My bedroom was already bathed in sunlight by the time my eyes flitted open. The house was completely silent, almost like I had been abandoned overnight. I couldn't prevent a yawn from rising from my throat as I drowsily raised my head from my pillow, processing what was happening for a moment, and everything tumbled down on me again.

Digby had already left for his first day of work hours ago. I had forced myself to stand outside in the cold just to say goodbye to him and even had the chance to say hello to Lottie. They were both long gone by now, far across the island and hard at work at Happy Home. It seemed to be already midday by the time I had woken up, so I was sure they had been working for hours.

Pushing out a heavy sigh, I dropped my head back down onto my pillow. Even now, I couldn't help but wonder what Digby was doing right at this moment, so far away from home. He could have been eating lunch, depending on how late in the day it really was. The HHDA had its very own cafeteria to serve high-quality meals during a set lunch hour every day, so I'd heard from Lottie. It must have been nice.

I let myself sulk about my solitude for a few more minutes before I eventually dragged myself out of bed, dressed myself in an emerald green sweater-dress, and brought myself to the dining room for brunch. Emerging into the room, the room had been isolated of animals, yet there were a few objects that remained on the table for me. The familiar basket of fruit still sat in the center from earlier this morning along with a new pitcher of iced tea, an empty glass, and a sheet of paper taped to the table. 

I wandered closer to examine the sheet of paper left on the table, noticing at first glance that it must have been a brief note written for me by Mom and Dad. I stepped up to the table to read it, peeling it from the wood and holding it still with my paw.

Isabelle - Went to run errands. Be back around one. Love you!

Well, now I was even more alone. I plopped down into a chair at the table, preparing to begin my meal, before my gaze flicked over to the clock hung up on the wall over the door. It was a hint after eleven. I slept in today.

I lifted the pitcher of iced tea from the table and carefully poured myself a glass, watching the ice cubes plop into the liquid and the colors dissolve into one like a little sunset in my glass. The house was already so quiet and heavy with loneliness without someone to keep me company, even though it was going to last at least another two hours or so. It was something unfamiliar and I wasn't sure that I enjoyed it very much. I needed to find something to entertain myself.

As the seconds silently ticked by, I sat sipping at my tea, pondering the situation. I had never been on my own for so long before, so stumbling into that position hurled me into a tingling sense of uncertainty. I wouldn't be allowed to leave the house when there was no one around, that much I knew for sure, which meant that I was going to be kept in here for the next few hours by myself.

At first, my thoughts still strayed as I struggled to come up with something to keep myself busy before a reminder resurfaced in my head. A few days earlier, Digby had given me his work phone number in case I felt the need to call him, inviting me to use it at any time with the knowledge that he would not be nearby to answer the entire time. At this moment, the slip of paper he had given me still sat on a table in the corner of the living room where the phone was set up. If I went ahead and called him now, I would at least feel less lonely and regain a sense of security knowing if he was well.

I pushed myself up from the table, picking up my glass of iced tea to carry with me as I stood. Listening to the ice cubes slosh with every step, I brought myself out through the doorway of the dining room to make a turn into the empty living room. As I had anticipated, the small slip of paper that held the phone number was resting on the end table beside the couch in the back of the room, almost like it was just waiting for my use.

I set down my glass beside the phone on the table, using my free paw to reach out and pluck the strip of paper from the surface. For a beat, I stared down at the presented writing as an eleven digit number underneath my brother's name, before I plucked the phone from the receiver and extended my other paw to dial the number.

I proceeded to punch in the numbers that would send out the call, putting the phone to my ear once I had reached the end. As the phone began to ring for the other line, I dropped down into a seat on the couch, waiting to be greeted by a voice. The ring went on for another few seconds with no response, but after the third ring had passed by, the phone was finally picked up.

"Happy Home Designer, this is Lottie," answered an easily identified cheerful voice. "How can I help you today?"

"Hey, Lottie," I replied. "It's me, Isabelle."

