpacking. Darin comes out of his new bedroom and follows me into the living room to help unpack our boxes. I open one that's filled with kitchen utensils and carry it into the kitchen. I can only put things away in the lower cabinets, so I finish what I can and head back into the living room.
The whole time Darin, Mom, and I are helping unload, I can't stop thinking about that girl across from us. I have no idea why, but my mind keeps going back to her. I don't even want to go talk to her. I decide to take a break to clear my head. I go into my new room and just stare out the window at the scenery. The girl isn't there any more, which is good, I think.