Weekly Authentic Scavenger Hunt
Rover rolled around in the grass, his ears flapping as he wagged his tongue joyfully. The mud that caked his fur turned his normally white color into a dirty tan coat. I laid down my pen and surveyed the countryside, smiling glumly. I wish I could spend more time with the dog, the family, but I’d already been here too long. My broken right arm was in a sling, which made writing my essay all the more difficult.
Mark called me in for dinner. Like I’d listen to him, after that horrible moment where he’d pushed me too hard and I’d broken my arm. My heart longed to forgive him, but I couldn’t. I wanted to run away but to where, back to the city, to boarding school? Mark called me again. I set down my paper and sighed. “Be there in a minute,” I yelled.
The sun was almost completely swallowed up by the mountains when I returned back outside to the wicker chair on the porch. The steady thrum of crickets chirping beat against my ears. I smiled. Rover bounced onto my lap, and I extracted the extra biscuit I hid in my pocket and tossed it to him. Dirt caught under my fingernails as I ran my fingers through his fur, thinking.
Minutes spread over into days, and I regretted that I my arm was broken, limiting me from the activities I used to do. Instead I lingered out by the stream nearly every day, dipping my toes into the freezing water as I rocked back and forth on the tire swing. I continued with my essay, every now and then finding a place between the enormous tree roots where I could sit and ponder what else to include in my assignment.
It wasn’t fair that I had to go back, to leave my family in their tiny glade and return to suburbia for another 6 months. I stared the old cottage, the wind whispering through my hair, drawn back in two straight braids. Rover snuffled around my feet, whimpering occasionally. Mark hung back by the doorway, his dark hair obscuring his face. I knew he was jealous of me, because I was getting a better education than him.
The small house vanished as our old pick-up barreled down the road. Rover ran as fast as his tiny legs would let him, but eventually abandoned the chase. Dad tried to get me to talk, but I was silent. It was hard to believe that I, a girl from the country, could have ever made it to such a prestigious place. When we arrived at the train station it was with a heavy heart that I wheeled my suitcase up onto the train. I looked back at my dad, but soon the billowing smoke obscured him. A single tear fell down my face as I sat back in my seat, completely alone.
