1
Charlie
In my dreams, I went home. I didn't know how I knew it was home, or even why, but I could feel it in my soul, and knew it was as real as the world I'd been born to. The grass beneath my bare feet was sharp and ticklish, and I squished it beneath my toes where I stood, breathing deep the smoke of burning pine embers from a fire I couldn't see. Both acrid and pleasant, it filled my senses, and I closed my eyes as the breeze blew it across my face and through my hair. Standing atop a hill's crest, I reveled in the calm that soaked through me.
"Charlie..."
Immediately, my eyes flew open. A woman's voice, familiar, yet strange, drifted on the wind like a distant song. Lowering to my seat, I pulled my knees to my chest and waited, listening.
"Charlie..."
There she called again, her voice so close and clear it was as though she would emerge from the nearby woods at any moment. I watched for her, waiting. I felt no fear, only calm anticipation, and I closed my eyes as I rested comfortably, anxious for her arrival; that we might meet at last.
"Charlie!"
A scream this time, heavy with fear and pain. With my eyes burst open, I scrambled to my feet, my breath catching on a rapid gasp as I beheld my surroundings. Everything was ablaze. The forest, the grass, even the hill I stood on was caught up in flames so high they bled into the blue sky and turned it red. The fire that I could always smell but not see had appeared and was destroying everything in its wake.
My home was being quickly laid to ruin, wrecking the serenity that I found there, and I cried out as an earth-shaking explosion tossed me from my feet. With my arms protecting my head, I tumbled down the hill. Flames licked at my skin, but though I could feel the heat, it didn't burn me. Gasping through the smoke, I rose to stand, my heart racing at the sound of crackling trees, and somewhere in the distance, bitter screaming.
"Charlie!" The woman screamed again. "Help us!" She shouted again, and I swiveled in all directions, looking for her.
My hands tingled and burned with a sensation I couldn't identify, and I clenched them into fists as my eyes scanned the burning woods. "Where are you!?"
There was no answer. Dropping to my knees, I buried my face in my hands, my eyes squeezed shut to it all. When I opened them again, the air was clear, and I was seated peacefully atop the grassy knoll, listening to the song of a voice on the wind, my heart fond with the feeling of home.
My head banged hard into something as I startled awake, and I peeled my eyes open to scowl at the window as I rubbed my fingers over the sore spot. Sitting in the front seat of my Mom's Civic, I lifted myself upright and glanced out the windshield at the crowded gas station we were stopped at.
"Morning, sleeping beauty." A voice came from the backseat, and I glanced back at my brother. "Bad dream?"
Without answering, I rubbed my hands over my face and scraped them back through my hair. "How long have I been asleep?"
He shrugged, his eyes still glued to his phone. He didn't even look up at me. "Few hours. You talk in your sleep. Do you know that? Weird as crap."
Angling myself in the seat, I turned to look at him. "What did I say?"
He shrugged again before finally lowering the phone. "I don't know. Sounded like you were looking for someone."
Pursing my lips, I turned to look out the windshield as fleeting images of my dream passed through my mind, just beyond recollection. "I don't remember." I mumbled, and my brother huffed. "Where's Mom?"
"Paying." Zak answered and jerked his head toward the convenience store. "Her debit card declined again, so she had to fork over cash."
"It declined again?" I said as I looked back at him. "How come?"
He shrugged. "Dad and his petty lawyers are still trying to divide the accounts before they can finalize the divorce, I guess. Sometimes it works, and sometimes we're cut off completely."
"But what about Mom's personal account?"
He shrugged again. "Till the courts are settled, Dad's still entitled to half of everything, or at least until she mails his lawyer the paperwork to prove she opened the account after Dad left. Regardless, at the moment, he can cut us off from it whenever he wants, and with Mom's bad spending habits, I figure that'll be pretty often."
I frowned as I crossed my arms and shook my head. Our father had ruined everything for us, and he didn't even care. He was the one that had hurt us, and yet it was Mom who was still getting the crap-end of the courts, even seven years after they split. It was bull.
"I hate him." I grumbled, and Zak huffed again.
"Yeah, well, don't we all, but nothing we can do about it except endure the whiplash and hope our necks don't break."
