My sketchbook sits on the mantel on the fireplace in the front room. It has a dark green forest on the cover. I grin when I take it and stuff it in my backpack. I leave a note: Going to explore! On the kitchen table for Mother and head outside. Our cabin stands on a little cliff with a winding road that leads downhill. I follow the road for a bit before venturing off into the forest. When I find the perfect spot, I sit down and begin sketching a small clearing with trees surrounding it. When I'm done I start heading back to the road to look some more. A neon purple mountain bike races past me, and I almost fell to the ground in surprise. A dog- no, wolf, runs past me, chasing the bike. I laugh to myself. Just Mandy on her morning bike ride. I start jogging towards her. "Mandy!" I call. She finally stops, taking off her bike helmet to look at me. "Hi." She mumbles. I smile. "Hey!" I catch up to her and pet Blizzard. He thumps his tail and pants. Mandy huffs. I notice she's been a lot more grumpy than usual. "Do you want me to show you something?" She asks. "Sure." To my surprise she gets off of her bike and starts hiking uphill. I follow her cautiously. "Where are we going?" I ask, trying not to look down as we go more and more uphill. Mandy didn't answer. After what seemed like forever, she held up a hand to signal we had reached the top of some hill. She helped me up and started walking near the edge to gaze down below, where... a town was. I blink. "Huh." Mandy turned back to me and I was surprised that they were glassy. "Don't you want a normal life, Lola?" She asked, looking back to the town in the distance. I look at her quizzically. "But don't we have a normal life?" I ask. Mandy clenches her fists. "NO. We DON'T have a normal life, Lola." I back away slowly. "But-" "You weren't there when we lived in Utah." She said angrily. "You have no idea how much a three year-old can remember." "But don't you like it here?" "NO!" She cried. "Do you?!" She kept her eyes on the town. "I was still able to explore out there." She whispers. "Really?" I ask stepping closer. "Where did you live?" "Springdale. Right next to Zions national park." She muttered. "It was a small town, but at least we weren't... isolated." She turned to me. "Don't you wish for friends?" She asked. I feel like I just got kicked in the gut. "I thought you and Oscar were my friends." She started walking down. I followed her. "Wait..." I pleaded. "I understand, but-" She climbed on her bike and put her helmet on. "See you later Lola." She muttered, pedaling off. Thunder sounded in the distance and it began to rain. Perfect.
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