Morning all. I hope you are doing fabulously well. I am not too bad today. Had a very strange dream about animatronic theme parks last night which is still sort of throwing me for a loop. But that is beside the point, for now let’s jump into today’s prompt. Timers set for fifteen minutes and off we go.
This actually ties into a story I’ve been working with on and off for a while. I was thinking about it yesterday and I guess it was more in my head than the dream.
Wednesday, April 29th: I knew I needed to do it myself.
I knew I needed to do it myself. I also knew that the intense curiosity of the others meant they would want to come along with me. It was understandable. I rarely talked about my past, let alone my family. And for good reason.
It wasn’t exactly the lightest of conversations.
The stories I did share were the lighter, more amusing bits. Even then details had to be left out. And often when I did tell them, they did not go over a lightly amusing as I thought they might. Even amusing anecdotes about my family were more darkly amusing and slightly troubling if looked at by outsiders.
It wasn’t something I thought about before I made a group of friends close enough to feel comfortable sharing stories with. The things I found amusing, even if they were darkly tinted, sometimes others found slightly troubling. It was a different perspective and often I had to walk myself back through the stories.
I knew I left parts out. Were the parts I left out likely to make them less disturbing for others? Somehow I didn’t think so. It was one of the reasons why when I needed to go back, I left without notice.
Sort of.
I told everyone that I was going to be out of town for a few weeks. I let them think it was a vacation and neglected to provide any concrete details. I left emergency contact information in case it was needed and got someone to water my plants and make sure my apartment didn’t burn down while I was gone.
Aside from the plants I mostly expected the building manager to take care of the not burning things down part. I introduced Allyssa so he would know who was watering my plants but otherwise, I left things more or less a blank.
And then I drove to the airport. I had to change planes twice during my trip as it seemed no one was going directly from my current life into my past one. I slept on the middle flight, which was thankfully the longest leg. The first flight I was too keyed up to sleep by the thought of going back and the third leg I was worried about my arrival.
Still the flight had no delays and no additional complications. I made my connections, reclaimed my luggage and made my way to the rental car station. Soon enough my luggage was in the trunk of a car that smelled of lemon scented industrial cleaners and I was sliding behind the wheel.
It is amazing how much a place can change in a decade. Buildings rose and fell. The skyline shifted about, sprouting new spires. The street names may have been the same but it was not the place I remembered from my childhood. The names of the shops changed and the rhythm of life shifted. However I wasn’t staying in the city. Oh no, that would be too easy.
We were all called home to the family home. Passed down through the generations since it was first built in 1723, it and the surrounding property remained in the family. It wasn’t the property of an individual anymore but more of a family corporation. The fields were rented out for others to work, mostly other corporations rather than smaller farmers. The revenue went first to maintaining the house and paying all the associated taxes, bills and other associated fees.
Occasionally events were hosted at the house although I was fairly certain at least a couple of family members still lived on the premises. It was however where all major family gatherings were held. There would be no corporate retreat while we were there, no weddings on the grounds. It would just be family. A part of me thought dealing with a bridzilla would be easier.
Ten til Midnight 