"Oh, hello, Isabelle!" Lottie greeted me. "I trust that you got a bit more rest after I saw you earlier this morning."

"I did. I actually just got up a little while ago," I told her.

"Good, good. I'm glad to hear that you were able to get some sleep," Lottie replied. "There aren't any problems, are there?"

"Problems?" I repeated blankly.

"I was afraid that something went wrong over there and you decided to call us for help," Lottie explained.

"Oh, no, it's nothing like that," I rushed to assure her. "I just wanted to speak to Digby for a minute."

"Of course, that's not a problem at all. I'll bring him to the phone, okay?" Lottie offered.

"Okay," I agreed. "Thank you, Lottie."

"Absolutely. I'm happy to help," Lottie replied kindly.

A muffled sound snuck through the line as the phone was set down and I heard footsteps receding to imply that Lottie had left to find Digby. I hardly had to wait an entire minute before the footsteps began to approach the phone again. After a moment, the phone was picked up again with another muffled sound. 

"Isabelle?" Digby prompted.

"Hey, Digby," I said. "How are you doing? I just wanted to check up on you."

"Well, thank you. I appreciate that," Digby replied. "I'm doing fine. There hasn't actually been that much work yet. Today, I'm mostly just going to be receiving instructions for the general overview of work I'll be starting in the future."

"What kind of work will you be doing?" I inquired curiously.

"Actually, there's going to be two main factors that I'll be focusing on," Digby explained. "Lottie has assigned me to the working positions of both an instructor and a judge for the home design. That means I'll need to complete work from both areas of focus."

"Doesn't that seem like a lot of work?" I asked.

"It could be," Digby replied indifferently, brushing off the question. "But don't worry. I'm sure I'll be able to handle it."

"Good," I said. "What will the work look like? What does Lottie have you do?"

"Since I haven't officially started, it's a bit difficult to predict exactly what I'll be doing," Digby admitted. "I was told about some of the basic assignments I'll be working on, though. As an instructor, I'll be working with animals outside of Happy Home in the process of designing and preparing homes for residents nearby. As a judge, I'll be helping to determine the pros and cons of previous designs to improve them to the best of my ability."

Hearing all of the important, consequential tasks that Digby was dedicating himself to silenced me with a sudden jab of perspective. He had barely even started the job and was already making plans to set out to complete big things in brisk strides. Not only that, but the determined tone that he spoke with could only prove how prepared he was to begin this future. Compared to him, what was I?

"That's great, Digby," I told him, the enthusiasm dropping from my voice the moment that this realization had struck me. "I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you," Digby replied cheerfully, seeming to stray from the observation of my sudden change in tone. "I think it's great. I'm finally getting a chance to move forward in pursuing a career. This is how I'm going to make a difference in this world and strive for a better future for myself and those around me."

I couldn't find the words to respond to this, but fortunately, I didn't need to speak since Digby's next words were not directed at me.

"Oh, it is? Right now?" Digby asked someone nearby who had evidently told him something that I did not pick up on. There was another stretch of silence on the other line as the other animal evidently replied with a statement inaudible to my own ears, then Digby was speaking to me again. "I'm sorry, Isabelle. I've got to go now. My lunch break just started and we're all about to head over to the cafeteria to eat."

"Oh, that's okay," I told him. "Have a good lunch."

"Thank you. I'll see you at about six thirty tonight, okay?" Digby said. "I'll talk to you later."

A click sounded from the other line after these words of goodbye. Digby had just hung up the phone, but I didn't pull the phone away from my ear. A soft numbness seemed to conquer my entire body, settling over me like a dark storm cloud from the thoughts still spinning through my mind.

Digby was already advancing into the future without me while I was the one to fall behind.

As promised, Mom and Dad returned to the house from running errands not much longer after one o'clock had come and gone. They knew nothing about the conversation that I had with Digby hours before, but because of the intense wave of emotion that had swept over me from the call alone, I planned to keep it that way. They arrived with a sweep of cheerful optimism as usual, lifting my spirits ever so slightly, but the heavy thoughts that had occurred continued to haunt the back of my mind.

