We are GUARDED

The sky moved slowly below, the clouds billowed past as the wind rushed around. Elizabeth looked down, sighing as she admired the shape of the clustered mist, imagining herself running her fingers through the cool particles of water.

She closed her eyes, pretending to feel the cool air on her face. She slumped back into her seat as she let out a breath of disappointment. Next to her the large, odd-smelling man had been coughing up a storm for the last five hours as the little boy behind her continually kicked her seat. Elizabeth Rivers could not wait to land in New Hampshire and go to the house where she could throw herself into bed and never come back out. Elizabeth pulled herself closer as the man again gagged. She closed her eyes to ignore the horrid sounds but she could not avoid the elbowing that came with the coughs. It was only a few minutes left until the plane landed and she was happy to be off of the plane.

The plane landed smoothly and Elizabeth was free. She waited for the horde of people to claim their belongings and leave before she moved for her bags. When she stood, she thumped her head above her on the ceiling, making her wince as she scolded herself for forgetting her height once again. Elizabeth was a tall girl, although not gigantic. She was a slim girl, her movements fluid and elegant. When she got to the aisle, she stood straight, stretching out her sore back. She pulled her hands to her head, brushing her long dark straight hair into a loose ponytail behind her.

She grabbed her bag and made her way to the baggage claims, where she picked out her luggage and moved away from the endless crowd. Elizabeth sighed as she pulled herself out into the chilly morning. It was the end of summer and the early beginnings of fall. The air was still warm but in New Hampshire, it was still getting a tad bit chilly. Elizabeth had come from California and was not prepared for the temperature difference. She groaned loudly as a strong wind pushed past her.

Elizabeth stepped to the curb, waving an arm out for a taxi as others pushed past her. Elizabeth packed up the taxi and was on her way to her new home in an unfamiliar world. Elizabeth’s move to New Hampshire was not a happy one, and was not going to become one anytime soon for her.

Elizabeth gazed out of the window, watching the trees streak by, a mass of green moving along as she made her way down the road. Her mind wandered, her memories returning to the moment when she had become orphaned. She had been watching the trees as her parents shrieked with laughter as her father yet again cracked a cheesy joke. She was happily daydreaming.

Elizabeth winced as she recalled the headlights that came toward her and her family. They were on their way home from a night out in the city, a dinner together on a terrace, a family outing away from home. Her father was a handsome man, tall and broad. Elizabeth got her tall height from him and his brown hair. Elizabeth inherited her mother’s flawless beauty. Her mother was a quiet, small woman who seemed to rely on her husband but was in truth very independent. Her parents were a kind couple, deeply in love, and expected as much from their daughter.

They were all a happy family together. Before the moment Elizabeth saw the lights before her, she could not see herself without her parents, and she never imagined life could change so fast. Her parents were killed instantly, but Elizabeth had come out unscathed. Although she had woken up in a hospital, unaware of what had happened in the accident, that her parents were no longer with her, Elizabeth had not been hurt in the impact.

The last thing she could remember was a bright light that surrounded her, making her warm and almost numb. Elizabeth kept running that one moment through her mind, remembering again and again, the feeling of warmth envelope her as the lights came toward her. She kept telling herself it was the headlights before her, but she had passed out during the impact and was unsure she had felt any pain like she should have.

Elizabeth jerked back to reality, shaken by the memory as a tear threatened to make its way down her cheeks. She took a deep breath and turned her attention back to the trees. She was on her way to the home of people she did not know, which had suddenly come out as her parents’ close friends. It was in their will that if they were to no longer be alive, that Elizabeth was to be sent to their “dearest friends”, the McGraw’s. Elizabeth had never heard of the name McGraw in her home, and was uneasy not knowing who the McGraw’s were. They lived on the other side of the country and were alien to her.

Elizabeth was nervous. She would be intruding on their lives and she did not know what they knew about her. What if they did not like her? Would she become a homeless orphan? She scratched under her chin with her forefinger, a habit she had never tried to break. She was not arriving on pleasant terms and was not sure she would like it in such a new place. Elizabeth choked as she held back a sob, realizing again for the umpteenth time that day that she was alone, and that her parents were not there anymore to calm her down with their cheesy jokes.

Elizabeth took another deep breath, closing her eyes as she counted her way down to a calm, a habit she had picked up from her mother.

“Excuse me miss,” the taxi driver said tentatively. Elizabeth opened her eyes and looked at the driver, who was looking a bit unnerved.

“Yes?” she answered.

“It does not seem I can go further than this. It seems you will have to walk the rest of the way,” he said regretfully, motioning towards the road before them. Elizabeth looked past the driver, her mouth falling when she saw what he had meant.

Before them was a tall, large gated wall. The metal twirled intricately into elaborate designs, making a gate that closed off the road. Elizabeth’s eyes followed the road, tracing its way up the long path before finally reaching the house. Elizabeth staggered in her seat when she saw the mansion before her. It was beautiful, and elegant beyond compare. Elizabeth sat frozen, staring up at the magnificent home she would now be living in.

She had hit the jackpot.