Our Love is Born

Better Twin

The trees blurred as our car whizzed past, piling down some highway. I wasn't sure. In fact, I had no idea where we were at all. The trees were different, as well as the bird song and the grass which crept up upon the edged of the tarred road we drove down.

Even in the heated car I could feel an isolated chill run up my arms, and effectively reaching my now very cold core. A thin layer of dirtied snow lay on the grass beside the long road and I tried to think back to the last time I had seen snow. It must have been when I was before 5, some ski trip maybe? I wasn't sure but it definitely was long enough ago that I couldn't remember much about it. A small spark of excitement grew in me at the thought of seeing snowfall for the first time.

I shuffled further into the corner of my seat in attempt to relieve the uncomfortable dig of one of  cardboard boxes shoved beside me in the back seat.

"How much longer, Dad?" I asked, interrupting the music softly blowing through the cars speakers.

"Nearly there Sweets, 'bout five more minutes", He looked at me through the rearview mirror, smiling sincerely but not without an angle of guilt. I knew they felt bad about making me leave home, and don't get me wrong, the news that we were leaving for Mums job was not on my Top Ten Best Moments of 2022, but I understand. Living prices were shooting and it only made sense for Mum to relocate closer to the project execution which she was formerly managing remotely.

A heavy weight of nerves set in at the thought of pulling up to my new home. My mind rushed with the copious amounts of unpacking I had to do, alongside the draining idea of starting Year 10- I mean Sophomore Year, at Frankenmuths' local High School.

Once my surroundings drifted from farms and empty fields into a standard urban town, I knew we were here.

"Why does everything look German?" I asked, trying to shield the judgement from my voice as I analysed the traditional German architecture. Is this seriously where I am going to grow out my remaining teenage years? I could already miss the smell of sea salt in the air, and the heat of a humid wind, cooling the sweat on my skin.

"The town was founded by Germans, or something like that, I'm not really sure. But it definitely adds a bit of interest, hey?" My dad responded, his words laced with false excitement. I was sure he didn't want to be here any more than I did, but he had no choice.

After a few more minutes of mundane silence and repetitive urban buildings, our rental car finally pulled up a short stoned driveway, crunching the gravel beneath until we came to a complete stop. I quickly checked the time on my phone, which read 2:34pm, before unclipping my seatbelt and swinging the car door open.

I was immediately hit with a piercing cold, that stung the wetness on my lips. Hugging my torso tightly I rounded the car to wait for my parents to find the keys to our new house. Stretching my legs out of the car after a 20 hour flight and an hour long drive was positively the best feeling I had ever felt in my life. The stiffness ached in my hamstrings but spread a comforting heat throughout my body when I reached down to touch my toes. Quickly shaking any remaining stale blood in my arms and legs, I turned and had a look over at my new house.

"Wow guys this place is massive", I gawked. It was double storied and had a long wooden patio out the front.

"Not really Sweets, you're just used to living in a tiny complex all your life", Dad chucked before wrapping his left arm around my shoulder, and his right around my mum before kissing my temple. "Welcome to our new home."

After we loaded all of our boxes out the car, I sorted through the pile to find my things and take them to my room. As the U-Haul wasn't arriving until tomorrow morning with our furniture, we begrudgingly had to stay at a local inn overnight, and I couldn't be any more annoyed. I would never let it show because I knew my parents had been through a lot with moving, but the heavy tire in my muscles paired with my inability to sleep on the flight over made me incapable of thinking of anything other than sleep in my own bed.