Noelle (Babysitter’s Club 4)

If my ex-boyfriend had been anywhere in sight I’d have ran him over a time or two. It was because of him that I was here. Because he was a lying, conniving, manipulative shit.

My chest grew tight and my heart hurt so bad I thought I would have to pull over. But that stubbornness that I’d inherited from my dad held up and I forged on ahead.

What’s more, I refuse to let him intrude here. I gave myself the little pep talk I’ve been using to keep thoughts of him at bay. It was fast losing its power these days but it was all I had.

I drove down the long dirt track wondering if the thing had an end to it, when suddenly the most overwhelming feeling of melancholy hit me in the chest, only to be replaced almost immediately with euphoria.

It was as if the two fought each other and I wasn’t sure which one was going to win as I felt tears of sadness tease the corners of my eyes. That is, until the house came into the view.

Then my breath caught in my lungs and tears of another kind filled my eyes. “It’s beautiful!” The words were a hushed whisper within the confines of the car.

I can’t name the myriad of emotions that overwhelmed me in the next few seconds. I’d have to be able to speak first, and I seem to have forgotten how.

Noelle

I exited the car almost in a trance. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as beautiful as the sight before me. The house may be old, over two hundred years to be exact.

But it was obvious that it had been kept up very well over time. The many windows, dormers and angles reminded me of something I’d seen in an old black and white film as a child.

White stone, with a wraparound porch above and below. Huge pillars that looked like sentinels standing guard. It was the picture of antebellum grace.

There were windows every few feet it seemed like, and French doors leading from the rooms to the porch and balconies that went all around the house.

I stared up at the magnificent beauty, feeling a sense of familiarity, wracking my brain for where I’d seen it before. It could easily have been in a movie setting, that’s how beautiful it was.

It wasn’t just the house though, that caught and held my imagination, but the beautiful foliage. There was a backdrop of trees that seemed to surround the home in a semicircle.

Flowerbeds led up each side of the walkway that led to the massive front door and even more flowers grew seemingly wild off to the sides and back.

And the house, it seemed to be waiting for something, for me. It was perfectly placed in the middle of nature, as if someone had dropped it there. Like a painting!

Spanish moss hung from the large cypress trees that framed both sides of the driveway, and the sunlight beating off the many windows made the place seem to belong to another time.

I’m not sure what about the place made my city girl heart melt but there was something on the wind that seemed to whisper, ‘home’.

Yes! That felt about right. Later I’ll question. Later I’ll take out these strange new feelings and examine them like I do everything else. But for now I just wanted to enjoy. It was the best feeling I’ve had in forever, whatever this was.

I felt it in my heart and my soul as I looked around. There was a large pond running along the back of the property where I could see ducks and geese off in the distance.

An old boat laid on the grass next to a weathered dock and as I turned in a circle taking it all in, I wondered how anything could be so perfect.

I wondered even more about my feeling of Déjà vu. It felt like I’d been here before, although I know that’s not the case. But the feeling was so strong, almost as if something was begging me to remember.

Something about the serene beauty of the place called to me almost welcomingly. It’s almost like that feeling you get when visiting grandma’s house.

Where you know the hugs and kisses are in abundance and you don’t have a care in the world. Yes! It felt like that and so much more.

I felt the first real smile cross my lips as I took it all in. It was as if the last few weeks just disappeared and the things that had seemed so significant, so monumental even a few short minutes ago, blew away like cotton in the wind.

That feeling of knowing grew stronger the longer I stood there, but I brushed it off as just my pleasure in the place. I won’t mind spending my summer here at all.