Myrtle Fields (ch.1)

by Hope in Oregon

January 7th

Why does the sun set in the west, but rise in the east? Why is the world round instead of flat? Why do I have to be the one who's a foster child?

        For a second, Jackie set down her pencil and stared out of the car window, watching the landscape become steadily greener and more overgrown as the car swung down mile after mile of windy road. In the front seat, she could see Mrs. Ellis, one of the social workers at the foster center. As Jackie let her mind drift back to the center, with its bunk beds and coloring sheets, she felt a pang of... homesickness. Well, not homesickness, she decided, because she didn't really have a home. But... she missed her best friend, Marlene, and the other children. Jackie was one of the oldest there, at age fourteen, and the younger kids would crowd around her as she made up stories and sang songs to them. Marlene was four years younger, and although she would never admit it, Jackie's friend enjoyed the stories and songs as much as everyone else.

         The tires hit a rough spot, and Jackie bounced up and hit her head on the thin roof, then slammed back down onto the hard leather seat. Somehow, she felt like she was a prisoner, and unreadable Mrs. Ellis, with her twitching, flicking eye and her almost anorexic body, was the guard marching her to meet her fate. Jackie wished she actually was marching, maybe then she could wait until the social worker's back was turned. Then, she thought, brushing her brown hair out of her eyes, then, she would run. But the concept flew out of her mind as she watched the houses become farther and farther apart, until the land rolled on, dotted here and there by rickety barns or old, old houses with peeling paint.

         "Mrs. Ellis?" Jackie spoke up for the first time since they had gotten in the car. She half expected Mrs. Ellis not to answer, but she saw the slight nod in her direction. "I know sometimes I'm kind of ungrateful, and maybe even a little sassy... but does my temporary home have to be out in the middle of nowhere? I mean, what about school and everything?" She felt like adding, "What did I do to deserve this," but she knew that would not fly well with her caretaker. A minute passed, and awkward silence ensued. She was about to repeat her question, when Mrs. Ellis finally spoke. "Jackie..." her tone wasn't sharp, exactly, but rather soft and sympathetic. Jackie sat up, waiting for more.

          "First of all, it's not 'out in the middle of nowhere'." Jackie's back stiffened as the familiar hard tone entered her voice. "There are plenty of people out here. And you'll enjoy living on a farm, I think. This woman-Ms. Lexington- has a couple horses, a dog or two maybe. And you'll be homeschooled." Jackie tried to absorb all this new information. She had never lived on a farm before, an apartment, a condo, a house, an estate, but never a farm. And homeschooling? She'd read about sitting at a dining room table and writing in workbooks, sketching on drawing paper, and quickly doing long equations on expensive graph paper. It might not be half bad... but maybe it would turn out to be different. Then she smiled. Dogs. Dogs were good. Dogs were great.

            Jackie loved anything to do with her canine friends. Except... she had fuzzy memories of her mother, and behind the image, in the part she couldn't see, there was always a presence of some sort. It just seemed like a dog, but maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was.. another person, or a-a dragon! Jackie made herself stop. She loved to let her imagination run wild, even when it had nothing to do with the topic. But now they were turning up a long dirt driveway, and Jackie strained to hear barking. Sure enough, as soon as she stepped out of the car, five or six dogs came racing down the path, jumping up on her and licking her hands. Two were big, collie-like animals, with fluffy coats and loping strides, and the rest were mixed breeds, some with fur that streaked in different colors and wet, sniffing noses.

            After the dogs came a tall, broad-shouldered woman. She had striking red hair that hung down to her chest, and well-muscled arms. Her palms had lines of dirt, and she was wearing a long black shirt and jeans that looked like they had survived more than one painting session. She greeted Mrs. Ellis warmly, but Jackie hung back uneasily. "Why, hello there! You must be Jackie!" the woman crowed, patting the girl on her shoulder as if she sensed that Jackie wasn't ready to shake hands. Jackie forced a small smile, but inside her stomach was swirling and churning like the ocean after a storm. "Umm.. hi." She said slowly. The women made small talk while the three of them trudged up the driveway. At the top, they were met by a one-story farmhouse that swayed a little in the wind.

            Over to one side, Jackie glimpsed an old barn, partially hidden by a row of overgrown bushes. She heard what sounded like horses trotting on the grass, but one couldn't be so sure what was behind the garden. She followed as Mrs. Ellis and her new foster mother up the path, but she couldn't help feeling that this place, this temporary foster home, this place was different. And the feeling made her slightly uneasy.