A Place to Call Mine

It is a drowsy Thursday afternoon in early August, and a bright yellow car can be seen cruising along a winding country road, as its vibrant colour glistens and gleams under the soft afternoon sunlight. The road, completely deserted and slightly uneven, intertwines gently through a dense lining of mountainous evergreen trees. Their dark green needles contrast significantly with the car's cheerful and beaming colour, casting long, speckled shadows that dance across the concrete as the sunlight seeps through the branches. The trees stand like silent and protective guards, their trunks rugged but incredibly sturdy, their branches swaying gently in the tender summer breeze. The air is fresh, spiced with the crisp, sticky scent of pine and the melancholic whisper of their leaves. The sweet songs of thrushes, canaries and nightingales echo gently through the dense forest. The yellow car, bright and bold in colour, seems to radiate with slumbering energy against the calm, earthy melodies of the forest. It is a prominent contrast to the tranquil, and eternal scenery of nature and the wilderness. The scene feels peaceful, everlasting...like a moment frozen between action and calmness, where nature frames a single image of life and inevitable tension. Riyah sitting in the passenger seat of the car whines loudly at her mum who is trying to concentrate on driving; “Why do we need to move to this shitty town mum, I liked the old apartment we used to live in, in the city, and all my friends are back there as well...” She complains, deeply annoyed by the fact that her supposedly good-hearted mother is uprooting her for the place where all her friends lived, the place that she grew up, AND that held all the memories she had of her father. “We need a clean start from everything and a pleasant break from all the negativity in Orleanz” her mum sighed, responding to Riyah’s complaints in a calm tone. “You mean YOU need a break from Orleanz and I do not know what negativity you are referring to, because your life in Orleanz was been perfect... until you suddenly decided to move to a bumpkin, small-town place located out in the middle of nowhere; And what fresh start are you talking... YOU are the one who is literally making ME move when I have one year left in highschool...” Riyah stated angrily engulfed by her frustration. “Then us moving shouldn’t matter because you will be finished soon, and plus where we are moving is not some hick or backwater town, it is actually such a lovely town.... and smaller, I need that right now Ri” her mum replied in a much stricter and sterner tone. “It is still not fair... I am going to be an adult soon and I should be able to decide where I want to live... and everything I care about is back in Orleanz...” Riyah’s whines grew louder and louder, until...*the car shrieks to an immediate and sudden halt* “Riyah Asami Thompson-Davis, enough” her mum demanded in a harsh authoritarian voice, obviously overwhelmed by the internal battle in her mind that is debating her daughter’s complaints and her own personal wishes. “This will be good for the both of us and I will not hear any more complaints. Is that understood?” “Whatever” Riyah huffed, seating deeper into the seat and placing on her headphones and turning the volume of her music to the max. “I wish dad was here, at least he would understand” Riyah muttered underneath her breath, visibly upset by her mother’s lack of compassion. “I promise this will be good for us” her mum replied as tears slowly begin to form in her eyes. They arrived at the town sign, and it read, New Havens, Evermore, population 5,000 people. The bright yellow car that they drove drastically contradicted with the town’s dreary atmosphere. Their vibrant vehicle cruised slowly down the main street, tires creaking over uneven pavement as they passed rows of small shops, haunted-like houses, a hospital, a pre-school, and Riyah’s new highschool, that looked more like a prison. The town centre looked like it had been frozen in the 1950s or 60s, as old neon signs flickering in the afternoon haze. The windows were dusty, and boarded up, like they were trying to keep you from seeing what was going on inside. It gave the feeling that the townspeople were trying their best to hide something from the outside. Riyah’s mum, trying to move past their earlier argument, was humming her favourite song, whilst Riyah sat in the passenger seat, had her arms crossed tightly and her body burned with anger, as she was still annoyed with her mother. However, everytime she raised her head up to look out the window, a new person was staring right back at her. The energy in the car was tense, but not as tense as it was outside the car. The people walking on the sidewalks in the town centre didn’t smile, they didn’t wave. They just watched. Watched their car as it drove along the road, and when Riyah locked eyes with one of the bystanders...it was like the world inside the car froze and Riyah felt a sense of eeriness, like the car was not the thing out of place, her mum and her were. They were being watched. Riyah awkwardly taking off her headphones, began to shift uncomfortably in her seat. “Why are they watching us like that?” she asked her mum in a low voice, not wanting to alert the strangers to her unease, even