I jolt up in bed, a cold sweat running down my body as my breaths come fast and heavy. Looking around, I realize it's still quite early in the morning. I can see the faintest light shining through the window suggesting that the sun is just starting to rise. I now know that I can't go back to sleep as dad and I are getting ready to leave for the move in less than a couple hours.

I laid back down so it would be easier to calm down. It only took a few moments for my breath to steady and my body to relax. But my mind still seemed to race, images of the dream too much of a blur to concentrate on anything. With no signs of any more improvement after another minute or so I forced myself up and headed to the bathroom. Grabbing clean clothes out of a nearby duffel bag, I entered and was about to hop in the shower when my reflection caught me off guard.

Faint blue-grey shadows haunt the underneath of my icey blue eyes which stands out against my naturally light tan skin. My nearly black hair went from slightly wavy and past my chin to something almost resembling a tumbleweed all around my head.

That must have been one hell of a dream for me to have tossed and turned that much. Hopping into the shower the cool water instantly shocks my body and wakes me up. One thing I will be happy to ditch on this move is the odd showers. Though the overall size is fine the showerheads are weirdly low. Standing at just under six feet tall the shower head is set into the wall at face level.

It didn't take me long to get done and when I did it took me no time to throw on my clothes. Walking out there was an orange light shining through my room. Stuffing my clothing into the bag and gathering whatever remaining belongings I had I left the room and made my way down the stairs.

The living room at the bottom of the steps, alongside the dining room connected to it, got brighter as the sun continued to rise. The living room itself had a wall of windows facing the backyard which we tend to leave uncovered by blinds and curtains. Next the end of the stairs was a small foyer that connected to the kitchen and the front door at the end.

The house was devoid of everything but the furniture, which is being sold with the house. Last night we finished packing the last of our stuff into boxes and loaded some up into our truck. What remains lines the foyer and a little bit into the living room.

I skinnied through the narrow passageway that remained in the foyer and grabbed the first thing i could carry out. The bed of the pickup is already getting pretty filled so I'll leave the remaining spaces for some of the bigger stuff. Being that what I was carrying were all smaller stuff i'll put those in the back seat. Before going back in I headed over to the utility trailer we usually use for our kayaks and unhook the back frame to load easier.

Almost as soon as I walked into the door I nearly collided with dad, who had a load of boxes with him. I quickly backed up and stepped to the side. "Morning!" I said, hoping I would sound awake enough.

"Good morning, Sebby!" Dad huffed as he carried the heavy weight in his arms. When he had the chance to set the stuff down he continued, "Up long?"

"Not long at all. Are we leaving once we're done here?"

"Yes we are. I've left some snacks and things on the console of the truck whenever you're ready for food." There was a hint of tiredness in his deep voice laced with a slight hint of a southern accent.

It took us about a half hour to finish loading up our things and do one last look to make sure everything was in order and we didn't forget anything. Climbing into the passenger side of the truck, I took one last look at the scenery before we left. By now there was no longer the colors of the sunrise washing over everything, shadows from the houses dimming the streets a bit. The occasional wispy cloud floated by with a gentle breeze rustling the trees.

I reached for one of my bags in the back seat and pulled out a piece of clothing and bundled it up like a pillow. Not thinking I would fall back asleep I still wanted to at least prop my head against the window. I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds as we drove away.

It didn't take long until we made it to the main part of town, although it hardly makes a dent in our 10 or so hour drive. Despite the early hour on a Saturday there seemed to be a fair bit of traffic going to and from, but nothing too serious as we haven't stopped for more than a few moments at a time.

Sun shining bright, I flipped the visor to block the sun and dug through one of my bags in the back seat until I came across one of my books. This one in particular is the third in the six-book series Vampire Babylon. This being the second time reading through the series it has become a favorite of mine. Flipping through to where my bookmark was, I instantly got absorbed into it.

Having just read the last page I closed the book and set it back into the bag. Looking up and becoming aware of my surroundings, we were parked at a gas pump. Checking my phone it was just a little before three. A few moments later dad reappeared next to the truck and started inserting the pump.

When he was finished and hopped back in, I threw him a questioning look, which he understood with hardly a glance in my direction. But it wasn't until after we started pulling away did he finally answer.

"We're in a town called Painter. Should be arriving at our new home in about an hour and a half." Passing along a bag he continued, "Did grab us a cold drink and a couple munchies for the rest of the way but I figured maybe we can look up somewhere to get some take out for dinner once we're almost there."

"Sure. When would you like me to look that up? Like a half hour away?" At the mention of food I realized just how hungry I was as I hadn't had hardly anything since the first thing this morning. As soon as I took a bite out of the pretzel dad got, my stomach growled loudly.

"Geez, you need to stop zoning in on things so much," he said, half jokingly. "Now that you're back in the real world, what do you want to listen to?"

After pondering for a moment, I quickly made a little playlist of a few songs and connected my phone to the bluetooth radio. The first one that popped up was 'Ride Like the Wind.' Most of the music I had was from around the '60s and '70s. And the majority of the music I had was rock with maybe a few older metal ones thrown in, however there was the odd pop song from say the '70s in there too.

Once all of that was set, I scrolled through some more music to add into the playlist. Before I got too carried away adding songs I asked, "Any songs in particular you'd want to listen to?"

"What do ya got? Any Lynyrd Skynyrd by chance?" After a brief pause he tacked on, "Actually just surprise me."

By the time i was done there were probably thirty or so songs added to the playlist, all of which would hopefully make time feel like it's flying. And time had flown indeed. After a couple songs we started talking about various things, music being the main thing, and before we knew it an hour had passed.

According to the GPS we were in Chesapeake, leaving about a half hour left in our travels. Looking up places to eat, I found a couple restaurants, plus a couple fast food joints, that are only ten or so minutes from our new home.

"What are you in the mood for? There is fast food, Chinese, Mexican, there's a couple sub shops..."

"What about Mexican? Go ahead and pull up their menu and start taking a look."

Pulling up their menu I did a quick run through of all the sections and would occasionally relay a particular dish to dad in case there would be anything he'd be interested in. He chose a steak fajita dish that has sauteed steak and veggies with a side of fried rice and refried beans and there were a couple toppings to put on the fajitas too. And it will come with a couple of tortillas on the side.

Not as sure what i'd want, I flipped back to the section for chicken dishes and started looking through again. I eventually decided on a dish that had an anaheim pepper and cheese stuffed chicken breast over a bed of rice with shrimp and veggies.

"The restaurant should be in the same building as some of the other restaurants which is next to the grocery store," I said as I looked up. At that point there were trees and fields that took over much of the surroundings.

Dad started typing in something into the GPS. "Looks like we will be there in a few minutes. Since the two are right next to each other, why don't you go ahead and call in when we pull up to the store, then we can pick it up after we grab a few things?"