Read more about the move that brought Zing and Carly to a new town!
“ALL of our things! What about my bed? What about the kittens on my wall? What about my scooter? My scooter can’t fit in one of these boxes! My bed is too big! How can we fit the fireplace? What about our table? That’s too big for these boxes, too!”
My mother tried to explain, but Carly had fallen apart. Completely. She wept on the kitchen floor with the kind of weeping that breaks my heart. Of course, Grace started crying at the same time. I could see my mom didn’t know who to comfort first.
“I’ve got Carly,” I said.
My mom kissed the top of my head as she headed up to Grace’s room.
I tried telling Carly jokes. I tried rubbing her back. I tried offering her ice cream. Nothing worked. Finally, I pretended Butch was whispering to me. That got her attention.
“What’s he saying?” she sobbed.
“He’s saying he’d like to go up to my room, but he doesn’t want to go without you.”
Carly nodded. “Okay,” she said as she stood up.
We headed upstairs, and I tucked her and Butch into the bottom bunk. Then I sat at the end with my back against the structure and told her stories of fairies and pirates who lived happily in lots of different castles. My mom came in to check on us, and when she saw Carly was asleep, she gave me a hug and whispered that she was sorry. I just nodded. I mean, what was there to say?
The next day, my mom had Carly help her fill a box with things from the dining room. She showed Carly how she made a list so that we’d know where everything was. Carly nodded and put the table cloth we use at Thanksgiving into the box herself. Then, I showed her how I put the things I wouldn’t need because it was summer into the box in my room. I showed her how I put my Legos into special containers first. She helped me with those.
We did a little bit each day until school started again. My parents decided there was no sense starting Carly in nursery school until after we settled into our new house. When they discussed it at dinner, Carly didn’t get what they were talking about. Me? I kept my mouth shut because who were they kidding? If they waited until we were settled for good, Carly would be forty.
My class gave me a good-bye party on my last day. I cried in bed that night. It wasn’t so much that I loved it here as that I didn’t know that it wouldn’t be worse in the new place. I awakened to the sound of Carly shrieking at the top of her lungs. I ran downstairs to see the moving men taking the first box out to the van.
“No! Those are our things!” Carly was hysterical.
“Remember we talked about this, Carly,” my mom said. “They are bringing our things to our new house.”
“No!” Carly shrieked. “What if they get lost? What if they lose all my clothes?”
The moving men looked so sad. One of them knelt down to talk to Carly.
“I promise you, little lady, that we will take very, very good care of every single thing. When we get to your new house, you will see that every single thing we put into the truck today is there.”
Carly didn’t look sure, but she nodded. My mom needed to be there to supervise the movers. My dad was away on business. There was nothing to play with because everything was packed. There was nothing to eat because we were going out to dinner after we checked into a hotel after the moving men left.
“Maybe Carly and I could go to Grandma’s,” I suggested.
My mother looked uncertain. “I thought it would be best for Carly to see what happens rather than just have her arrive in a new place, but …”
Grandma was there in twenty minutes. I heard her whisper to my mom that she was sorry her son was being so inconsiderate. Then, she took us to all of Carly’s favorite places while I explained again to Carly that we would be going to a different house that would have all of our boxes there. Carly didn’t say much, just held tight to Grandma’s hand. When we got back to her house, Grandma called my mom.
“How about if you and the kids – and Pete and Stinky – spend the night here with me? I’ll keep Danny and Carly now, and you and Grace can join us when you can.Then, I can travel with you to the new house and stay the first week to help the kids settle in.”
I heard my mom say thank you. I think she was crying.
I’m not sure when my Dad arrived at Grandma’s, but when we left for our new house the next morning, he’s the one who put Grace and one of her toys in her car seat. He set Stinky and Pete on the seat to ride next to her. I heard him say thanks, mom to my Grandma as she got into the far back seat between Carly and me.
I was glad to see Carly happy, but I couldn’t help but be a bit worried about starting in a new school for fifth grade. Especially since school had already started. All I could do was do my best to make friends. I tried not to cry once we were all buckled in. I blinked hard and decided I was going to do everything I could to be sure this new town would be our forever-town.
“Here we go,” Dad said as he started the car.