Love You Forever (2013 Wattys Finalist)

Epilogue - Georgie

It was so quiet, the sound of gravel crunching under my feet as I walked was drowning out the sound of the few birds that were singing.  I watched my sneakers, fascinated by the different sounds that were echoing off the high brick walls covered in green leafy vines on either side of me.  I tried to match them to my steps but it was hard to decide which echoes belonged to my feet and which ones belonged to Uncle Alfred. 

I looked up through the misty fog that surrounded us to watch him walking ahead of me.  His broad back was hunched and he looked like a bear, the way his whole body swayed back and forth with each step.  For once he'd dressed nice in a suit and tie, but it didn't fit him well.  It had probably been a long time since he'd worn it and since then he'd gained weight.  His large neck stood out bright red, bulging above his dark suit jacket and below his short white blonde hair.  Since the air was cool from the mist, I didn't think it was because he was too hot, it was probably because he was still mad. 

When our taxi arrived at the gate at the beginning of the gravel driveway, Uncle got out to talk into an intercom on top of a pole.  I didn't hear what was said because the windows were closed, but when he turned around he was swearing and yanked open the car door. 

"Get out!" he growled at me.  "We're walking the rest of the way!"

"Yes, sir," I said, and climbed out of the back seat as quickly as I could, while he told the taxi driver to leave our luggage by the gate.  I'd been living with him for more than two months now and I'd learned when he got like that, it was best to just do whatever he said as fast as I could so he didn't get even more mad than he already was.  

When I'd first come to live with him, he was sort of nice for a few days but after that, it was like he couldn't do it any more.  After that it seemed no matter what I did, he was always mad at me for some stupid reason or other.  I tried to stay out of his way as much as I could, which wasn't too hard since his house was so big.  I spent hours every day exploring the different rooms, or hiding away somewhere with a book.  I could tell at one time it had been a beautiful mansion, but not anymore.  For some reason he'd stopped taking care of it or even cleaning it. 

I hated living there.  It was so quiet all the time with just the two of us.  And it wasn't like back home where there were houses up and down the street filled with kids to hang out with.  Instead we were in the country, far from the nearest town.  I missed all my friends but even more, I missed Grandma May.  I wrote to her every day but she hadn't written back to me, and I couldn't understand why.  I knew she loved me, or at least I hoped she still did.  Sometimes I'd get so sad thinking about it that I'd cry, especially at night.  

When Uncle said we were going back to America, I was excited.  I hoped he was so mad at me he'd decided he didn't want me living with him anymore, but I didn't dare ask him.  It was a big disappointment when he gave me my plane ticket at the airport and I saw we were going to Oregon.  There's still a possibility we could go to Chicago before we go back to England, but I doubt we will.  I made a decision while we were riding here in the taxi.  As soon as I'm alone in a hotel room, I'm going to call Grandma May.  I want to tell her how much I've missed her and maybe I'll find out why she hasn't written back to me. 

The gravel driveway curved ahead of us, and when we came around the corner I stopped walking, hardly able to believe what I was seeing.  In front of us surrounded by the mist, was a castle.  At least it looked just like a castle with stone walls, towers, and arched windows and I suddenly felt excited.  If we were staying here, I'd have so much fun exploring. 

"Oi!  Hurry up, you stupid cow!" Uncle yelled, immediately taking away my happy feeling. 

"Yes, sir," I said to the gravel driveway as I jogged to catch up to where he was standing.