World Traveler

The car finally stopped outside of, what I assumed to be, a middle sized house. It was larger than the one my family lived at, but this family was also larger. The exterior itself was beige and there were dark brown shutters on just about every window. Their front door was forest green and there was a large dragon statue on their front step. The lawn was radiant green, and there were pretty purple and red flowers alternating around the front of the house. The yard was enclosed by hedges, large and green on either side. A white picket fence sat at the front of the yard, blocking it from the sidewalk.

“Your house is beautiful Marsh- erm, mom...? Sorry, it’ll take some getting used to.” Marsha just smiled brightly at me.

“Don’t you worry about it chicky. Call me whatever you like. Basil, Alex, why don’t you guys show her around the house? Jesse you need to do your chores and Steph, time for work baby.” Jesse grumbled about his chores and Stephanie hopped into a black car I hadn’t noticed.

“Come on Sam, lets show you everything.” Basil gripped my elbow, rather tightly, and pulled me towards the house. Alex trailed behind us. “Okay, first things first, on your left is the living room. On your right, dining room. Straight through here is the kitchen. Mom herself will tell you to help yourself to whatever you want. Over that way is the laundry room and a bathroom. Through this way, is dad’s man cave. This is the whole bottom floor. This door here,” She pointed to a door in the kitchen, “opens to stairs that lead down to the basement and garage. Come on, up the stairs!” She had been pointing everywhere, and although the house wasn’t that large, I was probably going to get confused, a lot.

Basil pushed me ahead of her and I climbed the carpeted stairs near the living room. Every wall in the bottom floor was either white or green. On the second floor, however, the hallways were white, but the rooms were all different. “Right at the top of the stairs is the bathroom that Stephanie, Alex, and Jesse use.There are three bedrooms on this floor, mom and dad, Jesse and Alex, and Stephanie. You and I get the attic. Over here, is mom and dad’s room.” The walls were wood paneled and there were dragons all over. There were also wolves and tigers, but mostly dragons. “This is Stephie’s.” Stephanie’s walls were deep purple, her carpet black. She had a very large vanity in the corner. “And this is Alex’s and Jesse’s.” Their walls were red, wood paneling for floor. The room was messy, but not filthy. Just the sight of the boys room made me yearn to talk to Liam again. “This way-”

“Hey, are you alright? You’re crying.” I looked up and saw Alex there. I had forgotten he was helping Basil to show me around. I ran my hands over my cheeks and, sure enough, I collected tears.

“I just miss my brother is all. Basil, I need to call them, can I use the phone?” Basil nodded and ran down the stairs to get the phone. Alex rubbed my back and led me inside his room.

“This is my bed. So why are you crying?” His concern was sweet.

“I just saw this room and it’s exactly like Liam’s, my brother. He was messy, but not filthy. The only two differences his walls are purple, its his favorite color, and he only has one bed.” Alex just smiled and Basil came back with the phone.

“Mom says to be quick, we don’t have international.” I nodded and grabbed the phone.

“Tell her I’ll pay.” I quickly dialled the number, just as my mom told me to for international calls. After three rings, someone answered.

“Hullo?” It sounded like my dad.

“Daddy?” I heard him chuckle on the other end before he yelled out for mom and Liam.

“Hey baby girl how was the flight?” I heard two other clicks, and I knew I was talking to the whole family.

“It was good daddy, I slept the whole time.” I heard Liam’s familiar laugh and my heart broke. “I miss you guys so much.”

“We miss you too baby girl. Do you have your suitcase with you?” I turned to Alex.

“Where is my suitcase?” He pointed up, which I interpreted as the attic. I nodded to him and got up, looking for the stairs that would take me up. I found them behind a door. I saw my suitcase at the top, so I climbed up. “Okay mom, I’m at my suitcase.”

“Liam, go to your room. On three, both of you open it. One, two three!” I heard Liam’s door creak as he swung it open and I unzipped my bag as quickly as I could. Inside sat a large, beautiful laptop. Beside it was a neon green phone.

“Wow mom, dad, thank you so much!” Liam and I said together. “Did you get a laptop too?” Again, at the same time. “Yes! Did you get a phone?”

“My phone is green Liam!” I heard our parents chuckle at us.

“Mine is purple Sammy! We can text all the time now!” I heard my dad cough.

“Okay kids, those phones are fully international. You can call and text each other as much as you want. Be responsible with them. Those laptops are completely equipped with internet, email, everything. Use those responsibly as well.”

“Daddy, Mommy, Liam, I have to let you go. My host family doesn’t have international on their phone, but I’ll call you tomorrow!” They all shouted ‘Bye! Love you!’ before I hung up.