My heart was racing from the multiple trips to the car. Long brown hair spilled from my ponytail; I brush it from my mouth as the wind swirls it across my face. How did all this stuff fit into my tiny apartment? My crinkled Civic sank dangerously close to the ground with the newly added weight.
‘This is it, bud!’ I assured the big brown eyes that were peering from the back seat. He bounced up and down playfully, his crimped ears and golden head hanging out the rear window. His goofy pink tongue was dangling half out his mouth, as per usual.
The sky was its natural color for this year; grey. The last piles of snow reduced to lowly brown ice mounds scattered across lawns. Walking through the courtyard, I grab a box and begin lugging it to the street, hastily packed items clinking along the way. I pass underneath a haphazardly hung sign that reads ‘Crescent Garden.’ The second letter E missing from Crescent reminded me of all the things that were too minuscule for management to handle.
More strands of hair block my eyes as I look up at the figure loping towards me.
“All set?” he asks, running hands through his dark hair. He didn’t seem very happy about any of this, but I tried to play it off as ‘who likes moving anyways’ sort of thing. Besides, this made the most sense.
I took a deep breath, “Think so!” I exhaled and swiveled on the sidewalk making sure no other boxes were hiding behind bushes.
My heart continued to race. ‘This is right… this makes sense,’ I took one last look at the swinging, misspelled sign.
Without another thought, I hopped into the Civic and headed off to move into my boyfriend’s house.
Seven years later.
Thin blond hair whips into my eyes as I squint against the bright sun.
I read the revitalized swinging plaque in front of me; ‘Crescfnt Garden,’ the missing E now replaced with an F with a line painted at the bottom.
Minus the upgraded sign, the building looked as if it had escaped time. Some trees were more prominent, some bushes were missing, but overall the sleepy unkept building looked the same. A breeze blew past me from the courtyard, and I imagined my old self rushing past to the street, hopping into a stuffed Civic, and speeding away.
I was back, and everything was going to be different this time.
‘I still can’t believe it,’ I murmur to myself. This wasn’t the only option, but it made the most sense. I shook my head at the thought of me ever, actually knowing what makes sense.
I took a deep breath and looked down.
My gaze was met with big brown eyes, circles of white surrounding them as they looked quizzically at me.
‘This is it, bud,’ I whispered, ‘this is it.’