Nature's Kiss • Paul Lahote

Ch.1 Forks

I stared out the window from the back seat of my dad's Jeep while listening to music off my iPod. My little sister Heidi was asleep next to me while I watched as the tall evergreen and pine trees flew by in boredom while my older sister and mom talked to each other. The Pacific North West was pretty with its constant gloomy weather and beautiful tall trees, but I had a feeling it wasn't going to make my depression any better.

My dad has come up to Forks about two weeks ago to start settling in and receiving our shipments while my mother, sisters and I stayed back and finished packing some things. One thing that sucked about moving off an island is that we had to ship everything. We shipped our cars, furniture, surf boards and a some other things already, so by the time we arrived at the Tacoma airport our father's black Jeep was waiting there for us.

The whole move was stressful and annoying no doubt. My whole ohana's (Family's) relationship wasn't the best at the moment due to the move, but it had to be done. After my shark attack my father had no want to live in Hawaii anymore making both my mother and sister upset and angry. I was, of course, dissatisfied, but not as upset as my sister and mom. Heidi was the only one who was excited. My father was also slightly home sick, tired of the expensiveness of living in Hawaii and had a job opportunity back in his home town of Forks. So we had to move.

The ride from Tacoma to Forks was brutally long and all I wanted was to get out of the car and into our new home. I made sure to send some pictures to Maddison and it led to us texting back and forth for a while.

A very subtle smile came to my face when we passed the large sign that said The City Of Forks Welcomes You. I texted my father that we arrived in the small town and that we should be there in a matter of minutes. I slowly put my prosthetic leg on in the back seat and gathered my stuff together as we drove down a neighborhood road.

"We're here girls." My mom softly says as she pulls into the driveway of our new house. I got out of the car quickly, the cool air hitting me. It was January and the weather difference between here and Hawaii was huge. I looked at my new home and the surrounding houses. Our new neighborhood screamed upper-middle class. The houses were all two to three stories and had modern colonial architecture. It was a cute little neighborhood.

"There's my girls!" I hear my dad's familiar voice call out. I see him standing on the front porch with the door open and smile.
"Dad!" I shout happily and walk as fast as I can to him. He envelopes me in a tight hug and slightly rock me back and forth before pulling away.
"Go ahead and place your stuff inside." He says and I nod. He moves aside and walks toward the Jeep to greet my mom and sister before helping them grab the left over luggage and what not. I walk inside the house and my mouth automatically drops. It was so different compared to our house in Hawaii.

This house, although white and bright on the outside was dark on the inside. Our living room was a beautiful and dark turquoise green with our couch and lounge chairs being mustard yellow and dark brown. I never would've thought the colors went together, but it looked nice. A dark and old fire place stood under the TV and a wooden coffee table sat in front of the couch. The living room and dining room were connect and the kitchen matched nicely with living room. I put my stuff down near the corner of the stairs before walking back outside to help bring stuff in.

Harper and I made our way upstairs and Harper was happy to figure out she got the bigger and brighter room. Jokes on her though, because although my room was smaller, I got my own bathroom. Heidi got the smallest room, but she was only 6. My mattress and bed were already set up in the middle of the room; against the only wooden wall and my light colored, wooden dresser was pressed up against the wall opposite of my bed. Boxes along with some of my other belongs sat on top of my dresser as well as the middle of the floor. My three surf boards leaned up against the teal colored walls in the corner. I had a lot to do.