FAMILY FEUDS

I Do, I Don't

The bedroom is dark, and there is a faint light shining through the bedroom window. A taxi driver outside impatiently honks his horn, probably trying to get someone's attention. A group of people are laughing and chattering away in a distance. Emily is staring at the red numbers of the digital clock on her beside table. Watching them change every minute. One minute feels like five. She couldn't sleep. It is only Thursday, but she's already nervous about this coming weekend. It's been six months since the last time she saw her family. The last time she saw them was at her brother's wedding. The wedding that took everyone by suprise when his bride-to-be, Amanda, never showed up. No one saw it coming. Amanda and Mark were madly in love. Everybody who knew them said it was a match made in heaven. Amanda was kind and a social butterfly. Mark, Emily's brother, on the other hand, was more reserved and quiet. They complimented each other beautifully. Amanda brought Mark out of his shell. Well, that was the case until the day of the wedding. Mark took it very hard. Obviously, one would be shattered if your partner of two years decided to leave you on the morning of the wedding.

After the wreck of a wedding, Mark decided to sell their house and move back to his childhood home with his parents. The house was built on a farm. It was old, it needed a little bit of work, but it is a beautiful home. It is surrounded by huge oaktrees. There is a pond on the farm that belongs to a family of ducks. The house and everything around it are surrounded by miles of green pastures. At night time, the moon and stars shine extra bright. It feels like you could touch them just by standing on your toes. The best part of being on the farm is the silence. It's a different type of silence. A silence that makes your heart feel at ease. The only ones that manage to break the silence are the crickets. One could understand why Mark left the city and moved back to a more peaceful setting. Maybe that's what he so desperately needed to wrap his mind around how things turned out between him and Amanda. Although, moving back home does come with one problem. They are called mom and dad.