Starr couldn’t believe how quickly they got everything out of their car and into the cabin.  When they were packing it back in Minneapolis, it had felt like she had made at least a million trips to the car with boxes and shopping bags full of what her mother considered the essentials until their old station wagon had been crammed to the breaking point.  Yet once they started taking things out, it had emptied quickly and, as Starr carried the last suitcase in, the cabin still seemed nearly empty, as if they hadn’t brought anything at all.

She dragged the suitcase into her room and put it down on her bed, only then allowing herself to look around, still unable to believe this was all hers.  She’d had to sleep on the living room couch at their last two places because a two bedroom apartment was way out of their budget, so having her own room, let alone something like this, felt as if she had just won first prize at the State Fair for her photography.

Starr looked over her shoulder at the doorway just to make sure her mom wasn’t there, then walked over to the window to see what was out there.  She knew she was supposed to be unpacking, but reasoned that she was just going to take a minute to look first.  Just one minute.  What could that hurt?  But as she peered out the window, she heard her mother calling her.

“Oh pooh,” she muttered as she turned away from the window.

“Stella!”

Starr rolled her eyes and went into the living room.  It was dim in here because the trees around the cabin blocked out most of the sun.  She stopped briefly while her eyes adjusted and it was a minute before she saw her mother standing on the little porch out front.

“My name is Starr,” she reminded her mother as she came out onto the porch.

“Stella is a perfectly good name,” her mother said.  “It was my aunt’s name and her aunt’s name.”

“Yeah, but I’ll bet they didn’t have all the kids at school bellowing it like they’re all Brando wannabees, either.”

“Then maybe you should come when I call you the first time,” her mother spat.  “You’re just like your father.  God knows you’re just as stubborn and contrary.”  She stepped off the porch.  “I have to go up to the Lodge for a bit.  Finish unpacking while I’m gone.  I’ll come get you for dinner.  If you’re done before I get back you can explore, but stay away from the guests.  I don’t want to hear you’ve been bothering them.”  She glared at Starr, eyes narrowing.  “Probably better if you don’t go far.  If you go anywhere, be back before five.”

“OK.”

“And another thing.”  She paused, massaging her forehead as if she had a headache.  “Make sure you lock the door.  I don’t want to come back and find out any yahoo off the street can just step on in.  I don’t care if we’re not in the Cities any more.  You never can tell who will pull in off the highway and just decide to come on in.  You got that?”

Starr nodded.  “I will.”

“Be sure you do,” her mother added.  “I don’t want any problems here.  Especially for the next few months.”  She glared at Starr just long enough to make her uncomfortable, then strode up the path towards Storm Point Lodge.

Starr watched her mother walk away, waiting until she was sure she was gone before looking around.  It was the first chance she’d had to see her new neighborhood.  In the past, it hadn’t mattered a whole lot because each new place was pretty much like the last.  All of them ugly and not very interesting.

This place, though, was so different from anything she had ever experienced that Starr couldn’t figure out where to start.  The first thing she noticed was how quiet it was.  She could sort of hear cars driving past on the highway.  But it was a far away sound from the other side of the trees and a big hill and was more like a quiet swoosh, swoosh, brrrr.  Most of what she could hear were things that didn’t even exist in Minneapolis.  Scratching sounds in the trees and the rolling sound of the lake were just some of the new noises.  Plus there were other sounds she couldn’t even begin to identify yet.

Then there were the different smells.  What she noticed most was the scent of wood burning from someone’s fireplace or campfire.  Under that, and much fainter, was something moist and earthy.  And mixed in to all that was a faint smell of pine like it was Christmas.

This place didn’t even remotely look like anywhere she had ever been.  Instead of cheek by jowl apartment buildings and convenience stores, Starr saw hints of other cabins nearby, but they were each surrounded by trees so they were barely visible.  It felt weird not to see another house right next to hers, but in a nice way.  It was almost as if no one else lived here.  Starr knew getting to live in the cabin was one of the reasons her mother had accepted the job here.  It had been hard to find a job and place to live after Starr’s father had taken off three years earlier.  Most of the apartments had been in neighborhoods where walking to the corner, let alone all the way to school, was a major challenge.  Even taking the bus was fraught with danger and she always breathed a sigh of relief when she made it to her destination without being accosted.

