Chapter from MARIETTA

Chapter 14: Leaving Forks

ON THE FIRST DAY OF AUTUMN, Nicole stood in the driveway and gazed around at the fall colors in the woods behind the house. She had watched the moving truck leave earlier that morning. Arrangements had worked out so that a van that was moving someone else’s household goods to an Eastern state was able to           She had sold most everything in the house, keeping some of the furniture and kitchen wares she would need when she found a place to settle down. The moving truck still had to load the furnishings from its other clients and would not reach Marietta until the following week. Nicole had researched online and found a storage unit she could rent until she had a place to move into.

      The lawyer handling the estate had set up a bank account for her in Marietta, where money would be wired from the sale of the house. She was grateful for all the help he had given, and thankful for the help from her friends, Wanda and Miranda. Many of her neighbors had stopped over earlier that morning to wish her well and to say goodbye. Miranda had been in tears. She and Wanda had given Nicole a hug.

      “We will miss you so much,” Miranda told her, wiping her cheeks.

      “I’ll miss you too,” said Nicole.

      Wanda hugged her, then said, “When you find your mother, please let me know.”

      Nicole promised that she would. Then, after everyone had left, she walked through the house one more time, remembering her family and reflecting on certain occasions that only made her sadder. She planned on dropping off the house keys to Mr. Lunning on her way out of town, but as she walked to her car, she saw his station wagon pull into her driveway.

      He smiled as he accepted her keys to the house, then thanked her once again for her business and wished her well in Ohio.

Before leaving town, Nicole drove into the cemetery next to the church and walked over to her family’s plot. No one else was there today. The three headstones were in place with their full names and the dates. She knelt in front of them and felt an unexpected sweep of emotion. She missed her family and knew that she loved all three of them, even if life in the Singleton household had been dysfunctional much of the time. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she stood up and climbed back into her car.

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      Then she slowly drove down the highway through town, glancing at both sides and thinking to herself that it might be a long time before she saw Forks again. But as sad as that made her, she was excited about traveling to the East and discovering what kind of future was in store for her there. Would she succeed in finding her mother? She knew it might not be easy, and it may not happen as soon as she might like. But she just had to try.

      That first night of her travels, Nicole stopped in Bend, Oregon, feeling tired after a long day of driving. She had driven almost 440 miles on her first day. After a good night’s sleep at the motel, Nicole continued on southeast until she reached Trementon, Utah, in the northern part of that state. She was exhausted when she arrived more than seven hours later. There was a quaint, older motel where she got a good night’s rest before continuing her journey the next morning.

      The third day she traveled south as far as Brigham City in Utah and took the interstate east to Cheyenne, Wyoming, which was another seven hours of traveling, but for some reason she felt more relaxed and allowed herself to sleep a little later the next morning.

      On her fourth night, Nicole reached Lincoln, Nebraska, a college town. It had been interesting to go from rainforest to plains, to long flat prairies and into a Midwestern city.

      The next night, on her fifth day of travel, Nicole reached Springfield, Illinois. When she looked at her road atlas that night in the motel, she saw that she was still more than 500 miles from Marietta, Ohio, but she made up her mind that she would reach her destination the next evening.

      So far, she had traveled more than 2,280 miles. The moving company had called to say there was a delay and they wouldn’t reach Marietta until the next week. But she was fine with that as she knew she would have to rent a storage unit until she decided where she was going to live, even if it was only temporarily.

      Each day as she drove across the country, Nicole played the radio, listened to music, and thought about her future. She wondered what southern Ohio would be like, and if it would suit her. She had kept in touch with Miranda each night on her cell phone and was happy to hear that Fluffy was getting along just fine with his new family. She would describe to Miranda the scenery she was seeing for the first time in her life, and how vast a country America was.T“What will you do when you arrive in Marietta?” asked Miranda.

      “Take a break,” replied Nicole. “I just want to settle in for a few days and not worry about anything … at least till the movers come. I guess I’ll be busy trying to find something to rent, even if it’s temporary.”

      “I’m excited for you,” said Miranda. “And I hope you’ll find your mother.”

      “That may take a while,” Nicole said with a sigh, “and I’ll probably be looking for a job in Marietta. Even with the sale of the house, I’ll need to start working soon.”

      “What do you think you’ll do?”

      “Well, I can’t teach … I’ll have to get credentialed in Ohio, assuming I stay there. So, I’ll look at the classified ads when I get into town and see what there is.”

      “I wish you luck, Nicole.”

      “Thanks so much for being my best friend,” replied Nicole.

      After they hung up, Nicole spread out on the motel bed and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. She was one day away from arriving at her destination. What would it be like? How would she go about applying for a job? Was there really a chance that one day she might find and be reunited with her mother?

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