10 Violet Drive
She made two lefts, three rights,
and saw the home that she spent so many years and had so many memories in. Some
things were the exactly the way she remembered them, and some things looked
like stranger’s faces walking down the street. The hunter green shutters were
still faded, the single tree was still standing, and the mailbox still had a
tiny dent from when she backed down the driveway, a little too fast.
The fence was new, replaced by the
neighbors. It was only a fence, but it was the fence where she learned how to
pitch for softball, and spent numerous hours outside practicing. Her spray
painted pitching box was gone, like the neighbors just erased it without
thinking twice. She thought this fence was just a fence, but emotions started
to swarm her; like the huge wave that creeps up on you out of no where, when
you aren’t looking at the beach. She thought
the fence was just a meaningless object, but it actually cared some importance
to her. She was nervous to see her house from the inside, like a high school
girl on the first day of class. She was scared to see what else changed, or if
her room was still the same sky blue color.
She was surprised to see the inside
look exactly the way she had remember it. The third step still cracked, the
paint chips in the hallway from moving furniture were still there, and her
height chart was still along the wall. All of these things were easy cosmetic
fixes, so why didn’t the new owners fix these? She was confused, but yet
relieved. She felt as if her home still had parts of herself left and her
childhood was still left in and throughout the house. Her family no longer
owned the home, but they left their own footprints. Like when you are walking
along the beach in the early morning and you can look over your shoulder, and
see your track of footprints. The footprints may erase in time, but you always
know where you start walking at. This house was like the start of her own footprints
for the beginning years of her life.
It was still her home and would
always be home to her.
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