Ellie Story on AboutTeens magazine

It was eleven o’clock at night and my four-year-old eyes were stinging with fatigue. This was the latest I had ever been up, but the cause was well worth the effort I was putting into keeping my eyelids from dropping. This was, after all, the last night I would ever spend in my house, and I wasn’t just going to sleep it away. I sat in the wooden-backed chair at the dinner table with dangling legs, white paper, and a pink marker that was drying out as I looked around the room. It seemed that everything I saw suddenly brought back a million memories. Knowing that I was about to leave all of this behind, I started to cry. My silent tears wrinkled the letter in front of me and I quickly stopped myself before the ink started to run. After I dotted my i’s and crossed my t’s I carefully folded the paper and walked down the hallway, hopping the creaky spots that I knew so well. When I got to the end of the corridor I entered the room on the left – my Grandpa’s room. I opened the door just enough to squeeze myself through and placed the note gently on his belly. I waited a moment just to make sure he didn’t wake up, and when I was sure he was still asleep I left the room, quietly closing the door behind me.

Even though my work was finished, it still didn’t seem right to go to bed yet. I crept across the hallway much slower than I needed to, noticing the way my feet felt against the grainy wooden floors – something I had never noticed before, but something I was sure I would miss. When I was outside my uncle Steven’s door I knelt down and wriggled onto my belly in front of the threshold. I peered through the crack at the bottom of the door and squinted, careful not to close my eyes for fear that I would fall asleep right there. When I was sure I saw the flickering light from his twelve-inch television set I knew he was still up. I wanted to visit, but the tough part would be getting inside. I couldn’t knock or I would wake my mom and my grandpa, and I couldn’t just walk in (after all, he was a boy). I decided to try and call out my nickname for him softly first, and hope that it worked. I was just about to whisper "Tito" when the doorknob turned and the door creaked open.

"Hey, sweetheart. What are you doing up?" he asked in a whisper. I jumped onto his waterbed and told him all about my note to Poppy and how I didn’t want to go to sleep and have to move the next morning. He said he understood, and that he didn’t want me to move either, but we all have to do things we don’t want to. I knew that was true, but it didn’t seem like a good consolation. "After all," he whispered. "I don’t want to say good-bye." For some reason that statement made me feel a little better. Yes, it was true that I didn’t want to move and yes, it was true that leaving tomorrow would be the hardest thing I had ever done, but it felt good to know that while I was missing home, home was missing me too. I hugged my Tito for a long time and then he told me that I really should go to bed. I insisted that it wasn’t a good idea and that sleeping would be a waste of time that I didn’t have much of. He said that he guessed it would be okay if I stayed up a little longer this one time, and then handed me a Super Nintendo Controller.

We played video games for a while before my Uncle Steve raised a good point. "Don’t you want to sleep in your own bed one last time?" I realized that this was all too true and gave him a kiss before scurrying into bed with my mother. I shook the mattress a little upon entering, woke her, and listened distractedly while she scolded me half-heartedly for being up so late. I said my prayers, looked around the almost completely empty room, and fell fast asleep.

The next morning I woke up early with a sad but understanding feeling in my stomach. I knew I had to leave. I was sad, I was devastated, but I had no choice. I lay in bed for a long time with my eyes closed, stalling my departure for as long as possible. When I finally decided to wake up, I opened my eyes to my Uncle Steve sitting on the bed, smiling. He was happy, and seeing him smile made me happy. In his face I read, I’m going to miss you, but this is going to be a fun day for you. And then I realized that he was right. I was going to see my new house and my new neighborhood. I was going to meet new people and try new things. I was going to miss home, but maybe this would be like an adventure.

I jumped out of bed and ran into my grandpa’s room. He wasn’t up yet, but I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could before my expedition. I gave him a big bear hug to ensure his awakening and then ran out of the room – I didn’t want him reading the letter with me there. I stood outside the doorway while I heard the shuffling and unfolding of paper. After about thirty seconds he came out, picked me up, and gave me a big, fat squeeze and a kiss. "I’m going to miss you too, Princess," he said. I gave him as big of a hug as I could with my little arms and made him carry me out to the moving van, where my mom and my uncle were loading the last few items.

For a moment I wasn’t quite sure of the answer. I was really looking forward to my journey, but at the same time I never wanted to leave my Poppy’s arms. My grandpa put me down in the car seat and gave me a kiss on the forehead before I could sort out my feelings. "Wow, your first time in the front seat!" said my Uncle. Yes, I was excited.

My mom pulled out of the driveway and I looked back at my Poppy and my Uncle Steven waving. "You’ll make some new friends, too!" said my mom. Looking back at my house and the people in my yard I realized that while a lot of new and exciting things were going to happen to me, my family would always stay the same. And as long as that was true, I never needed to be afraid.