Young Southern Student Writer 2012

"Oh... my ... gosh," mom yelled as Courtney and I started to laugh our heads off! Even mom giggled a little too.

After cleaning up and eating what was left of our slushy, I realized that if Courtney and I hadn't found the exploding slushy so funny, mom might not have found it funny at all. We found the happiness and the fun in what could have been a horrible situation, and that was exactly what I wasn't doing with school. I wasn't being optimistic, so I couldn't find the fun. The next day at school was great and while I do still have bad days, I know that they will only get better, and sometimes it only takes one great moment, or something as simple as an exploding slushy, to give you a whole new outlook on things.

Secondly, when 1 was nine years old, 1 moved to Tennessee. I had grown up in the same little town of Clermont Florida, with the same comfortable people, and now I have to pick up everything and move. I can still remember sitting in my bedroom watching TV when my mom called my sister, Courtney, and I into the living room. I emerged from my room feeling the transition from the carpet to tile on my feet. I met Courtney in the middle of the hallway and whispered.

"What's going on?"

"I don’t know," she said with a suspicious look her on face. I felt my stomach twist and turn with anticipation. I just knew something was up. 1 followed her down the hall, and peeked around the comer. Everything looked normal.

Charles, my step dad, was reading the newspaper, and mom was folding the laundry. She continued to fold the spare sheets when she looked up and saw us.

“Look at his,” she said while holding our spare white sheets blue flowers.

“My red socks got stuck in the wash with the sheets,” she finished and then laughed nervously. Now I was sure something was up.

“Was that all you wanted to tell us,” I asked hoping the answer would be yes.

“Um… well no actually. Why don’t you sit down girls,” she said gesturing towards the couch. After those words left her mouth, I lost all feeling of my stomach. Charles set down his newspaper obviously keeping as much distance as possible in the bright red chair across the room. Mom put down the now red sheets, and sat diagonal from me, also keeping as much distance as possible from Courtney and I. there was a long moment of silence as I desperately waited for someone to break it.

“Keep it together,” I screamed in my head. I didn’t even know what she wanted to tell us, and I was already fighting back tears.

“Why are we out here,” Courtney finally asked.

“Well girls,” Mom said in a shaky voice, “we are moving to Tennessee.”

“Yes,” Courtney screamed as she started dancing around the room.

“What,” I yelled now able to hold back my emotions. From that moment forward, no matter what mom and Charles said about how great moving would be, I wouldn’t listen. For months I was angry, upset, and confused. I loved Clermont. It was my home, and Tennessee was eight hours away from Clermont.

One night about three months after getting the news, I was in my room crying after having my nightly talks with my dad on the phone, mom came in. I looked up and saw her looking sympathetic, but upset at how upset I was. She 296