OKAY! so I am all but scrapping immortal Summer-- it is going to go through a total reinvention- heres the first few pages - let me know what yall think? old one/ newone IMMORTAL SUMMER- The second Penny Vascos climbed out of her grandparents Volvo she was absolutely positive that this was going to be the worst summer of her entire life. She stopped and stared at the two-story alpine style house for a few moments. She had to admit that the scenery was spectacularly ominous but that only served to enhance her feelings of isolation. Oh my God, I’m being held captive in a travel brochure, the words inside her head squealed as she walked around to the back of the car to get her bags. It appeared welcoming enough but the nearest town was down the mountain along a winding road with nothing but forest in between. She lifted her large brown leather suitcase from the trunk, swung her overstuffed backpack up onto her shoulder and headed towards the front door. “Your room is up the stairs and to the right.” Her grandmother said as she hung her sweater on a hook near the door. “Put your bags upstairs and then come down to the kitchen, I’ll makes all some sandwiches.” Grams, as Penny called her, brushed a loose strand of hair for Penny’s face and kissed her cheek. “I am so happy that you came to stay with us.” “Me too, Grams.” Penny said softly as she started the climb the steps to the second floor. Penny turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open. She was appalled by what she saw. “Oh my God,” She said as she stood just inside the room looking as if she was about to be sick. “I hate pink.” The room had been decorated completely in pink and white gingham fabrics. From the bedspread to the curtains to the bedside lampshade, everywhere she turned she saw pink and white checks. Except for the two throw rugs on the floor. One beside the bed and one larger one in the middle of the floor, those where a solid pink, neon actually, and furry. She closed the door behind her and dropped her bags on the floor. Pulling out the phone her mother gave her, one that that had been programed to lock out all but two numbers, her grandparents and her mother, she pressed the speed dial button and waited. The phone on the other end rang seven times before someone picked up. “Mom,” Penny said in a panic. “I seriously can’t stay here.” “I see you made it there in one piece.” Her mother said in her slightly faded Austrian accent. “You can’t possibly be bored already. I know they have television and set up an internet account for you, as limited as it may be.” “Forget that stuff, Mom. This room is pink,” Penny plopped down on the bed. “Everywhere I turn I see pink. You know how I feel about that color.” “I’m sorry, but your Grams expected a sweet young lady not a hooligan. Give it a few days then ask if you can change it.” “Oh My God, Mom, please I just want to come home.” “I’m sorry, Penny.” Her mother said. “But this is for your own good. I’ll talk to you in a couple of days after you have settled in and tell your grandmother I’ll e-mail her tonight. Say hello to your Papa for me. I Love you.” Click. Her mother hung up. Penny tried to call back but there was no answer. “This is so not fair,” she said tossing the phone down on the bed beside her. Penny picked up her suitcase and backpack. As she tossed them on the bed she caught something in the corner of her eye. Walking over to the window, she pulled to curtains open. The view of the forest and mountains was like something from a movie. It was nearly sunset and the sky was a beautiful, all scattered with multi-colored clouds and beneath it the dark shadow of the mountain tops. “Wow, this is so amazing.” She whispered. “You’d never see anything like this in New York City.” “It is breathtaking, indeed.” Penny heard from behind her. Spinning around she saw her grandfather, or Papa as she called him, standing in the doorway. “Your Grandmother has some sandwiches ready if you are hungry,” he said. Penny smiled for the first time in days, “I’m starving. Airline food sucks.” *** One part of her regretted making this deal with her mother. An entire summer of not talking to or e-mailing her friends in New York, independent study to be monitored by her grandparents, research into which colleges to apply to, a curfew and solitary confinement in a tiny , guaranteed to be boring, Austrian village high up in the Alps. The other part of her was simply glad the judge accepted this option and she did not end up in jail. She used to think her father’s law partner, Frank Riley, was a pretty cool guy. Her dad once said about Frank that he was the most dedicated and serious lawyer he had ever meet, but when it was time to relax Frank couldn’t be any more of a good ole’ southern boy. Penny love listening to his Georgian accent. But about a year after her father’s passing Frank and her mom started getting a little too close as far as Penny was concerned. How dare he try to move in and take dad’s place? Penny just couldn’t stand seeing her mom with someone else. She was fourteen when her father was robbed and murdered while using an ATM. Since then Penny had been harboring some heavy guilt issues over what she perceived as her part in his death. It was the end of the first semester of her freshman year and her parents had promised to take her to dinner as a reward for receiving straight A’s in school. Her