She stood at a cross roads, one road lead to the life she once had and the other lead to a life she didn't want. A white and orange striped roadblock kept Cameron from the life she wanted, the life she was forced to leave behind. The road was sunlit and was bordered by sweet-smelling flowers. You could hear laughter in the distance and the soft chirping of birds. Hopscotch paths and calk designs tattooed the road. The other road was dark and ominous, bordered with packed up boxes. The path was misty with foreboding clouds of dread. Sharp thorns invaded the path, hampering any traveler from getting very far without any pain. Smoke hovered above the ground and the lone hooting of an owl echoed through the darkness.
Cameron awoke with a start. Sweat glistened on her skin and her legs were caught up in her white sheets. Cameron's breathing was heavy as she looked around her room, eyes wide with fear. Her room was packed away in boxes that loomed in the darkness. It was as if her happiness was locked away with duct tape and cardboard boxes. Fat raindrops splashed against the window and outside the wind cried like a lost child. Cameron kicked the sheets off and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Her feet rested on the cold hardwood floor. She grabbed her patchwork quilt and wrapped it around herself. Cameron stood up and walked across the floor of her room. The floorboards creaked under her as she went.
A small groan came from the door as Cameron pushed it open. She tiptoed down the hall. Cameron looked into the room on her right. After her eyes adjusted to the light Cameron was met with a broken picture. In her parents' bedroom was the king sized bed that her parents had always shared. A faint smile crossed Cameron's lips as she remembered some of the times when she was younger and spent the night in that bed with her parents. The smile disappeared as Cameron brought herself back to the present. She saw her Mother's sleeping form in the bed. Cameron scowled at the sight of the stranger asleep in her mother's bed. It was because of him her father was gone. His shadowy form brought a sense of loathing to Cameron.
Cameron walked past the master bedroom and continued her trek down the hall. Her bare feet padded softly against the floor. She crept up to a closed door that had a light shining dimly underneath it. Cameron slowly pushed the door open. She saw her brother sitting on his bed with his headphones on. Music blared from them and created a small buzz in the air. Cameron walked over to her brother's bed and sat next to him on the mattress. Carl looked over at his sister and took off his headphones.
"You couldn't sleep either?" He asked as he scooted over to give Cameron more room.
"No, I kept waking up. Carl, are we doing the right thing? Do we really want to move in with Dad?" Cameron asked as she hugged her knees against her chest.
"Well, do we really want to stay here with Mom ?" Carl asked as he pushed the off button on his walkman.
"No, but.I donno. I'm scared. Dad lives so far away from here now. I mean he lives two states away. That's pretty far from here. It's not like we can come back on the weekends to see all our friends." Cameron fingered a loose thread that hung on her quilt. She didn't look up at her brother's face. She knew that the whole divorce had been really hard on him. Even if he was only a year older he remembered when Mom had been around more and what it had been like to be a family.
"You're not going to back out on me now are you?" Carl said as he playfully poked Cameron's side. That was just like Carl, when things got out of hand he'd joke around. He didn't like to show how scared he really was.
"I don't know. I mean, Mom is our Mom.I feel like I'm abandoning her."
"Cameron she's the one who abandoned us. After she got that job a few years ago she wasn't ever around. You know that's when she met Stan," Carl spat the name of their stepfather out like it was some impure dinner concoction their mother was infamous for.
"I know, but still.I've lived in this house my whole life. I'm just scared." Cameron fell back onto her brother's bed. After a minute of silence Cameron said, "You know it's going to be hardest on you. Moving half way through junior year. You won't really know anyone in your graduating class. I still have the rest of tenth grade and then junior and senior year."
Carl didn't say anything for along time. Cameron looked up at her brother. She respected him and admired him. Throughout the entire divorce they stuck together. Throughout the custody battle, the fights caused by the invading stranger and the arguments over bone-china plates were still in their packing, Cameron and Carl had stuck together.
"I can't stand to be here with that stranger." Carl's voice was choked up and Cameron could tell that he was fighting not to cry. Cameron sat up next to her brother and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"I hate Mom for what she did to us," Carl said as hot tears of anger fell down his cheeks. "For what she did to Dad." Carl exploded into body racking sobs. Cameron let her brother cry into her shoulder. His tears soaked through her t-shirt, and his sobs broke her heart. He was thinking all the same things she had been. Carl didn't want to leave his friends or his home. He had been happy here. He was just as terrified to move away from everything they had ever known, but it was something he had to do. Something they had to do. Cameron loved her mom, but she wouldn't ever forgive her for what she had done. Carl was right; they couldn't live what that stranger. Cameron wouldn't be able to stand to see Stan sitting at her father's place at the table, or lounging where her father used to rest on the couch.
As Carl's sobs slowed down Cameron realized that she had been crying as well. Her cheeks were sticky with tear tracks and her nose was stuffy. Carl pulled out of his sister's arms and gave her a small smile.
"You want to sleep in here tonight?" Carl asked. "You know, like we used to when we were kids."
Cameron nodded and wrapped her quilt around herself tighter. "I can't stand to see my room all packed away in boxes. It just doesn't feel right."

"I know what you mean," Carl said as he looked around at his own room that was packed away. Cameron crawled under the covers and spread her blanket over Carl's quilt. Carl soon got under the covers next to his sister. He leaned over and turned out the light that was sitting on his bedside table.
"Night Carl."
"Night Cameron."
Cameron fell asleep to the soft breathing of her brother, and a peaceful smile washed over her face.