At the very least, not being alone anymore relieved the tension in my stomach a decent amount, so I was finally able to comfortably shut myself away in my bedroom for the next few hours with a good book. While this did help in knocking out a few hours in waiting for Digby to return, my eyes repeatedly drifted to my alarm clock to keep a careful watch on the time that I was using up.

A few minutes after six, Mom had stopped by my bedroom to let me know that she and Dad were going to be in the kitchen working on dinner for the next half hour. The exchange of words had pulled me out of my deep imagination brought about from the book I had been working through enough to fully process what was happening, so it hardly took a thought for me to realize the situation. Digby was already on his way home. So I set my book aside, slipped on my pink sweater, and stepped outside to wait for him.

I quickly lost track of the minutes going by as I stood in front of the door, searching the horizon of untouched snow caking the sidewalks for any sign of Digby. The weather had warmed up enough to reduce any shivering, leaving the air at a tolerable and almost comfortable temperature, yet an occasional stinging breeze rushing past me came here and there.

I had been standing outside for what felt like an hour before Digby finally came into sight. He was wearing the same dark gray coat that when he had left, but his paws were empty this time. When he noticed me standing to wait for him as he approached over the snow, a bright smile quickly rose to his face, but something about it didn't seem natural, almost like he had forced it to be there.

"Are you waiting for me?" Digby called out to me, shuffling over the fresh layer of snow to reach me.

"Yep," I replied. "I wanted to see how the rest of your day went."

"Let's get inside the house first," Digby suggested. "I think I need to sit down for a while. Plus, walking through the snow for over half an hour is making me feel pretty chilly."

"Sure, that's okay," I said as he stepped past me to tug the door open. "Let's sit on the couch."

Digby and I emerged into the house again one by one, letting the warmth of the space flow around us and block out the chill of being outside for so long. Mom and Dad were still busy at work on dinner in the kitchen, so we both made our way to the living room first to have a seat and catch our breath.

As I flopped down into a casual seat on the couch, Digby stood nearby to unzip his coat and shrug it from his shoulders.

"Wow, it got cold," he murmured distractedly, folding the coat over his arm and lowering himself into a seat on the couch beside me. "It was a lot warmer earlier in the day. If that keeps up, all the snow will be melted in a few days at most."

"You got the chance to go outside?" I asked.

"For a while, yes," Digby replied. "I wanted to get some fresh air while I ate lunch. Lottie offered to stay with me."

"Well, that was nice of her," I said.

Digby nodded. He was still struggling to catch his breath, breathing heavier than usual. The walk home had really worn him out.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"Yes, I'm fine. I am a bit tired, though," Digby admitted. "But I think that's both from the walk home and the day I've had."

"I hope it wasn't a bad day," I replied.

"No, just long," Digby replied. "There was a lot to figure out. There had to be a lot of preparation to put me on the right track, like showing me what the different rooms are and what my schedule will look like."

"That does sound like a lot," I agreed.

"It is, but it's important," Digby reminded me. "Without that preparation, I would have no idea where to start. Speaking of which, I'm going to be put to the task of completing official assignments by the end of the week, but they're going to have me start slow so that I can learn what I need to do."

"How do you feel about that?" I inquired.

"I have no complaints," Digby replied. "Just as long as I can really get something done."

The sentences exchanged in our previous conversation were gradually flooding my memory again, swallowing back my words as I remembered their weight. Before I even had the chance to try and speak, the sound of approaching footsteps snatched our attention and we glanced in the direction of the sound in time to see our mother emerge into the room.

A beaming smile instantly lit up Mom's face when she laid eyes on my now-present brother. 

"Digby, I didn't know that you were back already," she said happily. "How was your first day at work?"

"It was fine," Digby told her. "A bit tiring, but I can manage it."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that you had a good day. I just came in to let you both know that dinner's ready," Mom announced. "It's already being brought to the table."

"You didn't have to wait this long to eat just for me. I could have found my own dinner," Digby insisted.