though the windows of the car were closed. Her mother kept driving, her eyes focused on the road ahead of them. “They are not watching us. You’re probably just paranoid. Or maybe you’re nervous, because it’s a new place, and it’s also a small town. They are probably just quick to notice new faces around here”. Despite her mother’s attempts to defuse the situation, Riyah didn’t believe a single word that came out of her mouth, and clearly neither did she. As her mother drove, she didn’t look up once, her eyes were purely focused on the road and her hands held the steering wheel tightly, as if she was afraid that something was about to happen and she needed to stay alert. Her face no longer had her signature smile on it; It was stern, concentrated. She was pretending their stares didn’t bother her, but they did. “They already look like they hate us, and we haven’t even gotten to the house yet,” Riyah muttered, which her mum responded to with a deep sigh. Riyah pulled her hoodie up over her head to hide from the soul-crushing glares of everyone outside, as they darted at the car. When she saw how even young kids stopped riding their bikes to watch their car as it rolled down the street, Riyah became certain that she wasn’t being paranoid or nervous...she was right. Everyone was watching them. But why. They had only just arrived, and no one knew who they were, so why were they watching them. It wasn’t her nerves that were playing in her head, it was something deeper. Creepier. Like the town had collectively decided that they were bad news the second they entered the town lines. Nonetheless, Riyah was too pissed off to let a couple of glares and stares add to the annoyance she was already feeling, so she shook the tension off and put back on her headphones. She decided to let the town keep staring; Her and her mum just had to make it to the house, then maybe she would be able to relax and not feel so different, as if she was an alien that just landed on Earth. Or so she thought... They arrived at their new home, which was not what either of them was expecting. The old, wooden house had been colonised by vines and was overrun by varmints. In addition, there was a welcome sign that said “Pine Ridge A Place to Call Home”; But as Riyah walked closer to the gate of the house, the way people looked at her, started to make it feel more like a place to be watched by noisy and judgmental strangers. It was quite ironic that her mother wanted to get away from the negativity in Orleanz, but apparently it just followed them all the way to New Havens. The house sat alone at the end of cobbled road and looked like it was ready to collapse. The gate squeaked as it swung in the chilling breeze. Everything about the house screamed danger and fatality, as the vines wrapped themselves around the house, serving as a protective cloak. The wood of the house was splintered and the colour faded, as it peeled back in places like it had been clawed at by wild animals. The windows were a disaster as well, some were boarded up, like in the town centre, some were shattered completely, and some were fogged with decades of dust. They stared out on the road with deprivation. Empty. Soulless. Watching everything and everyone. Next to the house, were brittle trees with weak branches, one of which had a rusty double swing hanging from it. At first glance there was not a single redeeming quality to the house, and on the one hand, it appeared to be an old forgotten house ready to crumble once it sensed pressure...but, on the other hand, Riyah couldn't help but be fascinated by it. It looked like a place that held a lot of memories, both good and bad. As she turned back to help her mum gather their belongings from the car, her mum had a reassuring smile plastered on her face; It was annoying. This place was an absolute dump, but of course her mum would try and make the best out of a shitty situation. She helped her mum carry some of their belongings towards the house, and her mum passed the gate and entered the house without a worry in sight, but for Riyah, it was not so easy. Riyah hesitated at the gate, as her fingers brushed the icy metal, sending a chilling sensation down her spine. Something about this town made her want to turn back. She didn’t know what it was, whether it was the desolate road on their drive up, the judgmental stares of the people in the town, the boarded-up windows, or this incredibly horrific house, but something did not feel right. The feeling of uncertainty rooted itself deep inside her chest, and she could hear whispers warning her to turn back. Before she knew it, she was next to the car, she almost opened the door before she heard her mum calling her to come inside. As she was turning back towards the house, she swore she could hear the people that were walking on the opposite side of the street whispering. Something was seriously wrong. Something about this town just didn't seem to sit right with her, and despite her mum’s earlier suggestion of paranoia, to Riyah, it was more than that. There was something about this place, like everything was holding its breath. Like if you pushed them too hard, they might all collapse and spill all their secrets. Whatever. Riyah didn't know how long they would be here, but she did know that it would be a hell of a story.