And endure it, we were. I glanced up as I saw Mom exit the store empty-handed, her expression tight with frustration as she stomped toward the car. Zak looked up when she tapped on the glass of the back window, and he reached over to roll it down.
"What's up?"
"You have any cash?" She blurted, looking irritated.
"Uh... a little." Zak dropped his phone onto the suitcase in the seat beside him and began digging through his back pocket for his wallet. "How much?"
"I need twelve." Mom explained and glanced over her shoulder into the store.
"I got eight." Zak said and handed it over as he glanced at me. "Charlie, you got anything?"
Already reaching for my wallet, I retrieved a ten and held it out to Mom, who took it with a grateful half-smile. "Thanks, guys. Be right back."
Without another word, she turned and jogged into the store. Through the large windows, I could see her cut in front of a line of annoyed customers to hand over the crumpled bills. With a shake of my head, I propped my elbow on the sill and balanced my chin on my fist.
"You got anything more than that ten?" Zak asked from over my shoulder, and I shook my head.
"Nope. Was all I had to my name."
He let out a long breath. "I got like... seventeen bucks on my school debit." He said.
Nodding slowly, I watched as Mom started toward us again, two plastic bags dangling from her hands. "I have a feeling we'll need it before we get there." I said, and Zak mumbled an agreement as Mom threw open her door and tossed the bags into my lap. "What's all this?" I asked once she was in and pulling away from the gas pump.
"Lunch." She said. "I thought you guys might be sick of bologna sandwiches by now. Oh, and I found this,"
She reached across my lap to rummage through the bags, one hand on the wheel as she eased back into the interstate traffic. A moment later, she retrieved a little stuffed penguin with big, glittery eyes and an unnatural grin.
"Isn't he cute!?"
I stared at it with a scowl as she propped it up in one hand, a broad grin on her face. "Um... sure."
"His name is Frosty." She explained a second later, then set the toy to balance on the dash. "He's gonna be our good luck charm."
From behind me, Zak snorted. "And exactly how much was 'Frosty'?"
Mom shrugged. "Like... six bucks. Not that much."
"Are you freaking kidding me?" Zak growled from the back, and Mom's grin shrank. "Charlie and I just forked over everything we had left so you could buy a stupid toy!?"
"Zak... chill." I said, turning to frown at him.
His lips still parted in stupefied horror, he crossed his arms and shook his head before looking out the window, muttering curses under his breath.
"I'm gonna pay you back. Besides, I also got lunch and some Cokes for the road, Mr. Ungrateful." Mom cut in with a scowl. "So, don't you take a tone with me."
Zak rolled his eyes but held his tongue, and the car fell into an uncomfortable silence, interrupted only by the voice of the GPS on Mom's phone. We ate the deli sandwiches and bags of chips that she had gotten, but no one spoke. It wasn't until Mom slowed for our exit four hours later, that her smile finally returned.
"We're almost there! Are you guys excited?" She asked as she glanced at me, then looked in the rearview mirror to grin at Zak.
"Overjoyed." Zak mumbled around a yawn, and Mom rolled her eyes.
"Zak, you are such a stick in the mud, do you know that?"
He shrugged. "I'm just tired, Mom. We've been in the car for two days."
At that, she let out a small breath. "I know, honey, but we're almost there. Can you hang tight just a little longer?"
"Not like I've got a choice."
She pursed her lips, her hands tight on the wheel as she coasted into a little town heavily shrouded with foliage. The plaza to the immediate left held an array of tiny stores, a thrift store on one end, nail salon on the other, all positioned around a central Family Dollar. An old-fashioned McDonald's, complete with an outdoor play area still idolizing The Hamburglar, was in the furthest corner of the lot, set apart from the other stores by the wide drive-through that was bumper-to-bumper.
Across the street, a single-story bank with a dilapidated roof occupied the site of a crumbling lot, at the far end of which was a grocery store that still announced available VHS rentals— inquire within. The parking lot was packed, with every other inch of available space occupied by dense fir trees.
Zak leaned up between the seats as Mom slowed for the red light at the end of the exit, each of his arms braced at our shoulders as he scanned our surroundings with narrowed eyes. "Where... are we?" He blurted.
"Hicksville, USA." I mumbled, and Mom swatted my leg.
