Perfect Rain
Jess slowly climbed the front porch steps.
Her breath came out in short gasps as she became nervous. ‘What if they didn’t
except her? What if they turned her away?’ She raked her hands through her
increasingly greasy hair. Every step she took, was a
step towards her future and away from her past. Hopefully.
Jess
shoved her hands into her worn jean jacket. Putting her hair back into a
pony-tail, she walked towards the front door.
“Where
hell do you think you’re going?” her step-father’s voice bellowed through the
hallway.
She
shuddered when she heard his footsteps come up behind her. Her skin began to
crawl when she felt his hand on her shoulder. “I’m going for a walk.”
Her
stroked her cheek and stared at her. “Why don’t you stay here with me? No one's
home so I’ll be lonely.”
Good.
“Look,
I’ll be back soon. I just need some air.”
He
reluctantly let go of her. “Okay, but hurry back.”
She
nodded as she quickly made her way out the door. She ran down the steps,
hastily wiping her tears away. She went to her bedroom window, which luckily
was on the bottom floor, and grabbed her bookbag and
suitcase.
She
looked up to the sky, searching for Oryan’s Belt. She
smiled when she found. Kissing her fingertips, she blew a kiss to the
star-filled sky. “I’m coming.”
= 2
=
“Last call for
Jess
ran furiously till she made it to the gate. “I’m here. Don’t leave.”
The
lady smiled as she tore her ticket. “Here ya go. Have
a nice trip.”
Jess
smiled back, thankful that she didn’t treat her like a child. “Thank you. I
will.”
She
found her seat and sunk into it. When the plane was in flight, she pulled her discman from her bookbag and put
in her Hanson: Middle Of Nowhere CD. She sat back and
relaxed as “Thinking Of You” filled her ears.
“... thank you for flying American Airlines. Have a wonderful
stay in lovely
Jess
blinked the sleep from her eyes and saw everyone was leaving. She put her discman back in her bag and exited the plane. She called a
taxi and waited for it outside the airport.
Within
the next ten minutes, she was on her way and there was nothing in this world
that could make her go back.
= 3
=
Jess
slowly climbed the front porch steps. Her breath came out in short gasps as she
became nervous. ‘What if they didn’t except her? What if they turned her away?’
She raked her hands through her increasingly greasy hair. Every step she took, was a step towards her future and away from her past. Hopefully.
When
she approached the front door, she stopped. She looked down at her wrinkled and
dirty clothing. She guessed it was to be expected. Walking for three days, of
course she wasn’t going to look wonderful.
She
pulled a little brush out of her jacket pocket. She ran the brush through her
hair, then secured it with a red elastic. Looking at
herself in the door screen, she decided she was an
presentable as could be.
She
took the last step between herself and the door, and slowly reached for the
doorbell. She pushed it quickly before she could change her mind.
Within
a few moments, a tall woman with endlessly long hair and deep brown eyes opened
the door. “Yes, may I help you?”
Jess
could only stare. She really didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t really planned
this far ahead. She wasn’t even expecting to make it this far. “Uh...”
“Are
you looking for someone?”
Jess
shook her head to clear all the forming cobwebs. “Uh, yeah, I guess you could
say that. Um, Diana?”
Diana
smiled brightly. “Yes, that’s me. How can I help you?”
Just looking at Diana’s contagious smile, made her smile also.
“Okay, I don’t know how to say this really, but I don’t have a choice...”
“Wait.
Do I know you? You look oddly familiar.”
Jess’s
smile seemed to grow as Diana recognized her. “Yeah, but I can understand that
you don’t recognize me. It’s been... what? Ten years maybe?
I’m Jess. Jess Roman.”
Diana brought her hands to her cheeks when she realized who the girl was. She took a closer look then gasped. Without a second hesitation, Diana stepped from the doorway and enveloped Jess in a motherly hug. This was Jess’s first step to her new-found future.