INNOCENT ADVENTURE

My name is Emerald Rosa Wilson (named after my emerald green eyes that I got from my Dad and middle name from my mother), I recently turned 19, freshly out of high school. I was already too tall for my age standing at 5"8 and I hear I'm not even done developing yet. I have a very slender body with no curves unlike my very curvy sister (mother says I get it from my father's family and she's not spotting much curves herself), I have long dangly arms and legs to complement my slender body with a mane of brown hair. As you can already tell, I'm not a belle. I have spent my entire life going with the flow but now I'm in search of a new adventure. I’m the last of 3 children; my eldest step brother Gerald; who works in a factory so many miles and towns away from home and my big step sister Gwendolyn who works in the big city. My siblings are much older that me since our mother married my father later on in her life; years after her first husband (the father of my siblings) passed. I do not share much of a bond with my brother since he left home much earlier in my childhood and hardly come home especially after Gwen left to pursue her career in the city. My sister on the other hand had been my everything until she left to pursue her career. Gwen had always been intelligent, talented and the most beautiful girl in our little town. Everyone loved her; boys ‘fawned’ over her, girls wished to be her, parents wished for their children to be like her; to my infant brain, my sister was the best. Simply amazing. As I grew up, this vision of my sister never changed; even in her absence. My parents are both retired in their respective careers at this moment. Mum, a retired nurse and dad a retired cargo truck driver. My dad didn’t have any other children so I was his only one and he doted on me very much. Mother on the other had (insists on being called that) is a lot more withdrawn and buried herself in her work and that left me with my dad and big sister and after she retired, I was fairly independent. I over heard her once in an argument say she married dad out of grief for the loss of the love of her life and for companionship, I don't know if she meant it but since then, it felt like part of her resentment about their marriage was directed towards me; the product of her “unwanted marriage”. But dad was always there to make sure I didn’t feel left out. And so did my big sister. Until she left. FLASHBACK { 8 years ago} 2 months before Gwen left “Aaahhhh!!!!!!!!!!! I GOT IN! I GOT IN! I MADE IT...” came the excited screens from upstairs one hot lazy afternoon. Dad was helping me with my home work from the dining table downstairs. Dad and I shared a glance and then turned toward the stairs from whence came another round of joyfully excited exclamations. “I MADE IT! I GOT IN!!! She screened all the way to the dining room. Panting while patting her chest to calm the heart down, she squealed between breaths, “ I made it. I got admitted. With fully paid scholarship too!” Dad beamed proudly “ congratulations, Gwen! I knew you would make it.” I looked at both excited faces confusingly and asked, “ what is going on?” “ I got admitted into the School of Performing Arts in the big city where I'll be studying for 3years!” she replied while making several dance poses. “You’re going to leave me here alone? And leave to the big city?” I asked again with tears in my eyes. “Ow, Em don't cry.” She came close and hugged me. “I'm not going away forever. We’ll be speaking on the phone as often as possible. Perhaps, I'll be home during school breaks and holidays. I'll always be here.” She said comfortingly, kissing the my forehead. Dad watched on with a smile while the tears escaped my eyes. 2 months later. Mother, Dad and I were at the train station seeing Gwen off. I was holding on tightly to her the entire ride to the station. My eyes were swollen, my cheeks puffy and my nose runny since I cried the entire ride here. Mother was not excited to let her beloved daughter go but I irritated her even more with my crying. She yelled at me several times to quit the disturbance but I paid no heed. Dad was quiet the entire ride and only checked on us from the rear-view mirror every now and then. At the station, the train arrived. This train would take her few towns away to a big town where she would proceed to take an airplane to the big city. With her luggage, Gwen made her way to the train and with a tearful glance back at us, she disappeared into the train. I wept uncontrollably holding on to Dad’s arm as he stroked my hair comfortingly with his free hand. Mother looked at us angrily and returned to the car. Dad led me to the car, got me inside, sat down at the driver’s sit and drove us home. ... ... Gwen visited home during breaks and holidays for about a year and half, called as frequently as she could but after about 2 years had passed, we saw less and less of her and heard less and less of her as well. Mother would visit her from time to time and returned with news that she was well but had just been too busy with work and school, since she was working on the side to support her. Eight years later I’m done with high school and waiting to find what to do with my life next. I wished to leave this house and this town to find something I’d love but I have no idea as to how I can do that. I layed on my bed with my long legs dangling on the edge, staring up at the ceiling trying to block my hearing from the argument coming from downstairs. There's almost always some kind of argument coming from my parents. Sigh ‘I wish to leave this house’. I said to myself and closed my eyes. Why don't I have friends who I can go out with? I am an extremely shy and quite person. I preferred my company and sometimes the company of my dad to the that of outsiders. Even in school, I’d always be alone by myself in a quite corner. And it didn't even change when I dated the nerd in my class, he wasn't handsome but he was very intelligent. Yes, I had a boyfriend. Had. He cheated on me with another girl in our class and when I found out and confronted him, he broke up with me. I did not feel a thing. I had expected I would be heartbroken beyond repair but felt nothing. I tried to be sad about it but it did not work. But that's a story for another day. The argument downstairs seems to have died down. I blinked severally to adjust my eyes to the darkness. I got up from the bed and walked to the light switch on the wall and turned it on. I blinked several more times to adjust to the light. At this moment the tense atmosphere downstairs would be so thick you could cut it with a knife. I hated days like this at home. I need to leave this house. But where would I go to? I returned to the bed with my face buried between the pillows. What would Gwen do? I tried to imagine different scenarios of what she would do. After a little brainstorming, a light bulb went off in my head. ‘ SHE WENT TO THE BIG CITY!!’