A New Start

Eliana drove towards her new life in a place she hadn’t visited in years. A place she spent many of her childhood summers, helping with the animals and running around the surrounding forest. The gravelly road before her was winding its way through the tall trees on either side, sun rays finding their way through the leaves leaving beautiful patterns on the ground. The leaves were starting to turn shades of red and orange, only leaving a few green ones in between. Some leaves were falling, showering the road ahead, starting to cover the ground in a fiery colour. As she was driving closer to her destination, she could feel her hands starting to shake, but why should she be nervous? Sure, she hadn’t seen Milo since his grandmother’s funeral, but she had also known him since she could remember. So why was she this nervous all of a sudden? Maybe because she knew that once she passed the old stone gate that started to appear in front of her, she would start a new chapter of her life and she only had a slight idea of what that new life would look like. As she reached the gate, she slowed her car until it came to a halt. Taking one – two – three deep breaths she opened her door and stepped on to the gravelly path dusted with fallen leaves. Opening the passenger side door she reached inside, grabbing her backpack, leaving the rest of her things in the back for when she would drive her car through the gate and in front of the house for easier unpacking. But that could wait, now she just wanted to keep following the windy path in front of her and finally see Milo again.

As Eliana followed the path, she could smell the lavender bushes growing along it and see the few butterflies that were left fluttering from one flower to the next. The closer she got to the house, the more manicured the landscaping became and yet it still looked like the flowers grew wherever they wanted. In one of the trees she passed she could see the letters E and M engraved, and she remembered the summer of her last year in High School when Milo and her used his pocketknife to scratch their initials into the old oak. Smiling from the memory she brushed over the letters and continued her way towards the house that was starting to emerge between the trees and bushes. Smoke was rising from the chimney, and she could see the curtains move in the kitchen window.

Looking at the house she could tell why Milo had told her that it needed a renovation. While the main part of the house could definitely use a new coat of paint, the stoney extension to the left needed more work. From where she was, Eliana could see that some of the windows were broken and the ones that weren’t still needed a fresh coat of paint. The roof was also missing a few tiles, leaving holes here and there. Ivy was growing along the walls and almost swallowed the door that led into what once was used as a guest house.

Eliana was brought back to reality when she heard a voice call her name, but not just any voice, Milo’s voice. As soon as she heard him, she turned and ran over to where he was standing, leaning on the front door. When she was a few meters away he pushed off the frame and walked towards her with open arms she gladly ran into. Once they embraced, he lifted her of the ground and spun her around a few times before gently setting her back down. And like that, she was home. In a home that needed a lot of love, but home nonetheless.