Sarah Lynn

Period 5 AP English

September 28th, 2007

There it was, the brick house in all its archaic glory. It stood on the corner of 15th and Madison in the downtown district and Shay Chandler wasn’t at all delighted that she had come home early from school. Inside that house was her family; her dysfunctional, misunderstanding, and somewhat dim family. She’d had all the intentions in the world to go inside and begin her homework as was her usual routine, but today was different. Shay simply didn’t want to go in, and so she flounced down the few steps leading to the house and went across the street.

Today she decided she was going to find a new family. A family that she thought was the one she deserved, one that she would fit in perfectly with. A family that understood her.

Shay traveled uptown until she found herself in an affluent neighborhood. The backyard of one the homes was visible to Shay so she helped herself to a cement garden bench and peered through lilies and cypress bushes to see what this family was like.

This family consisted of eight people, two parents and six children. An elderly woman was serving them drinks on the side of a pool, who Shay assumed was a maid. She loved the idea of this family; they seemed so happy being together outside on such a nice day. They seemed completely different and new from her own family.

“You wouldn’t want to join them,” came a voice from behind Shay. She whipped around to see an older looking woman who was busy tending to a rose bush. “Just because they look happy now doesn’t mean that you would be happy spending your time with them for the rest of your life. What about your own family? Wouldn’t they miss you?”

Shay bolted out of that neighborhood before the old woman could say another word; for she was afraid she’d been caught. Surely that family would hear about her and want to call the police soon. She left that part of town and ended up in another neighborhood. It was similar to the last one, only it didn’t seem as extravagant. It seemed plainer in Shay’s opinion.

On one particular street she spied two families out on their front lawns, both looking as if they were enjoying the good weather as well. One family had more people than Shay could count on her hands, and the other family had a countable number of members. The first family had at least three different generations of family members, while the other only seemed to have one-Shay assumed they were only a couple dating. Suddenly a dog from the coupled family and a small child from the large family came up to her. The dog wagged its tail at her while the child licked an ice cream cone.

“Buddy here says you wouldn’t fit in well with his family because they’ve already got enough people.” the child told her bluntly, pointing at the dog. “You would fit into my family well though. We’ve got plenty of room for more kids.”

As much as she appreciated the offer, Shay shook her head politely and turned away, sprinting down the street in the other direction. She did not like the idea of being in such a small family or getting lost in such a large family.

In another neighborhood Shay was almost run over by a car as it backed out from a one-story house. The driver didn’t even try to apologize as he revved his engine on the street and popped the top of a beer. Shay watched him leave, mortified that someone would have the audacity to do such a thing, especially when a baby was in the passenger’s seat.

The garage door was still open at the house and Shay casually wandered closer to it, discovering two older children and a mother giving a small black dog a bath inside a giant tub. The poor dog looked like he was going to drown but the family was chuckling at how desperate the dog seemed.

“You don’t look like the type of girl who would want to be in this type of family. They don’t apply to what you might call ‘normal’.” Shay jumped, startled, and turned around to see a neighbor pointing to the family. Finding this a little too creepy for her to handle, Shay disregarded the neighbor and slipped away, hoping she would be able to find a better family somewhere.

She found her way into another neighborhood and found herself in an average suburb. A reasonably priced car had just parked in a driveway leading to a modest home, and a man and a woman got out of the car. Both looked as if they’d had a long day at work, working hard until it was time to go home.

Two children came out of the front door, both with schoolbooks in their hands and clamoring for their parent’s attention in hopes of getting help with their homework. Shay could tell the parents didn’t really want to do anything but rest and relax but they relented and told their children that yes, they would help as soon as they changed from their work clothes. Shay decided this would be a nice family to live with but an old man with missing teeth stopped her from going to them. He looked as if he was traveling through the neighborhood.

“You wouldn’t want to spend the rest of your life with them.” he told her, giving her doubts about the family. “They’re workaholics. Now I love my working family, and you just don’t seem like you would fit in with them.” Insulted, Shay turned from him and stomped off, still hoping she’d be able to find her ideal family somewhere in this city.

Unfortunately, where she ended up next didn’t seem to fit her description either. She’d entered an old neighborhood where the houses were old and rickety, some taken care of and some looking just plain sad. Shay peered inside a particular house’s front window and found herself staring at a family with two parents and three children. The parents were watching television in a cluttered living room while the children were busying themselves by beating each other up in common sibling rivalry. She turned away as the youngest tossed a full bottle of milk on the floor and no one even noticed. “They’re a lazy family,” a cat on the porch told her, scaring her for a moment. “Don’t you love them? I do. I just love how I can come here and laze about all the time.” Shay abandoned that house and completely ignored another house where the windows were broken and reckless screaming could be heard from inside. She didn’t even want to know anything about such a crazy family. Why was it so hard for her to find the perfect family here?

As if her prayers had been answered, Shay stumbled upon another neighborhood. This time two rather large families were standing outside, mingling with each other. She assumed it was a block party so Shay joined in, blending into the families like she was practically meant for them. They both seemed like they had morals and were down-to-earth. Two teenagers, one from each family, took her aside though for a second, as if they knew she didn’t belong.

“These families would love to have you,” said one, “but what about your own family? Why aren’t they your ideal family?”

“They would be heartbroken to know you’d left them.” Said the other. “Besides; you don’t really dislike them that much, do you?”

“Go back to them.” The old woman who Shay had met at the first house said suddenly, startling her. “You’ll see that they are the ideal family you’ve been picturing. Sure they may have flaws, but every family has those.”

It took her a moment to think it over, but Shay got up from those two wonderful families and started for her old brick house, knowing that it was exactly where she’d be able to find her ideal family.

She raced towards the corner of 15th and Madison, hoping maybe she hadn’t done anything to hurt her own family. Relief washed over her when she opened the front door and looked inside the kitchen to see her father making dinner and her mother helping by setting the table.

“There you are Shay.” her mother told her kindly. “What took you so long?” She considered telling them for a brief second about her search for a new family but decided against it, just happy to be home with them again.

“Oh, nothing.” Shay replied. “I was just doing a little research around town.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?” her dad asked, genuinely interested. Shay grinned, feeling like she fit in perfectly with them.

“It took a while, but yeah,” she told them, “I found exactly what I was looking for.”