Home sweet Home

"Home sweet Home" our mother said as she put the car in park.

"It's about time." Laurits complained as he unbuckled. "I was afraid I might actually start getting cramps."

Pushing open the car door, I stretched my back as I stood then got a good look at our new home.

"What a dump." Laurits said, as he came to stand next to me.

"It could be worse, and for the love of all things, would you stop complaining. We're here, there is no need to keep up with the charade." I said, looking down at him as he scowled back.

It wasn't hard to tell when Laurits was complaining just to complain, instead of actually having an issue.

Stepping past him, I opened the trunk of the car which held some of our belongings.

Leaning down, I grabbed a box that had my name written on it with a marker.

Once we all had our boxes in hand, we made our way to the front door, being careful not to slip on the wet steps.

Unlocking the door, our mother stepped in.

"Oh this…it truly brings back memories." she said, taking in a lung full of air.

"Just the smell brings back memories." she said.

Stepping past her to set down the box I had been carrying, I saw for the first time in a long time, a genuine smile on her face.

Setting my box down, I also looked around.

The house had been left practically abandoned for the past few years when our grandmother died.

Leaving the house to her only living family, our mother.

The house was full of dust and old and cracked paint.

But with a little TLC it could be a very comfortable place to live.

Turning, I grabbed the box from my mother.

"Here, let me get that." I said, grabbing the box from her, as Magne and Laurits passed by us, to also look at our new home.

For the rest of the day, we got ourselves sorted out, by claiming our own rooms, and unboxing our belongings.

Me, Magne, and Laurits, all got our own rooms on the second floor, while our mother took the ground floor room.

My room was small, and could only fit a bed, a small desk, and a dresser for clothes that had a mirror on top.

The walls were plain wood with no accessories, as well as the floor.

Which is something I would try to rectify as soon as possible.

Taking out the few days worth of clothes from my box, I set them in the dresser, then put my toothbrush in our shared bathroom.

Once done with all of that, I made my way back down the narrow stairs to the common area, where I ran into my mother, who was carrying another smaller box inside.

"Oh, sorry mom." I said, as I bent town to grab the box that had fallen.

"Dont worry dear. It's just a box full of old documents. Nothing fragile." she said as I handed the box back.

"Like our school transfer papers?" I asked as she set the box down.

"Yes, as well as birth certificates and other such things." She said with a sigh, as she looked around the place again, clearly reminiscing.

Looking at one of the other boxes on the dinner table, I smiled as I saw what was written on the side.

Stepping forward, I undid the top and pulled out the first photo I saw.

The photo wasn't in a case, and was instead one of the photos we used to hang on our old refrigerator.

Turning it, I showed mom the picture.

"This is the only picture with all four of us." I said with a sad smile.

"Yes it is." Mom said softly, while taking the picture from my hand to look over.

The picture was of Me, Mom, Magna, Laurits, and our father.

In the photo, our father stood next to our mother, holding Magne up with one of his arms, while holding out mother 's hand with the other.

Our mother was holding onto Laurits hand, who was standing next to her.

While I was standing in front and in between my parents.

Me and Magne were maybe four, while Laurits was three years old when the photo was taken.

"STOMP STOMP STOMP!" The heavy foot falls of Magne coming down the stairs, broke both me and mom from our thoughts, as we looked up as Magne stepped off the stairs.

"Geez!" I said with a laugh.

"I hope you don't get up in the middle of the night for a glass of water often, or you might wake the whole house up with that racket." I said, continuing to laugh as Magne looked at me confused.

"It's just another thing to add to the list of things to fix." Mom said, as she turned to the kitchen, still holding the picture.

Walking up to me, Magne asked.

"How's your room?"

I shrugged.

"Same as yours." I smiled. "As small as a prison cell, except with a window and a good view." I joked.

He smiled

"Yeah, it's a bit cramped, but at least we don't have to share this time." Magne said with a smile.

"True, I can actually have some privacy for the first time in my life."

The rest of the night was pretty laid back, where we just relaxed for the rest of the night.

But eventually we ended up going out to eat at a local burger shop that seemed to be the only place in town that was open past 9 o'clock.

The burger shop was small, but had some pretty good burgers and fries.

Nothing like those fast food chain restaurants back in Oslo.

Once home, I showered then hit the sack.

Tomorrow was a big day after all.

First days of school in a new town were never easy after all.

So after only a few minutes, my eyes closed, and I entered the world of dreams.

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This chapter was written at work, so I don't have the time to check for any spelling errors.

So please let me know if you find anything wrong.

-BEAN-