Status: New story. Slow!
Sincerely, Emma
Settling In
Ian Duane Owens was affable company, compared to the radio and the speed demons on the highway. We joked and laughed and, if we decided to drive through the night sometimes, we’d trade off who drove so one of us could take a brief nap or something so we wouldn’t drive ourselves off the road. He also joked easily, and we got to know each other.
He did laugh at me sometimes when I bought a postcard - which was every time we stopped. After a week, we’d pretty much decided we’d take a cross country trip, zigzagging around and stopping in as many states as we could. We’d settled on staying in California temporarily, seeing what the west coast was like while we had this freedom. Our families would no doubt try to find some way to lure us back and pamper us into staying, but for the time being we chose to ignore the face and truly enjoy ourselves for what seemed like the first time in either of our lives.
On the way to California, we stopped in twenty-three states, and so I had that many postcards, plus some. We stopped more than once in at least ten of them, so I had at least thirty-three postcards, but I knew I had more. And so, once we found a cheap, two bedroom apartment, bought some cheap furniture and food for the refrigerator that came with it, and settled in, I sat down and pulled out a random postcard - from when we’d swung up to Maine before really starting to go across the country - and began to write.
June 14th, 2009
Dear Mom and Dad,
How are you guys? I’m doing great. I’m hanging out with a friend, and we’re going to live our own lives for a while, just to be able to say we had some freedom. I’ve actually been hired for a job near where we’re going to be staying for a while, and it’s not that bad.
Don’t be mad at me for leaving so suddenly, okay? I just want to live a little before I have to stay in one place, and just do all the things that you do for a living. I want a bit of freedom, and to show that I’m an individual and I don’t need to be watched over forever. Please don’t try to find me yet, I’ll let you know where I am when I’m ready. I really do love you guys, but I need this. I need this time with just a friend my own age.
You might actually like my company, though. We’ve got a two bedroom apartment, don’t worry. His name’s Ian. You know, Ian Owens? One of the guys you almost tried to force me to marry? He was trying to get away, same as me, when we bumped into each other.
I’ll see you guys sometime, okay? Just not now.
Sincerely,
Emma.
June 28th, 2009
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Evans,
Hello. This is Ian. I just wanted to update you guys - everything’s going fine. We’re getting alone nicely, and we’ve both got pretty steady jobs. Well, as steady jobs as we can get having only been settled in for a little over two weeks. Emma wants to take over, but I’ve got a favor to ask. Will you call or write my father and let him know we’re doing fine? I don’t want him to worry or anything. Here’s Emma.
Hey Mom, hey Dad. I told Ian he’d come around and want to let his father know that he was fine! Oh, now he’s embarrassed because I told you. Oh, well, I’m not scratching it out. He was telling the truth when he said everything’s going good. Well. Whatever. We’ve made a few friends, and we’ve been having some fun. This is a new experience for both of us and we’re enjoying it while we have the chance, so don’t worry. You’ll be the first to know if something goes wrong - after all, I have your phone and cell numbers, just in case.
We’ll be just fine, okay?
Sincerely,
Emma (and Ian!)
P.S. - Ian added his name.
To tell the truth, our jobs weren’t the absolute best jobs, but they got us by. We both worked at the local Wal-Mart, he as a shelf-stocker and I as a cashier. I was only part time, actually, because I had put in an application at a nice, cozy little coffee shop right down the street, and was waiting on the reply. The Wal-Mart’s manager understood the situation and was very accepting. She was all ears, she knew who we were, and she understood what we meant by saying we wanted to have a little bit of freedom before we had to grow up completely.
My application at the coffee shop soon went through, but it was also part-time because they were nearly fully staffed, so I kept the job at Wal-Mart. It was a bit tiring, but my adrenaline at finally doing this for myself was overpowering the slump that most working people fall into.
And so, a few months passed in California, and the easy friendship struck between Ian and I turned into a deeper camaraderie, and, at least on my behalf, morphed into some sort of feelings toward him, where when I was complimented by him, my heartbeat sped up, and when I saw him just talking to another Wal-Mart employee who happened to be female, I felt the green beast that they call jealousy.
To tell the truth though, I wasn’t as appalled as the Emma Evans of three months earlier would have been to find herself falling for Ian Duane Owens. It was…a comfortable, welcome feeling to the new Emma Valerie Evans.
For the need to do something other than think, I pulled out a random postcard - one from Nebraska - and started to write, petting the hairy little beast that came up to lick my hand.
October 2nd, 2009
Dear Mom and Dad,
It’s me again! Emma.
I’m just writing because I haven’t in a while.
Ian and I are still surviving. We’re getting along pretty well - I’ve got two part-time jobs and he has one full-time. We’ve adjusted well to the lifestyle here, and we’ve taken on a huge responsibility now! We adopted a puppy last week from the local animal shelter. She’s a St. Bernard, so she’s going to get pretty big - bigger than our current apartment allows - so we’re looking for a small house right now. Nothing too permanent or anything, don’t worry, but we don’t want to have to give Sally Ann up. Yes, her name’s Sally Ann. I just call her Sal most of the time, and the name’s rubbed off with Ian, too.
I hope you guys are doing well! I saw that the company opened another building last week - congratulations! Ian says congrats, too, and asks again that you tell his dad we’re doing fine. Well, I have to get ready to go to work here in a few minutes, so I’ll write to you next time I have a chance.
Sincerely,
Emma.