On the other hand, she had discovered that she could run really fast.  No matter how big the kid was who wanted to snatch her backpack, take her lunch or beat her up, she was able to outrun them.  There might be things here she wasn’t wild about, but she sure as heck wasn’t going to miss running the gauntlet several times a day.

She looked at the other cabins and wondered about the other people who were going to be their neighbors.  Wouldn’t it be great if another girl her age lived here and they could be friends?

Even though it wasn’t dark yet and the stars hadn’t come out, Starr took a deep breath, closed her eyes and wished.  Please let this work out.  Please let us stay here.

She stood as still as she could for a long time, eyes closed and fingers crossed as she waited for her wish to take hold, hoping that if she concentrated extra hard for a really long time, maybe it would work even without a star.  Finally, afraid her mother might come back while she was still standing there, Starr opened her eyes.  The stars still weren’t out and it wasn’t dark yet, so she didn’t know if it had worked.  She gave a last look around and then went back inside.  She’d get holy hell if the unpacking wasn’t done by the time her mother came back, so she’d better take care of that.  She could always try her wish again later.

It didn’t take long to put everything in the kitchen away, so Starr tackled the suitcases in her room next.  She loved her new bedroom.  It was the nicest one she had ever had.  Instead of carpeting, the floor was wide planks of dark wood that gleamed in the late afternoon light.  It was large and had room for a real bed, a desk and – thrill of all thrills – a big bookcase.  The closet was kind of small, but considering she didn’t have a lot to put in there, it was more than enough.  As she put away her t-shirts, Starr realized she wouldn’t have to run any more unless she wanted to.  The reality of leaving her old way of living behind was finally beginning to sink in and she pushed the dresser drawer closed slowly.  She went back to the window.  Her smile was sudden and wide and nearly lit up the room with joy.

She put the suitcase in the far corner of the closet and checked her watch.  There might be time to explore, but she decided to wait until later.  There wasn’t that much time and it would be really easy to lose track of time, especially when there was so much to see.  Then she’d be late and Starr knew that wouldn’t be a good idea on her first day here.

Instead, she went through the cabin to make sure she hadn’t missed anything and saw her duffel bag still sitting on the living room couch.  She kicked around the idea of letting it wait until later, then thought about what her mother would say if she came back and saw it wasn’t done.  Starr sighed and decided to empty it now.  No point giving her mother something else to get upset about.

She hadn’t really packed the duffel bag carefully.  It had simply been a handy place to toss all the small stuff and last minute things.  So now she simply tipped the bag out onto the bed so she could sort through everything.  Only then did she remember she had tossed her jar of coins in there.  She dropped the bag immediately, but it was too late.  The jar hit the bed and money scattered everywhere – under the bed, the desk and into the closet.

“Rats!”

She checked the time.  Maybe if she worked really fast, she could have it all picked up before her mother returned.  Hoping she wouldn’t come back early, Starr began by dragging the desk away from the wall and scooped up several quarters and dimes.  Then she pulled the bookcase away from the wall and picked up the coins that had hidden there.  However, when she tried to move the bed, it was too heavy.  Getting down on her hands and knees, she peered underneath and saw glints of silver just out of reach.  She flattened herself onto her tummy and wriggled under the bed.  It was a bit of a stretch, but she finally managed to snag everything.  As she started wriggling back out, she heard her mother’s voice screeching at her.

“What in the hell have you been doing!”

Startled, Starr bumped her head.  She hadn’t had time to put everything back yet and as she emerged from under the bed, she realized it looked as if a mini tornado had ripped through her room.

“I dropped my coin jar,” she said as she sat up and pushed her hair out of her face.  “I’ll put everything back.”

“Jesus Christ.”  Her mother put one hand up, covering her eyes.  She sighed and then looked at Starr.  “Honestly, Stella.  I can’t even leave you alone for an hour.  You’re a disaster waiting to happen.  God!”  She looked at her watch and sighed again.  “Jesus!  Get washed up.  You’ll have to take care of all this after dinner.”

