Dripping Roses

  “This year is going to be different.” I told myself as I finished putting mine and my brothers luggage in the baggage carrier above our seats. The fasten your seatbelt sign flashed above as a blonde flight attendant verbally relayed the message.  I grabbed my iPod and sat down in the black first class seat by the window. My younger brother Logan sat down in the seat next to me. In his hand sat two little black jewelry boxes. With a curious tone to his voice he said “these were in the lock box at the bank,They’re addressed to us”.  I eyed the boxes cautiously before asking. “should we open them?” he shrugged and said “they were addressed to us, I think they would want us to”. He handed me my box and urged me to open it.  I took a deep breath and opened the box, the inside of the jewelry box was a dark purple silk or satin material. In the center was a large ring, there was a bluish tinted diamond or stone of some sort rested in the middle. It some what reminded me of a full moon.  Positioned around the big stone were four dark blue diamonds. I looked over at Logan’s box where he had a ring almost exactly the same. The only difference in the rings was that Logan’s was slightly larger and the silver bands were different too. The band on my ring was made up of carefully crafted silver leafs and my name Skylar Morgenstern was engraved into it.      The band of Logan’s was sharp silver flames with his name engraved into it as well. I looked over at Logan, who was already wearing his ring. Then I reached down, picked mine up and I slipped it onto my finger, and noticed it had a comforting weight. Both rings were perfect fits as if they were made for us, no, meant for us. we sat in silence admiring our rings, until the same blond flight attendant from before stood beside our seat reminding us to put our seatbelts on. She looked at Logan and winked. He looked down at his shoes, obviously he was self conscious. For whatever reason, I had no idea. Lots of girls thought Logan was cute whether it was the dirty blond hair, or blue eyes. Girls always took a second glance at him.  I mean my little brother Logan was handsome, sure, he was about five ten and Had light tanned skin. But it was really the light blue eyes that attracted the attention of most girls.  I, on the other hand was like 5”4 and had dark brown curly hair. My skin was a bit paler than Logan’s, But the bright blue eyes we shared.     I was very social where we had lived. l had lots of friends, went to parties, occasionally got drunk, and had great grades. My house was in a nice neighborhood five minutes from the restuarant my friends and I worked at.  I had a silver jeep Cherokee that my parents called the ‘Beast’ because it was big and loud. Me and my dad rigged it up to be that loud. (Which is kind of illegal)  I had a couple passions, one of which was mechanics. My dad was a lawyer/mechanic, so I learned from the best. It was passed on to me because Logan was uninterested in automechanics but it peaked my interest.  My mom was a doctor and Logan was captain of the track team and in tenth grade. I was in the eleventh grade and was on the volleyball team and cheer squad. I also was president of the student government and volunteered at the fundraisers, games etc. Logan and I had the perfect life...  That was Eight months ago.    One day in late January I had stayed after school with my best friend Rachael to help clean up after the winter prom and I didn’t have a ride because my car was in the shop getting its tires replaced for the winter. I had planned on getting a ride with my boyfriend Todd but we had gotten into a fight so I didn’t have a ride home.  I remember talking with Rachael and then calling my parents. See, Rachael lived four miles south of town and I lived a mile north in town in the neighborhood. So she would have had to drive all the way to my house then to her house. Instead of asking her for a ride I just called my mom. I remember it all clear as day. Rachael and I had walked into the school parking lot. Rachael unlocked her car and said “ hey do you need a ride, sky?” I shook my head “I’m going to call my mom, besides we need to go shopping for Logan's birthday anyway” she got in and said, “ Well okay then, see you tomorrow sis. Love You!” I waved as she pulled off.  I called my mom and she picked up after two rings “ hey sky, you done at school?” I took a breath which burned my chest since it was so cold out. “yeah I uh need a ride mom, can you come pick me up?” she said “well sure but I thought Todd was driving you home?” I exhaled “we got into a fight. I’ll tell you when we get home. Love you mom and please hurry it’s freezing out here”. She laughed a little “ Be there soon baby girl. love you bye”. It was almost dark out when it started snowing, and the snow was sticking.     I expected my parents to take a little longer because it was snowing and my mom would tell my dad to drive carefully. I waited what was about an hour or so before calling my mom back and there was no answer I called two more times, still no answer. A blossom of worry and anticipation opened up in my chest.  I called the house and Logan picked up. I asked if mom and dad were there, and he said they left to come get me about an hour ago.  I hung up as this dead and cold feeling began to grow into a pit in my stomach. I tried my moms phone again, still no answer. I waited another ten minutes until I called my friend Casey, who lived down the street from me and she came to get me. About five minutes later  she pulled up and I got in. I had her drive the long way by my moms office and when we left we saw an ambulance heading in the direction of our neighborhood. We followed it on the route we usually took to our houses, and about ten minutes from my house it stopped and then we saw it.  