The Sweetness of Home

The smell of sweet grass and the brightness from the sun awoke Luce from her pleasant slumber. And as she struggles to sit up, she looks around and finds herself in the middle of her horse’s pasture, where she must have fallen asleep while gazing at the stars the night before. “Persephone…” Luce slurs lazily, and as if she screamed it, her loyal horse perked its ears and trotted over to her sleepy owner. With a sigh, Luce heaved herself off of the ground and stroked Persephone’s mane, and when a thought finally come to her mind, she jumped back in realization. “I totally forgot its coming today!” And with that, Luce took off in a sprint, only stopping to jump over the pasture fence, and continue down the long dirt driveway.
Breathing hard as she came to a stop at her mailbox, Luce closed her eyes and whispered to herself over and over again. “Please please please please…” the silent chant continued as she slowly dug out her mail and flipped through it, not bothering with all of the advertisements and bills. She finally found what she was looking for, and the world just froze while she tore open the big packet. Luce read the fist line, and a scream caught in her throat.
“Dear Lucy King,
Congratulations! New York Film Academy is delighted to have you participating as part of our class of 2019!”
This is when Luce went wild with excitement, and couldn’t stand still. Full of adrenalin, Luce ran down the street coming to the corner, she cut through a yard to get to her best friend, Danny’s house. And too impatient to wait at the front door, Luce went straight to the window and pounded on it, screaming in a hushed tone, “Danny open up!” And her exaggerated grin did not fade when the annoyed Danny stumbled to his window, clearly he had just woken up, due to the fact his facial expression screamed ‘LET ME SLEEP!’ But Danny slid his window open anyways and Luce climbed inside.
“What is it?” Danny sighed, in his half dream state, running a hand through his hair. And still very excited, Lucy ran her mouth, “I got accepted to NYFA! I actually got accepted!” She squealed but didn’t want to be loud enough to wake his dad. Danny immediately snapped out of his sleepiness, and smiled widely, “That’s amazing!” He said, giving her a bone crushing hug. “I know! And since I was already headed to New York, I can leave next week!” She held her grin, but watched as Danny’s smile dropped. “Next week? Isn’t that a little bit too soon?” He said quietly, but Luce wasn’t listening, she was already half way out of his window. “I got to go tell Ma and Connie! I’ll talk to you later!” She yelled as she began her run back to her house. And with a sigh, Danny watched her leave, a longing in his eyes as she disappeared down the road.
Luce’s older sister Connie was already on the front porch, stroking her cat Artemis and doodling in her sketch book. “Where’s Ma?” Luce breathed as she tried to slow her heart rate. But her sister just glanced up from her work, “I don’t know, probably sleeping...” But before she could finish her sentence, Luce was gone and running through her moms bedroom door. “MOM! I GOT ACCEPTED!!!!” She squealed, jumping up and down as her mom rolled herself out of bed to hug her daughter. “That’s great honey-bunny!” She said a small smile on her face. Connie coughed from the doorway and smiled, “Hey congrats lil sis.” She laughed lightly before turning back to the porch. Luce nodded and skipped off to her room, dazed and totally in bliss.
A few days pass by and Luce dances around her room, packing and throwing things out, while Danny just sits on her bed and messes with the tiny lion he had won for her at the fair. “Hey Luce, maybe it’s not such a great idea to go so far away from home. What if something happens and you can’t get back. What if-“He was cut off by Luce throwing a pillow at him. “Don’t be such a worry wart! I will be fine and so will everything here.” She sighed and continued to pack; Danny remained silent for the rest of his visit. The next day, Connie sat on the fence as Luce rode Persephone around the pasture and coral, but when Luce came to a stop in front of her sister, Connie had something to say. “You’re gonna make Ma really sad if you go you know. It’s gonna kill her.” But rolling her eyes, Luce shook her head. “She has you, she will be fine. “ And to end the awkward conversation, Luce started a steady trot around the arena. But the one person, who had not talked to her about her moving to New York, was the one person Luce expected to be begging for her not to go. And when Luce confronted her Mother about it, she just brushed a strand of hair from her daughters face. “You have to do what you think is right darling, follow your heart, it’s what I have been telling you girls for years!” That made Luce giggle, and she kissed her moms forehead before heading to bed.
It was Luce’s last day in the small town of Dales, Colorado, and Danny made sure to get her out of the house as much as possible. Taking her to the movies, driving her up to Denver to mess with the animals at the zoo, and taking a trail ride through the old field that outlines the entrance of the town. By the time both of them were riding up her driveway, Luce was worn out, but her tiredness quickly disappeared when she entered the barn and found it entirely transformed into a club. “SURPRISE!” yelled several people from her high school and family. Her mom came up beside her and Danny and pulled Luce in for a hug. “Congrats baby girl. We will all miss you!” And that’s when the party began. Quickly after Luce and Danny both changed into clean, nice cloths, they joined the party once more and danced until the moon was high in the sky and most of the people emptied the barn. Even when Connie and Ma were back at the house, Danny and Luce were still slow dancing to their favorite song, not even noticing the absence of people. When Luce looked up at Danny, she whispered, “Danny….” just before he leaned in a kissed her gently on the lips.
Luce awoke the next morning, her brain very awake and her stomach full of butterflies. Right after her kiss with Danny, he apologized and left, not even giving her the chance to speak. And when Luce went to bed, she had no idea of what to do, and now that she has woken up, she has made a decision. By 12 in the afternoon, she had her car full of boxes and suitcases and she was hugging Connie and Ma goodbye. When her car was pulling out of the driveway, she blew a kiss to Persephone and turned onto the street, sending another wave back towards her childhood home. On her way out of town, Luce stopped in front of Danny’s house and honked the horn, no one came out. Another honk, and Danny’s dad came outside, “Sorry Lucy, Danny left on a camping trip.” This made Luce hold her breath, to keep herself from crying. She squeaked a thank you to Danny’s father and pulled out back onto the road. Just as Luce was passing the old field, she caught a glimpse of Danny, giving her a wave. And that’s when Luce continued on her way towards her new life.
Months later, Luce is surprised to see her apartment door open just as she come back from work. Cautiously, she enters and looks around her small half empty living room, finding it exactly the way she left it, except for a small duffle bag on top of the counter. And as she takes in a shocked breathe, two familiar arms wrap themselves around her waist gently, and the sweet voice of someone from home tickles her ear as he says three simple words, “Please Come home.”