"No, no, we couldn't let you do that," Mom said gently. "Today is a day of celebration."

At first, I thought that everything might really end out fine, considering the mostly positive start to the entire situation. And for a while, it did seem fine. Every day, Digby was already up and out of the house by the time I was out of bed, leaving a space of several hours that we were apart that I gradually lost the habit of counting before he returned home in the evening. With every passing day, we fell more and more into a steady routine. I learned how to adapt to the new changes and moved on. It startled and frightened me to see how soon everything went wrong.

The end of February had come and gone. We were inching into March by the time I started noticing changes. While Digby's departure and return was consistently on time, the aura that he carried with him very slowly fell away from the cheerful mindset he had at the very beginning, so slowly that I hardly even noticed at first. His enthusiasm about his job seemed to be fading for reasons he didn't bring attention to, but he always insisted that he was doing well and that it was the best opportunity he'd ever earned.

He must have thought that I didn't notice this change, but I did. Worries spun through my head on sleepless nights, wondering what could have happened to be enough to bring something like this. I was sure that working so young must have held a substantial weight on him, considering he was only seventeen trying to support his first full-time job. Maybe the work was simply too much for him and he took on more than he can handle while thinking that he was ready. These thoughts cut through my sleep a number of nights through the start of March as I lay awake in the darkness with a stomach tightening into knots, desperately asking myself what was left for me to do to help him. But I just couldn't find an answer.

Without an answer, the problem dragged on as late as the middle of March. Digby was coming home in the evenings clearly exhausted from the day at work he had just been through, sometimes excusing himself to head to bed early before dinner because he had no more energy left to pursue the rest of the day. I had begun to consider myself lucky on the days that I saw him much at all. He needed help, that much was clear, even if he didn't ask for it. I knew this for sure when it occurred to me that this was becoming evident even through his skill in concealing his emotions.

If there was a time to start doing something about it, the time was now.

The solution tumbled down on me in a state of a restless, wakeful sleep in the night between the fifteenth and the sixteenth. I had been tossing and turning for hours straining to get a wink of sleep, feeling my chest tighten with worry at every rolling hour. Thoughts of Digby's sudden gloominess overshadowed my spiraling mind, but it wasn't the only worry that plagued me.

I had managed to push aside the idea of becoming unable to move forward into my future to give way to the concern of Digby's emotional health but deep into the fragile hours of the night, it had begun to creep into sight again. What if Lottie's job offer was the closest thing I could get to really finding my path and I had dismissed it without a second thought? What was I thinking? And what was I supposed to do now? My mind was overrun to the brim with different aspects of my life to be worried about, strangling me into the depths of anxiety I had never reached before. And I was afraid.

No. I was terrified.

I didn't know what to do, I really didn't. I wished I could control everything that was wrong in my life and received the answers that I ached to have. I wished there could have been a way that I could support Digby in being the only one of us working as well as finding a way to move forward with my own life as well.

That was when the answer hit me. The signs had never been clearer. It was a mystery that I hadn't seen it before. Maybe it was time that I set off to find work for myself for the very first time. While it would benefit Digby to no longer be the only one of us managing a full-time job after my parents' retirement, I could finally achieve the chance to move forward. Although it was far too easy to put it off and wait for the right opportunity to take the first step, progress could only be made with taking the initiative to move forward on one's own, no matter what must be done. I was aware of what needed to be done.

Moving without giving myself time for reconsideration, I rushed to untangle myself from the blankets and climbed out of bed into the heavy shadows of my bedroom with a decided mind and a firm objective. I didn't even have the time to process the weight of such an abrupt and last-minute decision as I eased myself forward, blindly searching for my closet doors across the room. It would have been much easier to find it in the light, but turning on my lights would only alert Digby and my parents that I was awake at this hour in the night. That was something I needed to avoid.

As soon as I grasped hold of the knobs on the closet doors, I yanked them open as silently as I could to try and find a jacket. I hastily pawed through the dresses and sweaters in front of me, blindly searching for my warmest option before I grabbed hold of the fabric of something I could feel out as a thick black hoodie. I tugged the hoodie off of the hanger, slipped it on, and abandoned my bedroom without a sound.