He did laugh at me sometimes when I bought a postcard - which was every time we stopped. After a week, we’d pretty much decided we’d take a cross country trip, zigzagging around and stopping in as many states as we could. We’d settled on staying in California temporarily, seeing what the west coast was like while we had this freedom. Our families would no doubt try to find some way to lure us back and pamper us into staying, but for the time being we chose to ignore the face and truly enjoy ourselves for what seemed like the first time in either of our lives.
On the way to California, we stopped in twenty-three states, and so I had that many postcards, plus some. We stopped more than once in at least ten of them, so I had at least thirty-three postcards, but I knew I had more. And so, once we found a cheap, two bedroom apartment, bought some cheap furniture and food for the refrigerator that came with it, and settled in, I sat down and pulled out a random postcard - from when we’d swung up to Maine before really starting to go across the country - and began to write.
June 14th, 2009
Dear Mom and Dad,
How are you guys? I’m doing great. I’m hanging out with a friend, and we’re going to live our own lives for a while, just to be able to say we had some freedom. I’ve actually been hired for a job near where we’re going to be staying for a while, and it’s not that bad.
Don’t be mad at me for leaving so suddenly, okay? I just want to live a little before I have to stay in one place, and just do all the things that you do for a living. I want a bit of freedom, and to show that I’m an individual and I don’t need to be watched over forever. Please don’t try to find me yet, I’ll let you know where I am when I’m ready. I really do love you guys, but I need this. I need this time with just a friend my own age.
You might actually like my company, though. We’ve got a two bedroom apartment, don’t worry. His name’s Ian. You know, Ian Owens? One of the guys you almost tried to force me to marry? He was trying to get away, same as me, when we bumped into each other.
I’ll see you guys sometime, okay? Just not now.
Sincerely,
Emma.
June 28th, 2009
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Evans,
Hello. This is Ian. I just wanted to update you guys - everything’s going fine. We’re getting alone nicely, and we’ve both got pretty steady jobs. Well, as steady jobs as we can get having only been settled in for a little over two weeks. Emma wants to take over, but I’ve got a favor to ask. Will you call or write my father and let him know we’re doing fine? I don’t want him to worry or anything. Here’s Emma.
Hey Mom, hey Dad. I told Ian he’d come around and want to let his father know that he was fine! Oh, now he’s embarrassed because I told you. Oh, well, I’m not scratching it out. He was telling the truth when he said everything’s going good. Well. Whatever. We’ve made a few friends, and we’ve been having some fun. This is a new experience for both of us and we’re enjoying it while we have the chance, so don’t worry. You’ll be the first to know if something goes wrong - after all, I have your phone and cell numbers, just in case.
We’ll be just fine, okay?
Sincerely,
Emma (and Ian!)
P.S. - Ian added his name.
To tell the truth, our jobs weren’t the absolute best jobs, but they got us by. We both worked at the local Wal-Mart, he as a shelf-stocker and I as a cashier. I was only part time, actually, because I had put in an application at a nice, cozy little coffee shop right down the street, and was waiting on the reply. The Wal-Mart’s manager understood the situation and was very accepting. She was all ears, she knew who we were, and she understood what we meant by saying we wanted to have a little bit of freedom before we had to grow up completely.
My application at the coffee shop soon went through, but it was also part-time because they were nearly fully staffed, so I kept the job at Wal-Mart. It was a bit tiring, but my adrenaline at finally doing this for myself was overpowering the slump that most working people fall into.
And so, a few months passed in California, and the easy friendship struck between Ian and I turned into a deeper camaraderie, and, at least on my behalf, morphed into some sort of feelings toward him, where when I was complimented by him, my heartbeat sped up, and when I saw him just talking to another Wal-Mart employee who happened to be female, I felt the green beast that they call jealousy.
To tell the truth though, I wasn’t as appalled as the Emma Evans of three months earlier would have been to find herself falling for Ian Duane Owens. It was…a comfortable, welcome feeling to the new Emma Valerie Evans.
For the need to do something other than think, I pulled out a random postcard - one from Nebraska - and started to write, petting the hairy little beast that came up to lick my hand.
October 2nd, 2009
Dear Mom and Dad,
It’s me again! Emma.
I’m just writing because I haven’t in a while.
Ian and I are still surviving. We’re getting along pretty well - I’ve got two part-time jobs and he has one full-time. We’ve adjusted well to the lifestyle here, and we’ve taken on a huge responsibility now! We adopted a puppy last week from the local animal shelter. She’s a St. Bernard, so she’s going to get pretty big - bigger than our current apartment allows - so we’re looking for a small house right now. Nothing too permanent or anything, don’t worry, but we don’t want to have to give Sally Ann up. Yes, her name’s Sally Ann. I just call her Sal most of the time, and the name’s rubbed off with Ian, too.
I hope you guys are doing well! I saw that the company opened another building last week - congratulations! Ian says congrats, too, and asks again that you tell his dad we’re doing fine. Well, I have to get ready to go to work here in a few minutes, so I’ll write to you next time I have a chance.
Sincerely,
Emma.
♠ ♠ ♠
A lot of the story from here on out will be told through postcards to her parents...or at least, some of it. I'm planning on only one postcard in teh next chapter, but I'm not sure. It may be a while, because school starts in a week and I have too many other stories that I'm trying to update before that day comes...so, yeah. I just want to thank those of you who are reading and still like this story, even though it's been so long since I updated. So, THANK YOU!Until next time, ideas and suggestions are appreciated!!!
<333 Amanda