Departure from the life once known

Posted on Sat Apr 30th, 2022 @ 2:38am by Jaclyn Morrison

Mission: Tales of the Unawakened
Location: Just outside Chicago
Timeline: Timeline: about 3 weeks after Jaclyn left home.

Weeks sleeping in your car and at shelters made one think. Jaclyn spent hours one night researching and hunting online until she found something perfect. A small motorhome. She had cash in her bank account, an account her father did not have access to, thanks to her mother’s will. Plus, her car, a Toyota Camry would cover the majority.

And because of this she found herself standing in a large lot with a salesman who wanted to direct her to a bigger, better model.

“No.” she said firmly. “I am happy with the 'Wattle'.”

“But its small and…”

“And its just me. I have the money and the car to trade in. Are you going to keep at me or do I go to the other dealership?” Jaclyn channeled her mother’s attitude when dealing with the salesman.

He sighed. “This way Ms. Morrison.”

60 minutes later she was transferring boxes and suitcases to the small motorhome. She placed her bedroll on one of the beds at the back and then finished emptying the car. It took several trips, and she was glad there was lots of room for storage. Once she was done, she gave her soon to be old car a once over, very carefully making sure she had removed every bit of her personal belongings and handed the keys to the dealer.

She drove her Wattle Motorhome out of the lot and didn’t look back. Soon she pulled into a small empty parking lot off the highway, near Aurora Illinois. Turning the front driver’s seat around she stared at the now packed van. And smiled. She would spend the night sorting things out, get a few hours sleep and keep driving before dawn. She was still deciding where she wanted to go, but to the West Coast sounded like a plan.

She also knew that it would take around 30 hours to drive there straight through, but she figured she could stop at places on the way. Her mother had always wanted to go to Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon. So, she could stop at them, see them then go onto Los Angeles. And taking time to do her schoolwork every day, she could make it work.

Locking the external doors, she began to unpack and store things. She would need to stop for food as well, stock the fridge with food and drink, buy plates and cutlery. She sorted her clothes by season, hung her clothes up in the wardrobe and stored her belongings in boxes above and below the two beds She was glad the gas and the water supplies were all full. And the fuel tank was full as well so she could drive for a while.

Hours later, she finished unpacking, setting the last family photo of her mother, herself and siblings, taken the week before she died, on the wall. Then she smiled. “Perfect” she whispered. She checked the clock. 9:30pm. A quick check of the Google map and she climbed into the driver seat. She could hit up the 7-eleven nearby and head for the highway. She might get a few hours in before stopping to sleep. Jaclyn checked her mirrors and pulled out of the parking lot and started away from Chicago, and the family she once knew.

TBC