PRESENT-DAY
It was true. She had denied it the whole trip. Even on the plane ride, she tried so hard to fall asleep, hoping she would wake up and find everything back to normal—that this was all a nightmare. But no matter how many times she tried to forget, no matter how many times she denied it, this was real life. She was still sitting in the same passenger seat of the same white Ford pickup truck for the past hour. With her head leaning against the window, she stared aimlessly toward the autumn trees that passed. It was the middle of fall, and the season's leaves had cloaked the woods in red, yellow, and orange. The clouds overhead had recently finished watering the valleys below and were now softening to a lighter shade of gray. The air was damp and chilly, a typical fall season in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Even with the hood of her purple hoodie wrapped over her head, she could feel the chill of the glass coming through the fabric. She fogged the car window with each breath she took. After a while, she began to draw a heart shape on the glass where her breath fell.
Sitting in the driver's seat was a man in his late fifties. He had a thick mustache and wore a flannel shirt, dark blue jeans, and light brown leather cowboy boots. In addition, he wore a dark brown cowhide coat and a white Stetson that covered his shaved, bald head. He kept both hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road for the entire drive, occasionally glancing out of the corner of his eye to check on the teenage girl in the passenger seat next to him. Then, taking a deep breath, he began to speak.
"Virginia…" he began.
His voice was deep yet carried a soft tone with his English accent. He quickly looked back at the road, then to his left, tightening his lips while rethinking the structure of his words.
A few seconds passed by, and he tried again. "Virginia…I…I personally don't know what this is going to look like…"
He gave a little chuckle as he fixed his eyes back on the road. "I-I don't know if I can even do something to make any of this better. My goal, Honey, is not to replace anybody… I just want to be here for you in any way I can during this time…"
The man glanced at Virginia to see if that sparked any kind of response, but she just continued to draw her shapes on the glass window and stare at the woods passing by. He tightened his lips and focused his eyes on the road.
Virginia's finger stopped in mid-stroke upon the glass. Without turning her head, she gave a side glance at the gentleman. "Thank you, Uncle Andrew…"
Those were the only words she said for the whole trip, plane ride and all, but it was enough to make her uncle Andrew more relaxed for the remainder of the journey while she continued to stare out the window.
After a long drive, the truck took a right; Virginia finally found herself off the main highway and now following the winding back roads of the countryside. The mountains were beautiful, full of a mysterious fog in their valleys and mist encompassing their heads. Some were simply large hills, while others were huge mountains. The hills were large enough to be considered mountains to Virginia's eyes. Their road led deeper into the thick woods. The bog that clouded her mind made her numb to her surroundings. Deep down, she still held onto the hope that all of this was not happening, but soon, that hope began to slowly slip from her fingers as the truck came to a stop.
"Well, here we are," said Andrew as he turned off the truck.
Virginia lifted her head. To her right, she saw a front lawn with a driveway that came from the main road in the distance to the front of a vast, white mansion and curved back out in a separate entrance to the same street. The truck was parked on a stretch of asphalt that branched off the main driveway to the left side of the house. Through the windshield, she saw the side of a white mansion. The house was massive. She counted four stories as her eyes followed a stone chimney stack that crawled up the side of the house.
Andrew came around the side of the truck and opened Virginia's door for her. "If you want to walk around a bit, I would be more than willing to show you some special landmarks close to the house."
Virginia did not respond but just looked around as if suddenly awakened from a deep sleep.
"Well…maybe some other time," he suggested.
He extended his hand to help her out of the truck. Virginia simply slid out of her seat, landed her feet on the gravel driveway, and walked towards the truck's tailgate while Andrew pulled back his empty hand and slid it into his coat pocket.
"Here!" he said, passing Virginia and reaching the tailgate. "How about this? I'll take you and your stuff inside, you get settled in right quick, and then we'll just go out and get something to eat. What do you say?"
Virginia slowly lifted her head and motioned her lips as if she was about to give a response but just lowered her head again.
"Well, that's okay," said Andrew, waving his hand as if to push the thought away. "We can just order something to eat."
He lowered the pickup's tailgate, reached in, and pulled out a big duffle bag. He slung its strap over his shoulder and tilted his head, motioning towards the house.
"If you'll follow me, I'll take you inside and, uh…show you to your room," he said.
Andrew walked past Virginia, gently closed the passenger door, and headed toward the front of the house. Virginia stood there momentarily, looking at the thick woods facing her. Slowly, she turned her head over her shoulder, watching her uncle proceed to the front of the house. Then, pulling down the sleeves of her purple hoodie, she crossed her arms and followed Andrew, staying a good distance behind.
