Official chapter title: I Am a Fully Functioning Human Being (I Think There's Something Wrong With Me)

Should "with" even be capitalized in the title? I have no idea. Thank you for all of your continued support and I encourage and appreciate reviews.

I know that it should have been obvious. Vermont is at a higher altitude than New York but I guess I never put two and two together.

Let's just say that the little podunk town of Marlboro, VT was colder than Boston. The trip up here was long and expensive, seeing as how-surprise, surprise- no buses came through here so I had to hail a cab before getting into Vermont.

Isaac's instructions were very specific, yet very misleading all at once. I figured that he had some odd tastes in vacation spots but I thought the point of me traveling was to see the country. The problem with Marlboro was that there was nothing for me to see.

The cab driver dropped me off in front of a rickety old inn. It wasn'tterriblelooking, but it certainly wasn't a place I would think has good, quality service. It was only around eight at night so I was hoping that they would still allow me a room, not that they looked like they got much business. All the more reason to worry.

I stood outside debating on whether I should just walk right in or if I should knock. The inn didn't really look like an inn at all; it looked more like a house. I just decided to walk right through the door, slightly irked at myself that I had been so diligently mulling over something so simple.

When I did open the door I was kind of surprised. The foyer was well furnished and well painted; a little dusty but it wasn't like it was peek bed and breakfast season, seeing as how Easter passed¬ four weeks ago and it wasn't warm enough for normal tourists. The only problem was that there was no one around. I peered around the corner and tried to spot someone who could help me.

"…Um, hello? Anyone home?"

I heard muted thump and than a soft "oof" and then a high pitched, "Grandma! Someone's at the dooooooooor!" and then a little girl came running to see me. Okay, so maybe she wasn't little like a five year old. She was probably elevenor something. She was standing there with this big smile on her face with wet hair and looking like she was already dressed for bed.

"Hi! Did you want a room?" she asked while motioning me through a hallway towards the check-in desk. "Just wait here please," she said and ran off as quickly as she came.

What the fuck?

Soon a woman with gray hair came out with the little girl trailing behind her. "Hello there, I assume you want a room."

"Um- yeah. Yes please."

"We weren't expecting anybody this late, I was just getting Sarah ready for bed."

"I didn't mean to interrupt or anything."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. It's fine; I'm Nell and welcome to the Farmhouse," she said with a wrinkly grin. "How many nights are you planning on staying?"

"Two…? I think, I'm not really sure yet," I said as I handed her my debit card.

"Well that's just fine, I'll rent you a room for two nights and if you need to stay longer we'll just charger your card," Nell informed me with a wink.

"Thanks. I'm Wes, by the way," I said, extending my hand.

She took and said, "Sarah, why don't you show Wes his room," she said as she handed me back my card. As Nell handed her the key, Sarah beckoned me after her as she headed back the way we came from and up two flights of stairs before stopping at room 24.

Sarah handed me my key, and with a soft "goodnight" left me on my own.

The inside of the room matched the décor, if you will, of the rest of the inn. Everything was white or brown and kind of rustic. I dropped my backpack on the bed and just sort of stared at the room. It was easy to say that it was a lot nicer than any of the motels I had stayed in, in the past week.

Has it really only been a week? Really? It feels like forever and a day since I left. Tomorrow Isaac's instructions told me to go down to this pond or something. I'm not really sure why or where it is exactly, but I guess I'll go.

When I'm lying in bed I think of how I kind of miss everything. Mostly stability, but there are also little pangs in me that mean I also miss Mark. Those are easily dealt with. Kind of. I just keep telling myself that it was time to move on, because it was. The only problem is that I don't know what I'm moving on to.

Another empty apartment? The same job? Even less friends?

Awesome, can't wait. Everything will be the same, except Mark won't be there and the commute's a little longer. So I've changed virtually everything around me, but everything is still the same. Maybe that's the point.

I've changed everything but myself.

I'm still a recluse, I still have the same personality, and I'm still me. The same me that's always been too boring , and stiff, and just self sustaining enough to just get by. I don't need anybody.

I think that's a problem.