Wild Strawberries (standard:romance, 851 words)
Author: Danielle Dale	Added: Jul 30 2003	Views/Reads: 3454/2300	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Kitzmiller has no Starbucks, the TV only get's 12 channels, the computer doesn't have internet, and the town only has 800 people. To Danielle this summer was going to be hell. But that was before she met The Gang, Julie, and Will.

Danielle stepped out of her dad's white Ford pick-up with some
difficulty. The door had been dented and that made it hard to push it 
open. Danielle finally managed to force it open and stepped out. She 
looked up at her new home for the next three months. It was three 
stories including the basement. The white paint had begun to chip in 
many places, and it leaned to the right slightly. The top floor window 
was open and the yellow curtains billowed out the window as if trying 
to escape. There was an old wooden porch-swing resting on the deck. As 
the wind blew it swayed slightly making an eerie creak-creak every 
time. There were roses and sunflowers lining the house. 

"Quaint." thought Danielle sarcastically. 

The lawn was fairly small as woods overgrown with Oak trees and weeds
surrounded it from three sides. On the fourth side there was an old 
dirt road which still had a cloud of dust lingering on it from Danielle 
and her dad's arrival. 

Danielle tore her eyes away from the run-down farm house and pulled her
suitcase from the bed of the truck. 

"I got it." her dad said taking the suitcase from her. 

"I insist, Tom." said Danielle. 

"I wish you would call me dad." he said to her quietly. 

Danielle didn't respond as she slowly walked up to the house dragging
her feet along the way. Danielle hadn't called her father dad since the 
night he left her and her mom. 

Danielle was eleven at the time. Her father and mother had had their
squabbles but every couple did. Danielle didn't realize how bad they 
were until one April night when her father packed up his things and 
left them. Danielle remembered her dad coming into her bedroom and 
giving her a hug and a kiss. She had begged him not to go, insisting 
that things would get better, but he didn't stay. He drove to the 
airport, bought a plane ticket, and left. Danielle didn't ask her mom 
where he went for two weeks, until she finally mustered the courage and 
confronted her mom about her father's where-about. 

"He went home to his mother. He's in Maryland now." said her mother
quietly. 

Not long after that her mother burst into tears. Danielle tried
everything she could to make her stop crying but it was no good. The 
divorce papers arrived in the mail a month later. 

He didn't even try to get custody of Danielle. She hadn't even seen him
since then. When she got off the plane from California only an hour 
earlier she hardly recognized him. He had written her and told her 
about his wedding, his new home, his new baby... 

Danielle pushed the decrepit door open and stepped inside. The kitchen
was decorated in apple everything. Apple borders, apple table-cloths, 
even apple paper-towel holders. A woman cam through the swinging door 
in front of Danielle. She didn't look any older than 25. Her short 
blonde hair came to her shoulders, she had on a pair of faded jeans, 
and her tank-top was yellow. She rushed forward and gave Danielle an 
enthusiastic hug. 

"You must be Danielle! You look a lot older than in your pictures. I'm
Heather." she said excitedly. 

"I know who you are. You and Tom didn't even bother to invite me to your
wedding. I had to hear about it from my grand-mother." said Danielle, 
narrowing her eyes. Heather's smile faded. 

"Well... I suppose you'll want to meet Caleb then." said Heather trying
to change the subject. 

"Yes, it would be nice to meet the baby brother I've only seen in
pictures." said Danielle glaring at Heather. Heather quickly exited 
through the door and came back a moment later carrying a baby about 
two. The baby had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a pacifier in his mouth. 


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