The Key To Terra

"Sweetie, we've been over this," Marina's mother said in exasperation, "your father and I have our...differences but you really need to spend some time with him too. It's only fair. He deserves to be able to see now and then." She clearly did not like the situation much either. In fact, her wrinkled scrubs and now messy bun made her look tired. Wisps of long brown waves fell from her bun, hair very much like her daughter's. They even shared the same striking ocean blue eyes. In fact Marina did not look much like her father at all. She was never very close to him either. It was morning and Marina's mother had only just gotten home from her shift no more than a few hours ago. But since she had recently divorced her husband, Marina would have to spend time over with her dad at least once in a while. And despite her lack of sleep, she had to be the one to drive her daughter to the airport. No one else would be able to do so. So she had no choice but to drive to the airport shortly after getting home from another exhausting overnight shift. Good thing she was used to driving while tired. That and strong coffee to keep her going even if she was running on fumes. "He lives in the middle of nowhere now, mom. It's literally called a village. That's how small it is," Marina complained but still reluctantly opened the passenger side door before getting in and plopping into the seat with a huff. Once she buckled herself in her mother followed suit with a defeated sigh. Marina then put her earbuds in and stared out the window with music blaring. The music was the only sound to fill the vehicle for the entire trip. Neither Marina nor her mother spoke more than was absolutely necessary. Several songs later and countless trees and buildings blurred past before Marina's mother pulled into a free parking space and quickly parked the little black car. Marina removed her earbuds and glanced up. The airport filled her vision. Bustling with people carrying and pulling luggage along. Adults hurrying along, some with children in tow. Many of them throwing some sort of tantrum for some reason or other. Marina found herself upset with the situation all over again. She really did not want to spend part of her summer in Vermont. Honestly she wanted to stay in the south where she grew up. With her friends. Staying up late and making memories with them before graduation crept up on them and made it harder for them to find time for each other. Then they would have their own lives and might not be able to hang out much. But she put on a brave face at the very least for her mother's sake. Her mother had enough to worry about with her job at the hospital. Besides, maybe it would not end up being absolutely horrible. She could always spend her time there trekking around the wooded area near her father's house. And she could still at the very least talk to her friends online. So she gave her mother one last good bye hug and made her way to the plane. Alone. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Before she knew it, the plane had touched down and she found herself face to face with her father for the first time since her parent's divorce. Her parents had had a disagreement over her father's decision to suddenly leave his stable job to finally follow his dream of being a full time artist. He had always enjoyed painting in his spare time. But once the divorce was finalized he moved all the way from Florida to Vermont to be closer to nature for the sake of his art. And there was definitely plenty of nature to come by in southern Vermont. He had sent Marina pictures from time to time of all the trees and dirt roads near his new home. Marina could not help but notice that her father looked like he was doing well though. He smiled widely and genuinely at her when their eyes first met. He seemed happy. Happier than she remembered seeing him for quite a while. Perhaps he was making a decent living off of his art after all despite her mother's warnings. Her parents fought so many times because her mother never believed that leaving a stable job for such an unstable one was a wise decision. Her father had the same salt and pepper hair and kind gray eyes that she remembered. However his beginnings of a beard was definitely new. Marina's mother would have complained about him not shaving if she could see him. But now he was free to do whatever he wanted and he was clearly taking advantage of it. "Hey, dad," Marina gave her father a small smile. Then he surprised her with a big hug before leading her to his dirt coated pickup truck. "Sorry about the state of the truck, Sweetheart," he settled into the driver's seat and gestured towards the dirt on the truck and the amount accumulated in the floorboards, "I haven't had the chance to clean her yet." Marina merely shrugged over it and proceeded to zone out for most of the drive. It was not too long before the skyscrapers of the city gave way to trees and farmland. She watched as cows and sheep blurred by, beginning to worry exactly how far away from civilization she would be living this summer. The bumpy, pothole speckled back roads jostled her father's truck. Every once in a while you could see a patch of fresher pavement to temporarily repair the road. You could tell that not much thought went into taking care of the roads despite the