When I stepped through the doorway out of my bedroom, moving unnoticeably with the shadows closed in on every corner of my vision, the hallway was desolate and nearly pitch dark. At this delicate hour of the night, no one was awake to make it any different. I shut my door behind me with the faintest sound that I could manage, inching down the hall in the direction of Digby's door left ajar to check that he was sleeping. The darkness seemed to dance around me in its eerie play, warning me that I was somewhere that I wasn't supposed to be, but I felt more awake and alert than ever before.

As I crept closer to Digby's open door, I began to hear the faint sound of his soft snoring from inside. He had already fallen asleep. I peered through the doorway to see him curled up in bed facing the door, tightly clutching the red blankets close to his face in his deep sleep. If I would be able to keep quiet, he wouldn't be waking up any time soon.

Since my parents' bedroom was back down the hallway where I had first come from, I figured that it would only waste more time to check on them as well. I stepped away from Digby's door to sneak across the remainder of the hall to duck silently through the opening into the dining room. There was one last stop that I needed to make before I could leave the house.

My eyes were slowly adjusting to the heavy darkness hanging in the air as I emerged cautiously into the storage room on the other end of the dining room. Shelves were bolted against every wall around me in the cramped space, holding up boxes of different sizes at every wall. After spending my entire life calling this house a home, I had become familiar with the organized pattern of storage that my parents had created.

Instantly, my paw shot into the first box on the right at eye level, quickly finding it filled about halfway with cloth bags. The bags were only about six inches long at most, but just one would be enough for what I needed. After retrieving a single bag from the box at my right, I spun around to face the left wall where the tall boxes seemed to tower over me. This was where my family contained our collection of Bells.

I hardly stopped to think about what I was doing. With no time for hesitation, I inserted my paw into the closest box of Bells and grabbed as many as I could hold at once before piling them into the bag I had retrieved. One, two, three more scoops of Bells were dropped into the bag before it was finally full to the brim. Sneaking a glance behind me at the door to make sure I hadn't been followed, I hastily yanked the laces on the bag to tie it up and tucked it away into my pocket. I would be using it again soon.

Having everything that I needed, it was time to get out of the house without being noticed. I held my paw firmly against the bag in my pocket to keep the Bells from rattling together and cleared out of the storage room, finding myself in the dining room again like I had never left at all. I went off across the room to the front door, prepared to leave that very moment, but just as my paw landed on the doorknob, I forced myself a few seconds' pause.

I could never be too careful. My entire body went completely still in a matter of seconds, my paw perched upon the doorknob and my ears on sensitive alert for any sounds that would hit them. After a few seconds of silence, leaving me to assume that I remained the only animal awake, I was sure that I was good to go. The time had come.

I yanked the door open and stepped out into the chill of the dead of night, evading as much noise as I possibly could, and let the door fall shut in my departure as I started off along the sidewalk leading out from the house. The snow had already begun to melt by now, leaving patches of frozen grass for me to shuffle over. There were no stars visible tonight as dark gray wisps of clouds stretched across the sky like smoke and I wasn't surprised to feel a subtle breeze of lukewarm air push past me as I continued to trod along the path. Like many other aspects of my life right now, the weather was changing noticeably and swiftly.

I didn't bother sending a glance back over my shoulder as I tugged my hood up over my head and kept moving, trying to hide my face as efficiently as I could. The last thing I needed was for someone to recognize me and sell me out to my parents that I had snuck out of the house in the middle of the night. I was already this deep in the situation and had to dedicate every ounce of myself into this plan to keep anything from disrupting it in the slightest. After all, the best way to get away with something was to not let anyone know you'd done it until it was too late to take it back.

