Chapter 1

I slowly walked home from school with my hands stuffed in my pockets. School was just like any other day: uneventful. Ever since dad died, things only seemed to go downhill. The friends I had all left as soon as they could, not wanting to be part of the freak show that I was. I was three houses from mine when I saw a moving truck parked near our house. I wonder who's moving. As I got closer to my house, I saw men wearing uniforms with the same company logo that was on the truck, taking boxes from my house. I speed walked the remaining steps to my house and almost bumped into one of the men on my way inside. I looked around the living room and saw boxes covering most of the room. "What's going on?" I asked to no one in particular. Deciding to get some answers, I went through the hall way and knocked on my mum's bedroom door. "Come in," came my mum's voice, slightly muffled by the closed door. "Are we moving?" Was the first thing I asked when I entered her room. "Oh hey honey," she said whilst packing some of her stuff in empty boxes. Not even bothering to answer my question. "How was school?" "Are we moving?" I asked her again. "Yes honey," She replied and stopped in her tracks, "Remember I told you about it." "Yeah but you didn't mention it being this early," I argued. "What difference does it make?" she questioned. "A lot mum-" "Can we not do this right now," She cut me off just before I could complete my sentence. "I promise we'll talk later but can you please be a darling and pack up the little that's left in your room?" she pleaded. I begrudgingly sighed and left her room with a silent yes. "Thank you!" She shouted after I closed the door behind me. Even if she didn't tell me, I knew exactly what we were-- or at least what she was running from. It wasn't hard to tell from the ever prominent circles under her eyes. She looked like she was haunted by the memories of Dad hidden in every nook and crook of the house. Even though we never talked about him much after the incident, I could clearly see the pain that she was trying so desperately to keep at bay. She didn't hide it well. When I entered my room, I got what was left of my clothes from my closet and packed them in the suitcase that seemed a bit too small to fit all of them. After that, I took my luggage outside and put it in the trunk of mum's car. "Is that all?" came my mum's voice from behind me. "Uh...no," I sighed. "I just need to get something then we can go." With that, I went back inside, taking my time in looking at the now empty house that I'd called home for as long as I could remember. I can't believe we're leaving. Guilt kicked in and the memories that I always tried to suppress played like a rile before my eyes. I closed my eyes in an attempt to shut the memories out but that only made tears roll down my checks. I took a deep breath in and tried to compose myself and grabbed the box that contained some of the clothes that couldn't fit in the suitcase and left the house that held so many memories both good and bad. "We're good to go now," I announced as soon as I put the box in the trunk and closed it. Mum came over and hugged me tight. "Don't worry honey, we are going to a better place," she whispered. "You'll see," she let go of me and went inside the car. I stared at the house for a few seconds and tried to stitch every inch of the house in mind, from the oddly set up swing set to the freshly cut grass. "Goodbye," I sighed and walked towards the car. I got in the passenger seat and fastened my seat belt. Mum reversed out of the driveway and before I knew it we were driving to our new home. Could I call it a home just yet?