Unmuted (Remastered)

13

I groggily woke up against the pale morning light shining on my face. My eyes felt crusty and dried, and I reached up to rub at them as I sat up in the bed. I looked around the room, seeing a couple boxes and various sized bags laying on the floor. I briefly wondered why until I remembered- I was moving in with Mark and Jack today.

I threw the blankets off of me and quickly stood up, racing out of my room and down the stairs, bumping into someone's chest as a result.

"Woah, slow down!" An Irish voice said. "You might hurt yourself." I looked up and saw Jack's grinning face. "Oh. I should've known it was you. Breakfast is ready for us if you're hungry." I nodded, then took his hand and ran towards the dining room. Mark was sitting at the table, talking with Ms. Fairchild, and they both smiled at me when we entered.

"Allisun! Good morning!" Ms. Fairchild said. I smiled back at her, taking a seat next to Mark. Jack sat on my other side. "How did you sleep?" I shrugged.

"We stayed up late talking." Jack explained. "She's probably still tired."

"Ah, so that's why I was hearing voices."

"Thank you for letting us stay, Karen. And for making breakfast." Mark said.

"Of course! You're very welcome."

The four of us ate our meal, then Mark and I got to work bringing my belongings downstairs as Jack went to get their car. We stuffed everything in the trunk, then stopped to say goodbye to Ms. Fairchild.

She kissed my cheek and hugged me tightly. "I'll miss your company, Allisun." She pulled away with a smile, then after a brief pause reached into her pocket and pulled out a small box. "Here. Something to remember me by."

I carefully opened the box and saw a simple necklace inside. There was a puzzle piece charm that had two short sentences etched into it. On the front it said "Be Brave," and one the back it said "Change The World." I grinned, looking back up at her.

"Oh, and one more thing." She reached into her pocket again and pulled out a stack of envelopes, handing them to me. "Since you arrived, your... uncle... sent you letters every week. I kept them from you, but never got rid of them. I'll let you decide what to do with them."

I looked at the envelopes, then gave her another hug. "Thank you." I said to her.

Her breath hitched, and I saw tears in her eyes as she pulled away. "...you're welcome, Allisun."

Just a few minutes later, I was waving at her from the backseat of Jack's car as we drove away.

"So, Alli." Mark said to me from the driver's seat. "Ready to start a new adventure with us?"