"It's a small town, guys. That's all. There's nothing wrong with being a little outdated."
"A little outdated?" Zak said. "No, no, no, a little outdated is an iPhone seven versus an eight. This..." His eyes scanned out the window again. "This looks like somebody opened a can of the '90s and let it take a dump everywhere."
Mom sighed heavily, her eyes searching as well. "Okay, so it's a lot outdated, but you know what else it is?"
"The type of town where you go to disappear because it's completely off the map?" Zak offered.
"Cheap." Mom corrected. "It's cheap, and a thousand miles away from your Dad. Now sit back and shut up."
Zak dropped back into the seat as the light changed and we rounded the plaza to start down a long, winding road. We passed through more trees than I'd ever seen in my life, interrupted by little bits of farmland dotted with cows and horses. Despite the rough first impression of the town, I was comforted by the country. It reminded me of a home that I'd never actually seen, and couldn't recall, but could feel in my heart.
"It's actually kind of nice." I mumbled as we wove along the turns and bends, sweeping up and down over the hills deeper into the countryside. From my left, Mom beamed.
"See? It's not so bad."
Zak scoffed from the backseat, but I ignored him as I rolled down the window and leaned into the wind. It was cool, and smelled like trees and damp foliage, leaving me with a peace that felt familiar. Closing my eyes, I breathed it in, letting out a sigh as I pulled back into the car and rolled up the window.
"I can dig it." I said, and Mom reached over to pat my leg.
"I'm glad." Looking in the rearview mirror again, she glanced at Zak. "What about you, grumpy? Can you dig it?"
Though I could see his arms crossed, Zak shrugged. "With enough time, anyone can get used to anything."
"That's the spirit." Mom said.
We rode in silence until the sun had nearly set, basking everything in a twilight blue as Mom slowed and turned into a long gravel drive. Trees heavily bordered both sides, allowing only a peek of the house that was hidden somewhere at the far end. Zak appeared between the seats again, his elbows on the center console as he stared through the windshield. Leaning forward myself, I watched as well, the three of us stiff with anticipation until Mom finally pulled to a stop.
"Well, what do you think?" She asked as she killed the engine.
Zak and I exchanged a glance, then scrambled out of the car and moved to lean on the hood. The house was slate blue in the waning light, with a second story perched on the right side and a wooden porch between the garage and the front door on the other side.
On the left of the yard, a pond was buzzing with dragonflies and mosquitoes, the sound of bullfrogs somewhere among the lily pads. A little dock extended a few feet over it, its right post sagging just a bit.
Opposite the pond, the yard was a wide field, with a dense copse of trees bordering the place like a drawn line. Against my will, my eyes gravitated toward them. An unexplainable tension built inside me as I stared, as though I were being pulled toward them, and it took every ounce of my willpower to stay my feet and drag my eyes away.
But the feeling remained, nonetheless.
It wasn't uncomfortable, rather there was a certain sense in the air that radiated such a strong feeling of peace over me that I nearly wept with it. It was a feeling like... I'd been expected; like I'd come home after a long time away.
Glancing at my brother, I could tell he didn't feel the same, and I took a deep breath and held it a moment before letting it out and forcing the strange sensation away.
"So? What do you think, guys?" Mom pressed as she came to my side.
Without waiting for Zak to answer, I nodded. "I love it."
"Really?" Zak blurted, and I nodded again, more insistently.
"I really do." I insisted, my eyes on the house. "It has a feeling about it. Feels like home."
Through my peripheral, I saw Zak roll his eyes. "It has a feeling alright, but it ain't home. More like hicktown boredom." He pulled his phone from his pocket, tapped at the screen, then held it up with a frustrated huff. "See? Only one signal bar."
Grunting, I frowned at him. "There are worse things, Zak."
He offered me an arched brow but didn't respond as Mom took a few steps toward the house. "Come on, let me show you around."
We started following until her phone rang, and she held up a finger as she dug it out of her pocket. She rolled her eyes as she looked at the screen, then answered with a less-than-friendly remark before stepping away from us. I sat back against the hood of the car and crossed my arms, my eyes still drawing toward the far trees, that indefinable feeling coursing through me in a way I couldn't understand or get rid of.