Three weeks later

It was just two weeks after Starr Nelson’s twelfth birthday and she felt as if she was turning into a fried mushroom.

After five hours in an old Ford Escort Wagon with faded red paint, hard seats and no air-conditioning, all she really wanted was to get where they were going.  The lack of air-conditioning might not have been so bad had it not been 96 degrees with 90 percent humidity most of the way.  Not only were her legs stuck to the seat, but her mother snapped at her every time she tried to get unstuck.

“Can’t you sit still for a few hours, for god’s sake?” she’d demanded, her face tight.

The first time she said it, Starr had foolishly replied.  “I was just trying to get comfortable.”

“Then figure it out and stop squirming,” her mother said.  “I agreed you could come if you behaved yourself.  Don’t make me regret it.”

Starr made a face, but not before she had turned towards the window and the miles and miles of pine trees that lined I-35.  The next few times her mother snapped at her, Starr didn’t say anything.

She wasn’t trying to be a pain.  It was just that she would start thinking about the way she would photograph a stand of trees they were passing or what exposure she would use to shoot the river they had just crossed.  And then, despite all her intentions to not move a muscle, her body would try to unstick itself and she’d be in trouble again.

Another part of the problem was that her mother hated it if Starr talked when she was driving.  If that hadn’t been the case, Starr would’ve asked her all kinds of questions about where they were going, but so far that was one mistake she hadn’t made.  Of course, her mother hated it when Starr said anything, but Starr decided not to dwell on that.  She knew how her mother felt about a lot of things and knew the advantages of not getting into it.  Not to mention the disadvantages of bringing any of them up.

When she first found out where they were going, Starr figured out how far it was and how long it would take and then devised things to do.  She thought she had come up with a pretty good plan.  However, not only was it nearly too hot to breathe, the trip felt as if it was taking what seemed like forever.  Starr had long since finished counting license plates and checking off all the places they passed on the map.  Once they left Duluth behind, pretty much the only thing left to do was look at the scenery.  She didn’t mind the pine trees and glimpses of Lake Superior flashing past.  But she was hot and sticky and ready to get on solid ground again.

Before they left Minneapolis she had read about the North Shore and figured it would be a lot better than where they’d been living, but she hadn’t expected what greeted her when they finally arrived at Storm Point.

It wasn’t so much the cool fresh air, or the smell of real pine trees, or the damp smell of the earth as if it had just rained.  It wasn’t even completely the fir trees towering overhead like silent feathery giants or the silence punctuated by occasional chirps and scuttlings in the brush.  It was all those things, but what put it over the top was the glimpse through the trees of the glittering expanse of Lake Superior.

She kicked the car door open as they pulled up.  It had a tendency to stick and needed an encouraging boost.  “Can I go look?”

When her mother hesitated, Starr added quickly, “Just a quick look.  I’ll be right back.”

Her mother sighed.  Starr figured the only reason her mother agreed at that point was because she was still too hot and sticky to refuse.  “No more than five minutes,” she said.  “We have a lot to do.”

With that, Starr was gone.  Finding the way through the woods to the lake was easy.  Paths were everywhere and she charged down the first one that went in the right direction and soon was standing on the edge of what felt like forever.

The land ended abruptly in a cliff high above the surface of the water.  Starr ignored the signs warning her to stay back and got as close as she could.  Peering down, she saw columns of jagged rock with jumbled piles of huge boulders at the bottom, as if giants had been playing with blocks and had tossed them casually aside when they were done.  Waves pounded over the boulders, sending up huge plumes that fell with a splat to be obliterated seconds later by the next incoming wave.  Cliffs stretched along the lake on both sides of her and the roaring waves sounded like thousands of caged lions.  Beyond, Lake Superior glistened in the afternoon sun all the way to the horizon and beyond.  From here, Starr couldn’t see the other side and it looked as if it went on forever.

The wind whipped her long red hair every which way and she kept pushing it back from her face so she could see.  In all her imaginings, she had never guessed it would be like this.  She had never conceived of anything so wild or vast.  It made her feel as if anything was possible in this place.

Starr’s grin nearly split her face as she took it all in.  And then she was laughing and dancing in circles.  She would have continued for hours except the glorious moment was quickly shattered.

“Starr!”

Her mother’s voice carried over the sound of the waves, bringing Starr to a standstill.  She wasn’t ready to go back.  Not yet.  “Just a minute,” she yelled back and closed her eyes, trying to memorize the sound and the feel of the wind.  Just a little longer.  A few more minutes so she could take it all in.

“Starr!”

She sighed.  It was too soon.  She never wanted this moment to end.  It was more than perfect and she knew she would never forget this moment as long as she lived.

“Right now, Stella!”

Her mother’s voice was stronger now and Starr looked back over her shoulder.  Her mother was standing halfway between the woods and the lake, her hands on her hips with that you’re-in-big-trouble look that Starr was much too familiar with.  Starr groaned, gave the lake one last look and then headed back.  We’re here to stay, she reminded herself as she trudged reluctantly through the trees.  There will be time to look later.  There will be days and days and days.  With that thought, she hugged herself and danced in a quick little circle one more time before emerging from the trees and returning to the car.

© 2010

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