Chapter 1 : Hourglass

"Sian!! It's time for us to go. Are you ready yet?" I waded through the towering mountain of boxes, overflowing with useless odds and ends. It was like navigating through a labyrinth... except my labyrinth was a maze full of crap. Generally I'm not that claustrophobic, but living in a tiny house with boxes piled to the ceiling can make anyone stir crazy. "Yeah mom, give me a minute. I think I'm lost." It took me a second to realize that I had somehow been stuck walking in a continuing circle, that didn't seem to be ending any time soon. "Are you by the kitchen?" "Possibly. Wait, I can see you!" If you happened to walk in right at this moment, you're probably wondering why the heck I'm jumping up and down and waving my arms around like some sort of idiot. Its really just this simple:We're moving. Somehow I miraculously found the kitchen, and my mom who was carting boxes into a giant U-haul truck outside in the driveway. "Are you sure you don't need a moment?" "I'm fine, it's not like I'm going to reminisce and all that emotional crap..." I wish I could just stop time, only to relive this moment ten thousand times in replay. I really didn't want to move; I liked South port. It was nice here. I loved this house; the cracked paint on the walls and the creaky floor boards. I loved this house down to every last memory of when things were good and my dad hadn't left us. It all went down hill from there on out. First I noticed that the pile of bills had grown thicker; sticking out of the cracks in the coupon drawer where my mom tried to hide them from prying eyes. And then they told us that we would lose the house, because our financial situation had become worse. Honestly I didn't think it could possibly get any worse. I couldn't let my mom know that I wanted to stay; it would break her heart. I know things aren't easy for her, especially since she has to send me away and live with her mother. I walked down the hall for the last time. It was empty without all the pictures on the walls; we had stripped them down two days ago. If only time hadn't run out for us, we could have built ourselves a life here. But God had other plans for us.