It was midnight on a Tuesday morning, the stars sparkled brightly, and some even fell from the night sky. The air smelt as fresh as the cool morning air outside, but all I could see was darkness; the starlight was very dim. The walls felt as cold as the Arctic itself as I pressed my body against one, making my nose pressed against the round glass windows. Every breath I took tasted salty, as if I was breathing in the ocean itself. I could hear my folks snoring through the night while I sat awake on my small bed, counting sheep and desperately trying to fall asleep.

My name is Ruthbelle Rivers, but you can call me Ru-Ri; it’s a nickname combination of my name and surname. I live in a small flat in Miami, Florida. My mom’s name is Marline, and she has short blonde hair, like my aunt Diane! My aunt is a farmer, and she is one of the best cooks in my family. My dad is a plump old man with short grey hair, and you can never miss him in those old oil-stained overalls. There is not a lot of room in this small flat, so I share an old, unstable bunk bed with my brother, Stanley. 

My parents were never rich, so they couldn’t afford a proper house and a good education for us. You may be wondering how I am writing this if I am too poor to even afford a good book to read; well, for my birthday last year, my parents worked hard, all day and all night, to save up enough money to get me a notebook and a penguin pencil.

Since then, I have loved writing about nature and wouldn’t look away from my book, no matter how busy I am with house chores. Everyone would just shake their heads, thinking that I was ridiculous, but I would just ignore them. I loved visiting the park and taking notes on everything that happened there. Yesterday, I saw a stray kitten dancing with the butterflies, and I took note of it. My mom works at a retirement shelter for old people, and my dad….well, let’s just say screwing toothpaste caps on tubes all day doesn’t get you paid much.

I woke up early this morning so that I would have enough time to go and do my own thing before I had to do a bunch of boring chores since my brother wasn’t old enough yet. 

“Tick-tock,” the clock sighed, and the sun was already setting. I sat on the curb across from the park entrance, just trying to take in all the sights around me. Every few minutes, after studying animal after animal, I would get up and walk across the road. Peeking in the entrance gates of the park to look at the giant clock that hung there, I hoped that I could find something new to take notes on around 5:00 p.m. I decided I should head home after a long, full day of jotting my thoughts down on the back of my notebook.

When I arrived at my apartment room door, I could feel smoke coming out from the bottom of the door; it hit my legs, making a warm chill go through my body. I saw my mom trying to cook vegetables in her small pot and realised that the furnace was busted again. I gasped when I saw the big mess on the kitchen floor. Tucking my notebook under my arm, I walked carefully toward my mother, avoiding the big mess.

“I was only gone all day; what happened here, Mom?” I asked, full of curiosity, as I tapped her on the shoulder.

“We need to pack our bags, sweetie; we cannot afford to live here anymore. We are being… evicted.” she cried, tears rolling down her face, barely missing the pot.

I hugged her and cried with her. After a few minutes, we calmed down, and my father came into the room after a long day of work, his fingers swollen from screwing toothpaste caps on tubes.

After we had a dinner of lukewarm vegetables with a side of cold rice, I stayed up in bed, thinking about the house bill, being evicted, and all. I wondered where we would live after being evicted; would we lose everything? It was already 10:00 p.m. by the time I managed to fall asleep. I had a nightmare about being evicted: my parents were sent to jail, and I had to run away with my brother in hopes of finding a place to go. 

I woke up, sadly, not to the smell of waffles and tea but to the sounds of sirens surrounding the apartment. My un-exciting brother was still asleep, and my parents were at the door with a police officer escorting them and their bags out of the apartment.

I shook my brother awake, grabbed his hand, and headed for the door. We walked to the banks by the river that leads to the ocean. One of Dad’s friends had his sailboat ready for us to sail on. The river was long and deep. There were rough waves that we had to dodge every now and then. The water was a nice dark blue colour that sparkled because of the sun. Once we reached the ocean, the wind became strong, and the boat started to rock a bit; you could see funny flying fish jumping in and out of the wavy waters.

After about three days of sailing the seven seas, we finally made it to an open green pasture. My dad thanked his friend and tipped him. After walking and dancing across the green pasture, we reached a small farm. The farm belonged to my Aunt and Uncle, which I only found out when I saw my Aunt running to us with open arms. My aunt has short, wavy blonde hair and many pimples on her face. She was wearing a handmade apron over her pink overalls, and she had white gloves; she was wearing her wedding ring over them.

I hugged my Aunt Diane and jumped for joy when I saw my crazy Uncle, Pete, right behind her. They led us to a bright red barn; once we entered, there was a giant table with many chairs. On top of the table, there was a stuffed turkey, many candles, and the most elegant display of fruits, vegetables, and pies I’d ever seen. They were all laid out on pretty platters, and they smelled so good that I forgot all my worries. Aunt Diane clapped her hands together, smiling big. “Listen up, everyone! You’re safe now, and this is your new home. You’re part of our farm family!”

Mom and Dad looked at each other and smiled. They had happy tears in their eyes. My brother and I couldn’t wait any longer; we rushed to the table, eager to eat because everything smelled amazing.

Uncle Pete stood up, holding a glass of apple juice high in the air. “Here’s to family, to fresh starts, and to being all together under one roof. May this home be full of love and laughter. Now, let’s eat!”

Everyone cheered and clinked glasses. We dug into the food, and it tasted even better than it smelled. As I bit into a delicious piece of pie, a warm, happy feeling spread all through me. For the first time in a really long time, I felt like everything was going to be okay. We may have lost our apartment, but we gained something way better: a new home where we felt welcome and our family was all together.

After dinner, we went outside. It was getting dark, and the sky was full of stars. We sat on hay bales in a circle. Uncle Pete played a happy tune on his guitar, and Aunt Diane sang along. I looked at Mom, Dad, and my brother, all laughing and tapping their feet to the music.

It made me think about everything we’d been through. We’d had a really tough time, but now we were at Aunt Diane’s and Uncle Pete’s farm, and it felt like the start of something good. When I went to bed that night, snuggled up in a cosy quilt, I heard the gentle sounds of the farm animals settling down for the night.

I closed my eyes, feeling grateful and safe. I knew we had finally found our happy place, our new beginning.

THE END