This story is by Katie Lesesne and was part of our 2018 Summer Writing Contest. You can find all the writing contest stories here.
“You ready to ride?” Todd picked up Cayla’s bag that were sitting next to the car and put them into the trunk.
“I think I have everything I need,” Cayla responded
“You have always had everything you needed. “
Cayla looked at him and smiled. It had always been that way between them. From the first time she met him, she knew she could trust Todd.
It was at a reunion party that her high school class was holding that they first reconnected. Cayla had not wanted to go, but her friend June had convinced her it would be a good time. Then June backed out.
“I don’t believe I am here, “She muttered to herself as she walked up the stairs to the hotel ballroom. Cayla figured she would just stop in, say “hi” to a few people and then leave.
The first person she saw was Todd. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” He asked coyly.
She smiled. The ended up talking all night.
Cayla hummed along with the radio as the car sped along 1-95. She could barely believe all that had happened to her in the last year of her life.
Had she been too trusting? One minute she is sitting on the top of the world and the next she felt like someone had dropped a building on top of her. Cayla still couldn’t believe how things had ended with Marie.
Cayla couldn’t believe that this is how things got as bad as they did. It had been an emotional roller coaster for her the whole time she had been there and now she had to having to leave. As Cayla looked at the papers and books, clothes and boxes that surrounded her as she sat on the floor her mind floated back to a time when she thought everything was actually going to be alright.
” You really need to be out of here by the end of the week, ” Marie had said as she stood watching Cayla from the doorway.
Cayla nodded slowly and continued her methodical packing. She wiped away a tear that had started to slide down her cheek. Jana turned and walked back upstairs.
Cayla still remembered the words Jana had said to her before Cayla had moved in.
“You will be much better here than you will be anywhere else.” Now those words seemed to carry with them a sense of foreboding.
Cayla really had believed that Marie wanted to help her. Cayla believed that things would be ok.
After six months when Cayla still didn’t have another job Marie started to talk about her having to move out. And so she had moved home.
After the party Todd and she saw each other every day.
“I have already made every wrong turn in my life possible. And now here I am without a job, with barely a social life and with very few prospects for any change.”
“You have to create change,” Todd stated flatly.
“Tell me more.”
Todd told here everything.
“The most important thing is that you remember to breathe.” Todd’s voice was soft and comforting as he was taking her through her first ever meditation exercise. “Clear your mind of all thoughts.” Cayla would clear her mind and then thoughts of Todd and her would keep coming back.
Cayla and Tood did the meditation exercises every day for a month. Todd taught her how to visualize and explained to her about writing her goals every day.
As she followed the exercises that Todd was taking her through Cayla did become clearer about what she wanted. As the list that Cayla wrote became longer she started to actually remember who she was.
“As a child I knew I wanted to write, that I wanted to travel, that I wanted to help people, that I wanted to have a lot of money,” she stated to Todd when they were having lunch to share her progress. They sat at the booth of the diner and were starting to make a plan.
“You can have all of that, you just have to know where to start.” After finishing their meal they had parted and agreed to meet again the next day.
When she walked the house her phone was ringing.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Can I speak to Cayla Marie Adams, please.”
“This is she.”
“Hello Miss Adams, this is Lana Thompson from the International Investors Organization, how are you?”
“I am fine, thank you.”
“Miss Adams I am calling because your friend Layla gave me your name to speak to you about a possible employment opportunity, are you able to talk now.”
“Yes.”
As Cayla listened to Lana Thompson explain the opportunity she could hardly believe her ears. This really was exactly what she wanted and more. She had mentioned to her friend Layla when they were having lunch that she was looking for opportunities where she could travel and make money and that would allow her the time to do things she enjoyed.
Layla hadn’t said anything specific but she hinted that she might have some idea of how to help her.
Lana explained to her that their organization was looking for people to live overseas and help people in third world countries become entrepreneurs. In exchange the volunteers would be trained to become volunteers themselves.
This was it!
The next day on the phone with Todd she explained everything to him.
“This really is everything I have ever wanted.” The only thing is they require me to come out to LA for a month for training and to get my assignments. I don’t know how to move my whole life out to California.”
“I could come with you. “
Everyone told her not to go.
“But you just got back.”
“You don’t know if this will be worth it.”
“What if things don’t work out?”
Her friends and family had no problem voicing their concerns or doubts.
But their concerns are not my concerns, Cayla thought to herself. And their doubts don’t have to run my life. Only I can have a say in what I do with my life from now on.