winters up on Vermont. Soon it too disappeared as the skyscrapers had. Her father turned his old truck onto an unmarked dirt road. There was a post for a street sign but the sign itself was missing for some reason. The road had large spots of mud, creating big ruts that the truck had to drive through. Marina was quickly realizing why her father now drove a truck and why it was so dirty. It did not seem like an area where one could drive year round without a vehicle with four wheel drive. "It rained recently," her father said apologetically. Luckily the drive over the muddy road was not too long. Moments later he turned again up a steep, long driveway. Tall trees lined both sides of the driveway, proudly displaying their green leaves. Once at the top of the hill, Marina saw the land for the first time in person. Trees lined the edges of the property and surrounded the decently sized white colored house. You could tell that the house was old. The paint job was in desperate need of a touch up. A wooden ramp led to a front porch and finally a solid front door with a spot light near the entrance. Supposedly her father had inherited the house from family but did not know what to do with it until the divorce. Then it became an easy home for him to quickly move into. It was not a huge house by any means but was definitely large for only one person. Marina's father led her to the front door and opened it. A medium sized dog came bolting out with a more cautious one of roughly the same size following close behind. She could not determine a specific breed for either. The first one wagged his tail violently and jumped up playfully. The other stayed a safe distance away and watched her. "Ro, no jumping. You know better," her father said sternly to the excited dog, "Marina this is Rowan. And the one over there is Ash." Ash came over to her father for some chin scratches. Marina could not help but roll her eyes internally. Of course her dad would name his dogs after trees. He had always been crazy about the outdoors. He even used to try and convince Marina's mother to go on hikes and various other outdoor adventures with him. But her mother had never really been the outdoorsy type for whatever reason. It really made Marina wonder what had attracted them to each other in the first place. After properly greeting both dogs, her father led the way into the house and gave her a quick tour. The tour ended with her room so that she could leave her stuff there and unpack what she needed. The room left for her was of medium size and had large windows framed with some black out curtains. The only furniture present so far was a bed, already made, and a solid wood desk and matching chair. She smiled at her father's efforts to try and make her room homey on such short notice. As soon as he left her by herself in the room, she unpacked some of her things. But Marina quickly became bored so she made her way down the stairs and out the door, calling out to her dad that she would be going for a walk. He called back for her to be careful not to get lost. Moments later she was under the shade of the trees. She listened contentedly to the birds chirping away and the occasional pecking of a woodpecker nearby. Sun leaked through the gaps in the tree branches, keeping the pathway well lit despite all of the trees. She followed the path and eventually started to hear a slamming sound. Curious, she glanced around to find the source of the sound and noticed a very old fashioned home all by itself in the distance. Upon closer inspection she noticed that the home had been abandoned for quite some time. Everything inside was coated in dust. And yet the exterior was mysteriously still in excellent condition. The gentle breeze made the front door swing slowly open and closed. That was what she had been hearing earlier. Marina cautiously made her way up the front steps and pushed the open door aside so she could slip through. The first thing that caught her attention was a bookshelf on the far side of the room. The floor creaked under her feet as she walked up to it. There were many dust covered books filling up the bookshelf but one in particular had her interest. The book was thick and appeared to be leather bound. She blew off the dust, revealing intriguing symbols. But she was disappointed when she opened it. "Huh. The pages are blank. Hmm oh well. Maybe dad will think it's a really cool sketchbook." Marina murmured to herself. Assuming that whoever the owner of the house was would not mind, she put the book under one arm and decided to backtrack to her father's house once noticing the position of the sun in the sky. It was getting late and she definitely did not want to be in the forest at night. So she quickly made her way back by retracing her steps. Marina entered the house and was immediately greeted by the sounds of excited dogs. Their nails clicked on the floor as they padded over to get some attention. She pet both dogs and glanced in the nearby kitchen. No sign of her father but a single note hung on the front of the fridge. She picked it up and read it. 'Hey Sweetheart. I went to get us something to eat. Don't worry about the dogs. They've already been out and fed. I'll be back soon. Love you.' "Well I guess I'll show dad the book later. Whenever he gets back," Marina said to the two dogs at her feet.