Everything around me was disturbingly quiet as I pushed on to my destination, but I chose not to acknowledge it. I could sense each step I put forth bringing me closer and closer to where I had hoped to go and yet, each and every step meant so much more to me. It was a rebellion against every minute of the life I had always known. It was justice for my brother whom I had sworn to always take care of before myself since I could first form the sentence. It was the first steps towards the freedom I didn't know I longed for until now. I was on a mission and nothing was going to stop me.

I knew exactly what I wanted. Now, I understood just how to get it.

The earliest boat leaving from the island tomorrow morning was set for nine o'clock on the dot. It was scheduled to make a few stops delivering cargo to a number of neighboring islands, leaving me a wide variety of destinations to choose from. When I first arrived to purchase a ticket, I had no preference which island I would be taken to as long as I could find work there, but I soon realized that one of the islands my family had visited a fair number of times already. It was Lottie's home island. Lottie was no longer staying there, of course, but I nevertheless easily took this as my choice. If I was going to start somewhere, my best bet of being successful was starting somewhere familiar.

The entire trip just felt like an emotional blur of adrenaline and energy, but somehow, I remembered every detail vividly. The lights cast down on the room were simply a warm glow, perhaps dimmed for the late hour though still making my eyes sore, as I completed the transaction of Bells without my parents' knowledge. By the time it was over, I was left with a few Bells in my bag, my ticket out of the island, and eyes open to the future I had just created for myself. There was no turning back now.

By no later than one in the morning, I was already on my way back home, stuffing my ticket deep into my pocket with the nearly empty bag of Bells and letting my mind roam around the situation I had forced myself into. I wouldn't need any help packing for my trip, as I was aware of all of the essentials I would need. The only problem was that I had no clue how to reach the location where the boat would take me away. With that, I made a mental note for myself to tell my parents as soon as I got home of what I had done.

When I stepped soundlessly through the doorway into my house again, it was still shadowed and empty like I had left it. I returned the bag and the Bells back to their places in the storage room like I hadn't taken them at all before carelessly tossing the black hoodie back into my bedroom. The least I could do was erase the evidence of my deception before I confessed to my actions.

Both my parents were still sleeping quietly as I eased their bedroom door open. I drew in a deep breath, already dreading the drop of the startling news, and gave the open door a soft rap to wake them. For a moment, they had no verbal reaction as they shifted slightly in the bed in response to this, and so I knocked again.

"Yes?" Dad mumbled after my second knock and I saw him raise his head sleepily from the pillow, nothing more than a silhouette in the darkness. "Who's that?"

"It's Isabelle," I said softly. Mom had woken up as well, slowly easing herself up to a seated position in the bed.

"What's wrong, Isabelle?" It was Mom to answer this time. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"No," I replied, then forced out my next words without a second thought. "I just bought a ticket to leave this island by boat first thing tomorrow morning."

Silence fell over the bedroom. When a voice cut through the darkness after an extensive pause, it was Mom's again and it shook ever so slightly.

"You did what?" Mom asked.

"I bought a ticket to leave here tomorrow morning by boat," I told her.

Another pause slipped through before another rustle of blankets showed Mom's silhouette turn to glance down at Dad's.

"Honey, can you turn on the lights, please?" Mom whispered shakily to Dad.

"Sure," Dad mumbled, reaching over and switching on the lamp beside the bed. Lights flooded the room at once, allowing me to see the scene in its entirety. Mom was sitting up in bed with an anxious expression locked over her face and Dad was propped up on his elbows, seeming more puzzled than concerned. After the lights had been turned on, Mom shifted her focus back to me.

"And... This is a dream you had, right?" she said. "You're telling me about a dream you just had."

"No," I said again. "I left earlier tonight and bought a real ticket with our Bells."

"Why would you do that, Isabelle?" Mom asked me. Her voice sounded so fragile and soft in this question that it seemed it would break.

"Because I think it's fair for me to get the chance to go out and find work for myself by now," I insisted. "Digby's already been working for weeks. I think I should get that chance as well."

Mom glanced worriedly at Dad again, who still seemed too confused to process what was happening and like he just wanted to go back to sleep. Dad sent Mom a brief glance in return before forcing out a heavy sigh.