Cayla watched the winding road before her and hummed a familiar tune as she headed to the new life she had created.
“You ready to ride?” Todd picked up Cayla’s bag that were sitting next to the car and put them into the trunk.
“I think I have everything I need,” Cayla responded
“You have always had everything you needed. “
Cayla looked at him and smiled. It had always been that way between them. From the first time she met him, she knew she could trust Todd.
It was at a reunion party that her high school class was holding that they first reconnected. Cayla had not wanted to go, but her friend June had convinced her it would be a good time. Then June backed out.
“I don’t believe I am here, “She muttered to herself as she walked up the stairs to the hotel ballroom. Cayla figured she would just stop in, say “hi” to a few people and then leave.
The first person she saw was Todd. “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” He asked coyly.
She smiled. The ended up talking all night.
Cayla hummed along with the radio as the car sped along 1-95. She could barely believe all that had happened to her in the last year of her life.
Had she been too trusting? One minute she is sitting on the top of the world and the next she felt like someone had dropped a building on top of her. Cayla still couldn’t believe how things had ended with Marie.
Cayla couldn’t believe that this is how things got as bad as they did. It had been an emotional roller coaster for her the whole time she had been there and now she had to having to leave. As Cayla looked at the papers and books, clothes and boxes that surrounded her as she sat on the floor her mind floated back to a time when she thought everything was actually going to be alright.
” You really need to be out of here by the end of the week, ” Marie had said as she stood watching Cayla from the doorway.
Cayla nodded slowly and continued her methodical packing. She wiped away a tear that had started to slide down her cheek. Jana turned and walked back upstairs.
Cayla still remembered the words Jana had said to her before Cayla had moved in.
“You will be much better here than you will be anywhere else.” Now those words seemed to carry with them a sense of foreboding.
Cayla really had believed that Marie wanted to help her. Cayla believed that things would be ok.
After six months when Cayla still didn’t have another job Marie started to talk about her having to move out. And so she had moved home.
After the party Todd and she saw each other every day.
“I have already made every wrong turn in my life possible. And now here I am without a job, with barely a social life and with very few prospects for any change.”
“You have to create change,” Todd stated flatly.
“Tell me more.”
Todd told here everything.
“The most important thing is that you remember to breathe.” Todd’s voice was soft and comforting as he was taking her through her first ever meditation exercise. “Clear your mind of all thoughts.” Cayla would clear her mind and then thoughts of Todd and her would keep coming back.
Cayla and Tood did the meditation exercises every day for a month. Todd taught her how to visualize and explained to her about writing her goals every day.
As she followed the exercises that Todd was taking her through Cayla did become clearer about what she wanted. As the list that Cayla wrote became longer she started to actually remember who she was.
“As a child I knew I wanted to write, that I wanted to travel, that I wanted to help people, that I wanted to have a lot of money,” she stated to Todd when they were having lunch to share her progress. They sat at the booth of the diner and were starting to make a plan.
“You can have all of that, you just have to know where to start.” After finishing their meal they had parted and agreed to meet again the next day.
When she walked the house her phone was ringing.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Can I speak to Cayla Marie Adams, please.”
“This is she.”
“Hello Miss Adams, this is Lana Thompson from the International Investors Organization, how are you?”
“I am fine, thank you.”
“Miss Adams I am calling because your friend Layla gave me your name to speak to you about a possible employment opportunity, are you able to talk now.”
“Yes.”
As Cayla listened to Lana Thompson explain the opportunity she could hardly believe her ears. This really was exactly what she wanted and more. She had mentioned to her friend Layla when they were having lunch that she was looking for opportunities where she could travel and make money and that would allow her the time to do things she enjoyed.
Layla hadn’t said anything specific but she hinted that she might have some idea of how to help her.
Lana explained to her that their organization was looking for people to live overseas and help people in third world countries become entrepreneurs. In exchange the volunteers would be trained to become volunteers themselves.
This was it!
The next day on the phone with Todd she explained everything to him.
“This really is everything I have ever wanted.” The only thing is they require me to come out to LA for a month for training and to get my assignments. I don’t know how to move my whole life out to California.”
“I could come with you. “
Everyone told her not to go.
“But you just got back.”
“You don’t know if this will be worth it.”
“What if things don’t work out?”
Her friends and family had no problem voicing their concerns or doubts.
But their concerns are not my concerns, Cayla thought to herself. And their doubts don’t have to run my life. Only I can have a say in what I do with my life from now on.
Cayla watched the winding road before her and hummed a familiar tune as she headed to the new life she had created.
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