choice, anywhere she wanted. Her parents tried to make a few suggestions of fancy restaurants but she insisted on “Nonna’s” her favorite pizza place. Nonna’s, being an old fashioned Mom and Pop kind of restaurant, only took cash. “Ah, I forgot to stopped and get cash before I left work.” Her dad, Nickolas, said as they sat down at their table. “There’s an ATM around the corner.” Hanna, her mother, said softly. “We’ll order while you run and get some money.” “I’ll be right back.” He winked at Penny. “Make sure you order anchovies.” “Really Dad? Ew.” “Hurry up Nick, I’m starving.” Hanna said as he walked away. That was the last time she saw him alive. Penny replayed that memory in her head over and over every day since. She believed that if she had not insisted on that specific place, on that specific night her father would still be alive. She’s carried that guilt ever since. Her mother got her into counseling, after two years it didn’t seem to be helping. When Hanna and Frank started to get involved Penny became rebellious and started hanging out with a bad crowd. She had set herself down a dangerous path. Then it happened. Penny found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and with the, oh so, wrong people. Her friends decided they would party in a back alley behind a corner market. They frequented this place as it often tossed expired cases of beer in the dumpster instead of returning them to the company. The clerk called the police. One of the boys had caught a glimpse of the beam from the officer’s flashlight, he turned to Penny, “Here hold this for me.” He hand her an open beer and a joint, shouted, “Cops,” then took off. Penny didn’t move quite fast enough and was left holding the bag so to speak. Lucky for her, Penny never drank with them, she couldn’t stand the taste of beer. She didn’t like smoking either so not being high at the time was a plus in her favor. Frank managed to get her off by making this deal with the judge, as kind of tribute to Nick’s memory, who also had been a good friend to her dad. So Penny sat, politely listening to the do’s and don’ts of living under her grandparent’s roof. Her grandparents were kind and loving people, but they had a way of making one feel as if one little discretion was more like the end of the world and they did it without even raising their voices. She knew how to fight against her mother’s nagging and shouting, how to make her mom so frustrated that she would just give up and give in, but this had Penny wondering. Rules. By the end of the lecture Penny realized that in spite of some serious restriction of electronic communications she ended up with way more freedom to do what she wanted then what her mother would have allowed back in New York. Maybe it won’t so bad here after all? *** When Penny woke the next morning it was still dark. Rolling over she looked at the clock, five a.m. “Are you serious? This time zone stuff is really messing up my head. I never wake up this early.” She grumbled as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She pulled her slippers out from under the bed, slid them on her feet and went down the hall to the bathroom. Since her grandparents were still asleep she did her best to be as quiet as possible, but the floor in the hall creaked no matter how softly she stepped and the hinges on the bathroom door squeaked. She tried closing the door slowly but that seemed to make the noise louder. Penny flipped on the light. “Ugh.” She threw her hand over her eyes until they adjusted to the brightness. Staring into the mirror she groaned at her image. “How does Mom travel so much and look so good? I look like a freaking zombie.” Her eyes had dark circles under them, her hair looked like she went ten rounds with hedge trimmer and she had a zit at the corner of her mouth. “Damn airline food,” she said, then splashed some water on her face and went back to her room. The only internet connection in the house was in the front room. Her grandparents did have wireless but, as one of her stated restrictions, she did not have access. The only things she could do on her laptop were write or play games. Penny decided to pop a game into the disc drive and sit by the window. She glanced out at the horizon as she waited for the game to load. The sky just above the mountain caps was beginning to change from pitch black to a dark violet. The fading stars disappeared completely as the background colors changed again from violet to dark orange, to a lighter orange then began to turn varying shades of blue. The mountains no longer seemed a curtain that blocked out the light, as the sky changed so did the mountain tops and in moments she could see the bright snow that covered the high tips as they emerged like giant guardians over the valley. By the time Penny could actually see the sun itself peeking up from behind it all, she had totally forgotten the laptop and stared wonder-eyed at the this breathtaking sight. She had never seen anything like this before. Millions of times she’d watched the sun slowly inch its way over the skyscrapers of New York City, she had even watched the sun sink into the ocean at the beach but those experiences paled compared to this. With her head pressed against the window pane she drifted back to sleep.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 16:56:32 +0000
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