Imagined Away

[CG]

Imagined Away
Written by: CG

Chapter 1: Lost

?I don?t know why we gotta move, I mean we were really happy where we were, weren?t we? All my friends were there ?n you had good jobs there and don?t you know for the first time I ever get a bouquet it?s for a going away present! That is totally unfair and??

The young girl had been babbling for quite some time, in the back seat of her parent?s car. It was normal, really. The girl, wearing blue overalls with cowboy boots and beneath the overalls was a rainbow shirt, had a habit of going on and on when upset, or excited, and right now it was a mixture of both. Out of the blue her father had scored a new job in a new company, the down side being that the new job was one whole state away meaning one big road trip.

?Now Goo remember, Daddy bought you that rose for your birthday. And you loved it didn?t you?? asked her mother, who was sat in the passenger seat in the front of the car. Her hair was black like her daughter?s, but her skin was much darker by comparison. Normally you?d see her in a uniform, but given she had to give up her job in support of her husband she wore a leisure suit.

?Well yeah sure I did but that?s just one flower this here is a bouquet, Mom, not a single flower!? Goo insisted, shaking her bouquet to emphasize the point; then watched in shock as a lot of the petals began falling. ?Mom! Omigod Mom, my flowers are dying just lookit them they?re going bald already!?

?I told you not to smother them so much.? Her mother replied gently.

It was another hour and a half until the car finally arrived into the city, and once they hit the city the road maps came out. They had to find a new suburb in a new town, so this wasn?t going to be easy. Goo watched the scenery whiz past from her window, trying not to look as impressed as she was with the surroundings. The city looked nice enough. Busy, as most towns are, but not over packed like their last city.

?Look Goo,? her father said, glancing out the window at an upcoming building. He too, like his wife, would be normally seen in a business suit. But today he was happy to reside in jeans and a shirt. His skin was dark too, but not as dark as his wife?s. ?There?s your new school. It looks wonderful.?

Goo slowly lifted herself up from the slump she had pushed herself into on the backseat to merely glance out at the building. It was a red-bricked building, with a long tall flagpole pinned out the front with the American flag waving patriotically. It looked like the school had been there for years and the city had grew up around it. Goo voiced her feelings on the school with a raspberry.

The trip continued along without much fuss and bother, at least until the car came to an abrupt stop at the foot of a hill. Goo, who hadn?t been paying that much attention, sat up. ?What?s going on are we broken down?? she asked, leaning forward to see into the front of the car.

?No, nothing?s wrong. Dad?s just got us lost.? Her mother said, glancing around at the surroundings. It wasn?t what you?d expect to find in a city. Trees were everywhere; the road was turning into cobblestones? totally out of place.

?No I don?t, look.? Goo?s father pointed outside the window. Just above the greenery you could spot a row of houses. ?That?s our new house right there, the blue one on the end. This must be the turn off or? something.? There were ?gated? communities, why wouldn?t some communities have an entrance that passes through some woods? Seemed very welcoming and calming, really.

?All right then, but let?s hurry. We?ll miss the movers.?

The car started up again, and Goo watched as the greenery of the woods enveloped the car in shaded darkness. The trees rushed past, and for a moment she thought she spotted a strange statue amidst all the trees. It was round, and had a grinning face like a frog. If a frog could smile. She lost sight of it once the road got bumpy, and at the speed her father was travelling did little to help. The bags around the back with her began to shake as the road got bumpier and bumpier.

?Honey slow down you?re going to kill us!? Goo heard her mother scold, but right before he could say anything the car suddenly came to a screeching halt.

Very slowly Goo lifted herself up to see through the front window. There was the statue again; it looked just like the other one only this one was right in the middle of the road. And beyond it, was a huge red building that took up the pathway. The only way through was a single tunnel, big enough for people, but not for cars.

?What the?? her father said.

?I told you we were going the wrong way, and now we?re more late then ever-honey no, get back in the car.? Seemed Goo?s father had other plans besides listening to his wife chiding him for being wrong. He?d unstrapped his seatbelt and got out of the car. As soon as he did, Goo followed suit. ?Goo, no! ?fine.? With that a very reluctant mother got out of the car too.