"We'll talk about this more in the morning," Dad mumbled, reaching for the lamp again. "But please, Isabelle, just get some sleep."

And then the room sank into darkness. 

.   .   .

For the first time in as long as I could remember, the entire family was out of bed and sitting around the table for breakfast as early as seven in the morning. Digby had been excused from work for the day to say goodbye to me, so he was able to join the rest of the family for the meal when the time came. Despite the fact that we were finally eating as a family, no one looked very happy about it and I understood why. My parents were working through their breakfast with a shared expression of subtle anxiety and Digby, more than usual, appeared to be struggling to smile as well.

After breakfast, Mom and Dad went to help me get packed for my trip while Digby shut himself in his room to get ready to leave the house. It was easy to predict that there wouldn't be much room on the boat for tons of belongings, so I was advised to bring a generously sized black backpack to carry everything I needed as a substitute for multiple small bags. Inside the backpack went a tightly rolled emerald-green sleeping bag, a modest pillow, a notepad with writing utensils, and some books to read so that I wouldn't feel as homesick, among other less memorable belongings I would need for the journey ahead of me. By the time everything was packed up and ready to go, my backpack was completely stuffed to its limit and could hardly even zip properly.

All of us were out of the house to leave by eight thirty, half an hour before the boat was scheduled to leave. As the time inched closer to my departure, I could feel a tingly wave of butterflies rising in my stomach at the thought of leaving home so abruptly and so mentally unprepared, yet it all felt so surreal at the same time. Every step I took closer to the dock where I would say goodbye to my family felt like I was wandering through a dream and I was simply waiting patiently for when I would wake up again.

We arrived at the dock no later than eight forty-five, leaving fifteen minutes before I would be forced to board. The sun had already begun to creep farther up from the horizon, causing a burst of bright colors of orange and pink across the sky like a soft stroke of paint. A group of twenty to thirty animals were already gathered on the grassy-snowy area beside the water to wait for boarding by the time my family had arrived. Workers were already delivering boxes from the grass to the lowest level of the boat to be brought off as cargo, which meant as soon as that was done, it was likely that boarding would be next.

My heart was already starting to give a dance of nervousness in my chest as I scanned the scene, still struggling to process the entire morning to be real. I was no less convinced that this was the best option to take than last night when I had first bought the ticket, but doubts were slinking into my mind that I would be able to go through with it. It was a big world outside of my tiny little island and I was throwing myself out there without a second thought. How was I even meant to take care of myself all alone?

"Just remember, everything you'll need for your trip is in your backpack right now. If you think of anything else you want while you're away, please don't hesitate to contact one of us and we'll have it sent to you as quickly as we can," Mom was explaining as a soft, chilled breeze swept over us. She, Dad, Digby, and I were all standing in a cluster near the larger group of animals waiting to get on the boat. "You're going to be boarding soon, so get yourself ready as much as you can."

I wanted to point out that there really wasn't much I could do but wait, but my anxiety held a heavy weight over my words as it was.

"I know," I said instead with an abrupt nod.

Mom gave me a sad smile, reaching out to gently brush my hair back from my face.

"Or, you can just contact us whenever," she pointed out.

"I will," I promised, managing to bring a smile to my face in return.

"You don't have to leave, you know. You can always stay here and find a job at Happy Home with your brother," Mom told me as she drew me closer in a hug, holding me gently against her.

"I have to do this," I insisted, sinking into her arms.

"Well, just know that we're all going to miss you terribly and that you can come home whenever you want, okay?" Mom replied. She held me close for another few seconds before she pulled back again, stepping away to allow space for Dad to hug me next, and he did so tightly.

"Good luck, Isabelle," Dad told me. "Have a good trip."

"Thank you," I mumbled in response, though I wasn't quite sure if he could hear me because as soon as I started to reply, a voice called out into the crowd of animals waiting on the grass to board.

"Two minutes until boarding time," a voice called out as Dad withdrew from his hug again. "Two minutes until boarding."