The dreadful feeling in my stomach intensified as I got out of the car and ran towards the multiple Emergency vehicles and people in uniforms surrounding the crash scene. My face was frozen, whether it was the icy cold, or the tears frozen to my face.      I watched in horror as the medics and police attempted to pull my lifeless parents from underneath the massive SUV that they drove which was smashed and twisted into the side of a building. I knew they were dead because the way the car was smashed there couldn’t possibly be a survivor.  I cried for months it was the worst feeling I had ever experienced. Logan was just as bad. But it was worse for me because I felt that it was my fault that it happened. Because it was me who needed a ride and it was me who called asking for a ride. It was my fault they were out in the ice and snow. And now it was my fault we were moving in with our uncle John in the country and that we had to take an eight hour flight from West Virginia to Piscataquis county in Maine.      I looked away from the window on the plane. Suddenly I realized that while I was lost in thought our second flight today in which we were aboard had traveled the last three hours to Maine. We were circling the runway about to land in a couple minutes.  I looked at Logan who was asleep and snoring, loudly. “Logan, wake up” he moved a little but didn’t wake up. This time I rapidly shook his shoulder “Logan  wake the hell up!”. The old lady across the aisle glared at me in disapproval of my language. She turned her nose up and looked away.  Logan’s eyes opened and he jumped a little “dammit sky why did you let me fall asleep!” he held the back of his neck and leaned forward. “ now my neck hurts”. I rolled my eyes “don’t be such a baby Logan, besides you haven’t slept in days and you needed it”. He gave me his famous “pissed” look and started stretching.  Logan had spent the previous three days hanging out with his friends. He would be gone with them during the day and playing his Xbox with them at night. Any spare time he had he was giving them the things he couldn’t take with him.  I spent my last three days with my two best friends Rachael and Casey. They helped me pack my things. I couldn’t be with my other friends because it would be awkward considering I hadn’t talked to any of them since the accident. In fact my last couple months of 11th grade I didnt speak hardly at all.  Rachael and Casey had helped me pack two duffle bags and a large suitcase along with my backpack. I was finally ready to leave and it hurt, a lot..      The plane finished circling and started to land. The flight attendant told us to fasten our seatbelts. After about five minutes we landed safely. Logan grabbed his bags as I grabbed mine. Uncle john was waiting by the baggage claim. It wasn’t even hard to spot him really.  He was a six and a half foot tall guy who was really tan with black hair and a black beard. Uncle john greeted us with a huge smile and tight bear hugs. I think the last time I seen him I was like nine. He grabbed both my duffle bags in one hand and my suitcase in the other and walked us out.  He had a big truck with big patchy rust spots. You could tell it used to be a dark red color. It had a double cab and a hard top on the back, where two big, wolf like German shepherds waited patiently with their tails wagging. Uncle john opened the back and put the luggage inside. The dogs tried escaping, but failed.      The white one had blue eyes and a green collar with a clover tag that said lucky and the brown and black one had a bandana collar that said rusty. We all got in the truck . We pulled out of the airport and onto a freeway. We rode in silence for about an hour until we pulled of onto a two lane road enveloped in a canopy of huge spruce, pine, and evergreen trees. Fifteen minutes later we pulled off onto a one lane road. Uncle john struck up a conversation.      “You guys are going to love the house. I just added on a second bedroom. There’s even a garage with an apartment upstairs on top, One of you can have it. It has a little bathroom, a kitchen and a bedroom”. I looked up at him a little intrigued. “uncle john when you say garage-” he stopped me mid sentence. “its like a big kind of work shop I never use. But if I’m correct Skylar, aren’t you the family mechanics wizard?”  I smiled a little “yeah I’m kind of into that stuff” he grinned “well consider it your  birthday present!” I smiled “really!? My birthday isn’t even for three more weeks.” He gave me a quick glance “well consider it your early birthday present” then he yelled “ happy early birthday Skylar Renee Morgenstern!” Logan started singing happy birthday and uncle john chimed in. By the time they finished the dogs were barking and howling for an encore.     We had been in the truck for what seemed like an hour or two. Suddenly we slowed almost to a stop and turned onto a dirt road that was almost hidden in plain sight. The reason for this was the road sign was covered in moss and ivy.  I looked around and saw that there was a small river on the right side of the road. It was about fifteen feet across and about two or three feet deep. It was so clear that I could see the pebbles and stones on the river bed and the big fish swimming at the bottom.  My attention turned to the clearing up ahead.  There was a log cabin at the front of the clearing. The clearing itself was about a mile wide and opened up to a field that after about a mile or two reached the shore. To the right of the field was a huge red barn. To the left closest to the house was a building with an automatic garage door, and an upstairs with two front windows. It was half the size of the cabin and it looked almost new. The truck wheezed to a halt, and uncle john said, “Well, welcome home”.