Andrew made it to the white front porch. He unlocked the door in time to set the bag inside the house before his niece made it to the first step of the porch. With her arms still crossed and her head tucked and lowered, she sheepishly walked up all seven steps to the top of the porch and then to the front door, where her uncle stood waiting, holding the door open. She stopped at the doorframe and gazed around the entryway, noticing a silver mezuzah attached to its frame. Dropping her head again, she took her first step into the vast white house.
Inside was a large foyer with big black and white checkered marble tiles on the floor. To her left was an opening into a massive living room complete with matching chairs, an oversized couch, a coffee table with a rug underneath, books and an old coffee cup still sitting on top, and a fireplace made of the same rock from outside with a log mantle and a sizeable six-point buck head displayed above. To the right of the living room entryway, straight in front of Virginia, was a staircase stretching to the second story. To the right of the stairway was the second entryway, which also led into the grand living room. Directly to her right was a rather large entrance to a massive dining room, complete with a heavy walnut table with seating for twelve.
Placing his fingers upon the mezuzah and then pulling them back to his lips for a soft kiss, Andrew stepped inside the house, closed the big oak door, and kicked off his cowboy boots. Then, picking up Virginia's bag again, he cautiously, almost reverently, walked past her up the stairs.
"Your room is up here, Honey," he said.
Virginia stayed downstairs, watching her uncle hobble up the flight of stairs with her luggage before making a right down the hallway and out of sight of the balcony. She slipped off her Converse and stared at all the rooms around her again. All was quiet except for the sound of a large grandfather clock ticking away from the living room. Finally, she forced herself to walk. Slowly, she made her way up the stairs, following her guide. When she reached the top, she turned right and saw her uncle opening a door on the left side of the hallway and stepping in.
Setting the duffel bag on the floor out of the way of the door, he cleared the way for his guest to step inside. The shy girl entered the room, uncrossed her arms, stretched her palms to the floor, swayed them from side to side, and let out a long sigh through her closed lips. She looked around and saw to her right a twin-size bed complete with a matching sham, comforter, and bed sheets of soft green, brown, and blue colors. In front of her was a large window covered by a pair of blinds. Beside the window was an antique dresser with a mirror on top. On the left side of the room was a double-door closet. Sitting against the wall, to the left of her bedroom door, was an old wooden desk and chair.
Andrew stood behind her to her left, next to the wooden desk.
He pointed towards the window and said, "I've been meaning to fix those blinds."
Walking past her towards the window, he tried to find a way to raise the blinds and make them stay, but every attempt failed. Grabbing the cord, he turned and looked at Virginia.
"The cord is broken and won't raise the blinds anymore. I'm sorry, Honey. I'll make sure that I get right on that first thing in the morning."
Virginia placed her hands in the pockets of her hoodie. Giving her uncle a quick look, she nodded as if to say she understood. She then began to stare at the carpet floor.
"Good news is that I just had the entire upstairs carpeted!" said Andrew on a positive note. "So, now you have that new carpet feel beneath your feet when you walk."
Without taking her eyes off the floor, Virginia tucked in her lips tightly and nodded her head the same way as before.
"Well, uh…" began Andrew. "Well, I best let you get settled in, you know."
He respectfully walked past her towards the door. Turning around in the doorframe, he made one last comment. "If you need anything, I'll be downstairs in the living room. Okay?"
Virginia did not even bother to turn around but just nodded her head again.
"Well, uh…Well, okay then. You know where to find me, Honey."
He slowly and quietly closed her bedroom door, leaving her alone in her new room.
Virginia stood there small and alone; nothing was familiar. She crossed her arms again and gave another glance around the room. She moved towards the side of her bed. Sitting down, she gripped either side of the comforter with her hands, facing the shielded window in front of her. She grabbed the pillow off her bed and embraced it tightly with both arms. Raising her head high, she took a deep breath through her nose and breathed it out of her mouth. Again, she breathed in through her nose and out of her mouth. Once more, she breathed in through her nose and tried to breathe it out through her mouth but could not. Her eyes began to swell. She breathed and gasped bitterly as tears began to roll down her face. All of reality hit her at once. She really was here; this really was her new home; this really was her new room. This was her new bed, and this was one of her new pillows. She was no longer at her old home with her old bed, her old pillows, and her old family. Everything had changed. She fell sideways on her bed, her head landing on the sham. She continued to sob for what seemed to be forever.
This can't be happening! This isn't happening!
Her head began to pound, and her eyes turned red. She closed her eyes and tried so hard to fall asleep, hoping that by some miracle, she would wake up and find this all to be nothing more than a dream.