Chastened, Starr washed her hands and followed her mother up to the Lodge.  Now that it was getting dark, little solar powered lights were coming on to mark the way.  As they came around a bend, Starr saw that the Lodge was outlined with strands of fairy lights that made it look like it was floating on a dark sea like a castle out of a story.

The entry door was carved and heavy and she half expected it to creak madly when her mother pulled it open, but it swung open quietly, exposing dark wooden beams and thick oriental rugs that made it feel even more like a castle.  Overwhelmed, Starr tried to look everywhere at the same time, but there was too much to see and all she really got was an impression of elegance and size.

She could see the dining room straight ahead, but her mother led her down a hallway next to the front desk.  Starr could hear the rattle of pans as they passed a set of double doors and several waiters came bursting out carrying huge platters, crossed the hall and then went into what she figured out was probably the main dining room.  At the end of the hallway, Starr saw a small room with a buffet.

“This is where you’ll pick up your meals,” her mother told her.  “You need to pay attention because you’ll be on your own for breakfast and lunch.”

She opened a door across from the end of the buffet line and Starr saw a small area with tables.  Beyond it she could see the main dining room.  “This is the only place you’re allowed to sit,” her mother said.  “I don’t ever want to catch you in the big dining room.  That’s only for guests.”

There weren’t very many tables and Starr looked at them doubtfully.  “What if all the tables are full?” she asked.

“Then take your tray back to the cabin and eat there.  We’ll eat here tonight, but most of the time we’ll bring dinner back to the cabin.”

“Why don’t we eat dinner here, too?”  Starr asked.  She liked the cozy tables and homey atmosphere.  Plus, eating dinner with her mother was like trying to walk through her old neighborhood without getting beaten up.  It would be a lot nicer to eat all their meals here.

“Because I need to get away sometimes,” her mother snapped.  “I won’t get a lot of time off.  Especially at the beginning.  So I expect you to meet me here on time.”

Starr hid her feelings behind the blank expression she had gotten very good at putting on.  “I was just asking.”

“Well now you know.  Don’t make me sorry I brought you with me.”

Starr didn’t respond.  She knew her mother hadn’t had a choice, but wasn’t going to mention that at this point.  She just followed her mother’s example and took a plate, carefully selecting items from the buffet and then carried her tray over to the table her mother selected.  Although she was glad she’d be on her own during the day, she wished she could do the same for dinner.  Back in Minneapolis, she’d managed to see very little of her mother and knew that was the way her mother wanted it, as well.  She didn’t understand why they had to eat dinner together now.  But Starr knew better than to ask.  Fortunately, dinner was over quickly and Starr was released to return to the cabin.

“Make sure you clean up your mess before you go to bed,” her mother reminded her as she showed Starr where to put the dishes when they were done.  “I’ll be here until late and I don’t want to have to deal with that when I get back.”

“I’ll do it right away,” Starr promised.

While her mother didn’t say anything, her face spoke volumes and Starr hurried back to the cabin.  She’d been trying so hard to do everything right, but had already managed to mess up.  For a moment she wanted to cry.  She just wished it wasn’t so hard to get everything right.

Then she perked up.  Maybe when she got her room put back together she’d have time to check things out.  And it was always possible her mother would relax the dinner idea after they had been here for awhile.  The thought made Starr feel better.

Normally she would have done a little exploring on her way back, but figured that since she didn’t actually know when her mother would return, it might be safer to get back right away and finish up.  There would be plenty of time to look around later.

She followed the path back to the cabin.  All the fairy lights were on now and the woods had taken on an enchanted glow.  As she came around a bend in the trees, she saw the cabin with the blue dreamcatcher hanging on the porch.  She stopped and put a hand to her mouth in surprise and recognition.

That’s where I live now, she thought with delight.  I have a porch and a dreamcatcher and live in a cabin in the woods.

She hugged herself happily and then skipped the rest of the way, feeling as if she was going to burst with joy.

(c) 2010
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