Forest City Chapter 1 Part 1 -New life-
I made my way towards my aunt Hazel's apartment, living in the city was a new experience. I felt another flood of anxiety fill my head. I looked back at my father in his old red pick up truck, rust had began to eat away at the paint. My father ran a huge farm out in the middle of nowhere, what did we harvest, well, nuts, we are squirrels. My father bent his head down so he could see my nervous face, he grinned. Dang it! My buck teeth are showing. I tapped on the window of the truck nervously.
"Kiddo, everything is going to be fine," my dad reassured through a mouthful of pecans.
"What if I mess up everything, what if I make a bad first impression, what if-" I was interrupted.
"Everything will be alright, hey look, you got neighbors!" my dad sounded slightly excited.
I glanced over to the apartment next to my aunt's, a small dark alleyway separated the two buildings, I didn't want to think of what gross things were hiding in that alleyway. I looked at the steps of my new neighbor's apartment. A tall slender blue wolf sat on the concrete steps, that led up to the doorway to my new neighbor's apartment. The wolf sat with his head facing the ground, he had his phone in had and in the other... well... a cigarette. I sighed.
"I think I'm going to be sick," I said while facing my dad.
"Oh don't worry kiddo, here take some chestnuts in to my sister, I'll grab your bags," dad replied.
"I don't want to live in the big city!" I whined.
"It will only be for a year of school, then... maybe... you'll come back, I don't like having to do this, but your sister was the same way," my dad reminded me.
My sister Clove, she was the oldest of us all, along with her twin brother, Chester. Dad sent Clove to live with Aunt Hazel because Clove showed up one day with a girl and proclaimed, "This is my girlfriend and if you can't respect my choices, then I'll live with Aunt Hazel." It has been two years since I saw my sister Clove. Chester begrudgingly took it upon himself to inherit the farm. As for me...
"Oh my lovely er... niece," Aunt Hazel called from the doorway.
I slid past her avoiding as much eye contact as possible, being called niece was like a harpoon to the face, if only I knew what that felt like.
"What's the deal with this one, little brother," Aunt Hazel eyed my dad, "girlfriend, nut allergy, doesn't want to work, video games. What is it this time." She rolled her eyes.
"You have the attention span of Mac when she was younger," my dad replied.
I winced, SHE, I can't believe my own dad, after I explained thoroughly what I meant in the car, I corrected, "Them, they, them, I'm not a girl."
"Then what are you, a boy, I heard that Canter's kid is now a girl," Hazel replied.
"I-I," my dad made a glare at me, "I'm neither," I responded.
"Well, then, I guess," Hazel said with a hint of worry.
I stepped inside of Hazel's apartment building. The wallpaper was a light creme color and the floor was a dark brown wood. I glanced at the tight staircase that led up to nothingness, was this where my room was. I glanced around the staircase to see a small kitchen and dining room, if there was anyway I could describe the kitchen would be... yellow, my aunt seems to really like the color yellow, from yellow curtains, to yellow flowers, to the yellow rug that greeted me at the doorway. On the other side of the staircase was a small living room, I could tell that Aunt Hazel had some influence from Savannah, the walls were dusty green and had tacky palm leaves printed on the wallpaper. I noted various books were stacked neatly on bookshelves, I wondered what some of them were about, I noticed a small desk with a journal on it. I took a few steps towards the desk, on the small journal lay a yellow post it note, it read: "To: Mac, your sister: Clove."
The only other family member I ever told about me being Non Binary was my sister, Clove, it was when I was thirteen, now as a seventeen year old, I just felt bad bringing the subject up to anyone, I lost the only person I could trust. We kept secrets, as most siblings do, it felt fun at first, but then my parents found out about Clove and her girlfriend and immediately kicked her out.
I took the journal instantly and hid it under a cushion in the couch. The couch was only a small loveseat, it was the color of key lime pie and reeked of perfume. I noted small crumbs on the couch and as I took a step back I felt it, how had I not noticed the small coffee table sitting in front of the couch. I heard a loud crash as I stumbled over my bushy white tail, luckily my head landed on the plush rug laying on the floor. It appears that I tripped over the coffee table...
There better be a good character arc for Aunt Hazel
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 10, we do get some understanding between Mac and Hazel and they both do have some character development between the two and their different viewpoints of life. I hope that you enjoy the themes shown between the two, I want to show different dynamics between people's beliefs in politics, religion, and sexuality.
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