Her Notebook

PurplePenguin Presents...

“I am standing here. I have no idea where I am and what everybody is doing all dressed in black,” Ashleigh wrote in her notebook. She yelled out, “Who are all of you people and what am I doing here?” She looked around when out of nowhere, she remembered how this all happened.

***

“Bye Ashleigh, have fun on your school trip to Canada!” yelled her mother as her daughter walked on to the bus from the bus terminal and left.

The bus driver yelled out to everyone, “We should arrive in New York City in about five hours!”

Ashleigh got up to talk to the driver, “You must have made a mistake. This bus is going to Canada, right?”

“Sorry Miss, I may be old, but I know where I am going, is there a problem?”

“U-m-m N-o-o,” stuttered Ashleigh.

She walked back to her seat and sat down. She thought that the bus driver would probably realize that she was right and that he DID make a mistake but nothing happened. That’s when she knew she had walked onto the wrong bus, but she fell in to a nice deep sleep anyway.

Four hours later, the bus finally stopped and reached its destination. “I guess we got here early everyone. Please unpack your bags and have fun in New York City,” the bus driver said.

That was all she remembered, and she was in reality land and her flashback was over. She yelled out, “New York City? I AM IN NEW YORK CITY!?!” She grabbed her water bottle out of her book bag and splashed herself with it yelling once more, “Wake up! WAKE UP!!!”

She fell to the ground as all the men in black passed by her not noticing she was there. “Where are my class and teacher, and where is Canada?” She thought for a second and realized she had her cell phone with her. She knew she had to call someone. She couldn’t just sit around in a big city like New York City!

“Mom! It’s me, Ashleigh. I’m in New York City!”

“You’re WHAT!!” screamed her mother.

“I got on the wrong bus, and I don’t know what to do right now.”

“I will call you right back. Keep your phone on!”

As she hung up the phone, she just sat there calmly so nothing bad would happen. A few minutes passed and she got the call.

“Hey, so what’s the plan? What am I going to do?”

“Just explain to me where you are and everything will be fine!”

“I’m at some bus terminal, it’s really big and it’s called Port Authority!”

“Okay. Stay right where you are. My friend lives there and will come and pick you up! She has blond hair and blue eyes. She’s not too tall, but you will notice who she is. Call me when you find her! By the way, her name is Kelly.”

She kept waiting and waiting for someone to come, and she realized she was really bored when out of nowhere, a car pulled up to her. The girl in the car had blond hair and blue eyes, but you can never trust if it is really them. There are tons of blondes with blue eyes walking around.
She yelled to the girl, “Kelly. Is that you?”

“Are you Ashleigh?”

“Yes I am. I’m guessing your Kelly, my mom’s friend?”

“You got that right! Let’s go! You look freezing out here.”

“I am!” Ashleigh said in a relieved voice and laughed.

They reached the house and got inside. “Wow. This is your house? It’s amazing!”

“Thank you! I clean all the time!”

“I hope you’re not one of those neat freaks.”

“No no. Don’t worry.”

“What day am I going home? It’s not that I don’t like it here, it’s just that I want to know.”

“I will get in contact with your mother and see what day it’s possible for her to pick you up.”

“Are you going to buy me a bus ticket?”

“Well, I don’t know what I’m doing. Just relax and enjoy it while you’re here and I will find out this stuff!”

Ashleigh left the room to go relax like Kelly said. She was so bored, and she knew that Kelly was a TOTAL cleaning freak. Ashleigh also knew that this was going to be the worst time ever here because she wouldn’t be able to do anything that she did at home.

She walked into the kitchen where Kelly’s fiancé Jeff was there.

“Hey. Not to sound mean or anything, but I don’t want to have a boring time while I am here, and I want to get out and smell the kind of fresh air.”

“Oh. We LOVE to get out and smell the fresh air.”

“Would you show me around the big city while I am here please?”

“Sure. You, Kelly and I could all go tomorrow. How does that sound? Right after breakfast?”

“Awesome. I can’t wait!”

The next day came quickly and Ashleigh chomped down her breakfast really quick. She was so excited to see the city. She had seen tons of pictures and knew that it was huge and busy, so she had to be careful. Before she knew it, they were out the door to give her the “Big Tour.”

“Wow. This city looks amazing!”

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” said Kelly.

They went through Manhattan, Rockefelle Center, and even Time Square.

“I am having a great time. This is so cool.”

“That’s great. I’m glad you like the city,” said Jeff.

“I’m going to have to visit back here, if that’s okay.”

“Sure. Why not? Bring your mom along too. I haven’t seen her in a while,” said Kelly.

“Okay!” said Ashleigh VERY excited.

The days went by quickly and time does fly by when you’re having fun.

“So did you talk to my mom? When did she say I am coming home? Not soon, right?”

“Well Ashleigh, I did talk to your mother and the only way you can come home is tomorrow. That is the only time she can pick you up at the bus stop.”

“Tomorrow?” Ashleigh choked.

“I’m sorry. You’re more than welcome to come back when you like.”

“I have only been here for four days!”

“I know, but your mother knows that you need to be home, and I will keep in touch with your mother all the time!”

“Well I guess I am going to go pack.”

She walked away, but she was okay after a while. She knew she COULD come back and that everything was going to be fine. She packed up all of her clothes, shoes, and even her teddy bear Mr. Snuffles.

“Jeff, Kelly. Thanks for everything! I really had a great time!”

“Of course. Anytime! Tell everyone we said hi!”

“Okay!”

Ashleigh walked on to the bus; she said all of her goodbyes and began to write in her journal once more.

“I feel like this was the best time of my life, and I will return here and do even more exciting things along the way. But until now, I shall just stay home and tell everyone what happened,” she wrote.