The Lilac Tunnel: My Journey with Samantha

I tell Eddie that he doesn’t need to tell. I will tell Samantha myself. Eddie sneers that he bets I won’t. I tell him that I will. I whirl around and march over to Samantha, who’s sitting on the porch steps. She asks me what Eddie wants, looking at him. He locks eyes with Samantha for a few seconds, and then some lose his nerve. He pulls his head back through the hedge and disappears. I square my shoulders and tell Samantha about how I wasn’t able to reach my family by telephone, but how I pretended to be talking with them anyway. I tell her that I really want to go to Piney Point. I’m just not ready to be with my family yet.

I expect Samantha to be angry, but instead, she’s curious. She asks me why I’m not ready to go to my family. I try to answer honestly. I say that I don’t know them well. I miss my mom so much and I wish I could be with her this summer. But I can’t.

Samantha wraps her arm around my shoulder and leans in and says she understands. I ask Samantha if she misses her mom, too. She stares off into the distance and nods. She says it might sound silly to miss someone you don’t remember well. I shake my head. Sometimes I forget what it was like to have my parents together, but I miss it all the same. I tell her I don’t think it’s silly at all.

Samantha smiles and straightens up and asks if my family is expecting me today. Will they be worried if I arrive a few days late? I answer truthfully because I know the locket will take me home to the same time that I left. I tell her they won’t worry. They’re not expecting me yet. The gleam in Samantha’s eyes suggests that I’ve given her the answer she was hoping for. She says I should come with her to Piney Point. And maybe after some time, I’ll feel better about going to see my family. Relief washes over me. I’ve confessed the truth to Samantha, and she’s not angry. And the day after tomorrow, we will leave for Piney Point.