The Unwanted Winter - Volume One of the Saga of the Twelves Read Free Page A

We’re
going to ‘La-La Land’ , Ana!” her brother continued when she didn’t respond. “The
big city, Hollywood, the bright lights, the ocean, and don’t forget
all those sexy, fine California gurls!!! Oh my god, I’m gonna be in
heaven!!!”
    She had stood there
dumbfounded, dazed as he went on, her ears unable to discern sound,
wondering how her world could go from being so right, to being so
fucking rotten in a matter of minutes.
    “ Looks like a storm’s down
the road a piece,” announced her father from the front seat of the
Suburban, breaking Marianna’s train of thought.
    “ Yeah, it sure does look
like it,” replied her mother. “Good thing your signing bonus
allowed us to ready the car for such an occurrence.” She watched
her tiny mother reach over to squeeze her father’s diminutive
shoulder.
    She shuddered. Ah jeez, please don’t start making
out.
    Her eyes inadvertently
found the clouds again. Her father had been correct. They did
appear like storm clouds. Well , she considered, except for the one in front of the
others.
    It was closer to their
position as they continued to barrel down I-40. That one was shaped
funny too, like a head – a human head to be exact.
    Great, now I’m seeing
decapitated skulls floating in the air.
    She turned up her MP3
player as another Lady Gaga anthem to gays began to scream in her
ear.
    The news had been
difficult for Ricardo to take as well. As it turned out, they’d had
their first argument over the situation - a situation neither of
them could change. He had been crass and mean, while she’d been
defensive and hurt by his inability to see how much this pained
her. She had to say good-bye to him and, with that, watch some her
of innermost hopes simply “pop” out of existence, like a soap
bubble in a harsh wind.
    Maybe he had sensed some
of the feelings she had growing inside of her, those deep-seeded
emotions for him. Maybe he too got a glimpse of their future
together and became so disappointed by her inevitable departure, he
couldn’t control himself. Maybe he didn’t know how to control such
intense emotion and he allowed his sorrow to turned to
anger.
    She would never know
though. After they’d made up, a short while later and talked
through the problem as grown-up as they could manage. She could
sense something fundamental had changed between them. It was
something they couldn’t recover or renew. The simplicity and
originality of their time together had altered at its’ most basic
level and could no longer represent what it had been before news of
her leaving had changed it. It was like losing their innocence.
There would be no future now. There would be nothing long-term
between them. They were too young and powerless to do much else
other than flow with the currents of their lives and make the best
of the short time they had left together.
    I miss you, Ricardo. I
wish I’d had the time to tell you that I loved you.
    The strange cloud became
more distinct, detail coming forth.
    Now, here she was twenty
days later, on the I-40, on her way to Los Angeles of all places,
having left the only hope she had of finding love - true love. It
was all behind her now. Everything she’d wanted in life had
evaporated into thin air.
    She pulled her gaze from
the landscape. Not caring to notice it had begun to change as the
elevation of the high plain increased the closer they came to the
outskirts of Flagstaff.
    She blinked away tears,
forcing herself not to give into her emotions and breakdown. No! She wasn’t supposed
to be this sad. She wasn’t going to cry!
    The thought had just
crossed her mind when her eyes caught a hold of the huge geological
formation of San Francisco Peaks, the dead volcanoes of a bygone
age. She watched as the clouds played about their slopes,
stretching well over twelve thousand feet into the
atmosphere.
    Ahead, the sun was setting
behind the mountains, their cumuli-nimbus playmates moving about
them. The glare of the sun