Both Mom and Dad gave me beaming smiles at this announcement, but I could see a faint glimmer of pain in each of their eyes and knew that their composure was wavering in our final minutes together.

"Make us proud, sweetheart," Dad said to me.

I forced another nod but found that in the lack of time I was losing my focus, eyes darting across the area once again. All of the boxes had already been cleared away and the workers were standing at the edge of the platform stretched out from the boat to the edge of the land in preparation to begin the boarding process in the next few minutes. The waiting animals had begun to gradually drift closer to the entrance of the boat, ready to enter when it was time. My heart fluttered faintly at the sight of this.

"You look nervous." The sound of Digby's voice brought my focus away from the cluster of animals standing near the boat, and I turned back to see him watching me. Unlike my parents, he was not smiling, but wore a rather blank expression on his face. "Do you feel okay?"

"Mostly. I just don't know if I'm ready for this," I confessed.

"Do you want to wait a while and catch a different boat?" Digby asked gently.

"No," I said. "I have to take this one. If I don't go now, I'll never go again."

I had expected another gently pressing response of urging me in reason, but it didn't arrive. Instead, a soft smile took its place. 

"I'm proud of you, you know," Digby told me. "I wish you didn't have to go, but I'm proud of you for having found the confidence to take the first steps forward in your life, even if it means doing so in this way. I'm not sure if it makes you feel any better or not, but it's true. You're strong and I want you to remember that."

My heart softened with gratitude at Digby's kind words. At least now, I had something to keep me strong.

"Thank you," I said.

"Mm-hmm," Digby replied with a slight nod. "I love you."

"I love you too," I said to him, but this statement was closely followed by another shout ringing out across the space from one of the workers.

"One minute until boarding time," a worker yelled out. "One minute. Please begin to make your way over to the entrance in an orderly fashion to get ready for boarding."

Here we go. I faced away again to follow the larger crowd of animals and start off towards the boat, but Digby took hold of my arm again to stop me.

"Isabelle," he said to regain my attention.

"Yes?" I replied, turning back to him, but nearly reeled to find that he had already lost his smile again so quickly.

"I want you to be careful," Digby told me, still with a gentle grip on my arm. "Things aren't always going to be as they seem. Always be cautious with everything you do and please make sure you don't get yourself hurt."

This was not the warning I had anticipated. For a moment, my words faltered as I struggled to find a response to this, but I quickly discovered that I didn't have to.

"Please begin to make your way over to the entrance," one of the workers called out again to the crowd in my silence. "The boarding process will begin momentarily."

Digby gave me another slight nod, finally releasing my arm to allow me to start moving again. It was time to go.

My focus lingered on Digby for another moment as I struggled to wrap my head around his final words to me before I forced myself around again, ready to follow the group of animals already forming a neat line at the start of the platform to enter the boat. I adjusted the straps of my backpack pressing down onto my shoulders as I began to stride forward to join the crowd, finding my place at the end of the line just as the animals in the front began to cross the platform one by one after presenting their tickets. Did I really want to do this?

Yes. Yes, I did want to do this. I had to do this. Not just for Digby, but for myself.

I knew that glancing back would only intensify my longing to stay, so I ducked my head instead, thrusting my paw into the pocket of my pale pink jacket to search for my ticket. I found it slightly crumpled in the bottom of my pocket and took it out, smoothing it out between my paws as I prepared to present it to one of the workers. Step by step, the line inched forward, and I followed with a skipping heart and a fluttery stomach.

By the time I had reached the edge of the platform, I could feel my paws surrender to a faint tremble as I held my ticket out for the worker to inspect. The worker glanced down at the ticket in my paw, observing it for a few seconds to make sure that it was valid, then gave me a nod and waved me forward to enter the boat.

And that was it. When I walked forward onto the platform, it was not just the boat I would be emerging into, but a brand new future. Every step closer brought me further and further from the life I had always known, yet I still did not look back. It was now or never and I wasn't going to let myself be stopped this time.

It was time to begin the next phase of my life.