Finding My Destiny Chapter 1

Chapter 1

    Home.  That is how Skye felt when she looked around her new surroundings.  She had been here before.  Survived through a major heartbreak with the support of many close friends but had left to follow her heart. Now she was back to mend a broken heart once again.  This time she knew she would never leave.  She belonged here.  Something was pulling her back that she could not yet explain.

    That force was stronger this time.  Like she needed to find something desperately.  Something that she could only find here.  Not in her hometown or other places she’d been.  It had to be something very important to pull her this far.  To make her feel like this place was home and not where she had grown up as a child back East

.    She had never felt at home back East.  Her mother, Flo, had loved the good life and the best that money could buy.  They had lived here before and left about 7 years ago due to Matt’s father being transferred.  Now he was out of the picture, after she had found out about his double life, not thinking twice about her decision.  True, it still hurt some knowing that truth, but they were better off without him.  She’d felt the most at home here, with its openness and the simpler way of life.

    As she sat relaxing on the back patio sorting through everything that needed to be done like unpacking and setting up house, her 9 year old son, Matt came out.  He had been a real trooper through all of this.  Never complaining once about the long drive.  Matt had actually enjoyed the many miles that they had covered.  Asking about the different places they had stopped at along the way and the changing countryside the further they had driven.

    “Mom, when can we go get something to eat?  I’m getting hungry,” Matt asked his mom.

    “We can go right now if you’d like, Matt.  Do you feel like hot dogs or would you like to go somewhere else?  I’m dying for some decent Pad Thai.  The mixes they sell at the store just don’t measure up to the real stuff,” Skye replied.

    “Let’s go there so that you can get some Pad Thai.  You deserve it.  If I can’t find anything I like we can stop somewhere else and get me something.  We can even bring it home and have a takeout picnic.  That would be loads of fun.”

    “That sounds good to me.  That way we won’t feel like we’re in a rush and have to hurry.  We’ll just sit back and relax in the backyard.  Then we can decide if we want to dig in and start unpacking or wait until morning after we are all rested up.”

    “That’s a plan that’ll work for me.  I love you, Mom.”

    “I love you too, Matt.  Let’s go get cleaned up a little and we’ll be on our way.”

    A half hour later they were once again in the SUV traveling down the road on their way to pick up dinner.  The drive was relaxing for both Matt and Skye.  They both liked the outdoors and everything that nature has to offer.

    “Are we almost there Mom?  Look at that bird up in the tree! What kind is it?  I’ve never seen one like that before,”  Matt asked.

    “Yes, we are almost there.  That bird is a vulture.  You’ll see them now and then out here.  Now just around the next bend you’ll see where we are going.  Trust me that you can’t miss it.”

    “Wow!”, Matt replied after they had rounded the bend.  “Is this for real or am I dreaming?  After all of this open countryside and then all of those lights it seems like a dream.”

    “It’s for real Matt.  Do you need a little tickle to show you that it’s not a dream?  I know it seems out of place.  I thought so too at first.  I used to work here before we moved away a couple of years ago.”

    “No way Mom!  You used to work here?  What is it, a fairytale or something?”

    “Yes, I worked in the gift shop here.  No, it is for real.  It can get pretty noisy in there with all of the machines but you get used to it.  You hardly even hear all of the noise after awhile.  Let’s find a place to park and pick-up some dinner.  I’m starting to get hungry myself.”

    To her surprise they had no problem finding a place to park.  After she had parked the SUV they started toward the casino to order dinner.  She kept giving Matt sideways glances as he stared in awe at everything around him and smiled inwardly.

    Matt was even more awestruck after they entered and seemed unable to take in everything that was around him.

    “Mom, I can’t believe that you worked here.  I know now what you meant when you said it was noisy.  Is it ever quiet?  Look at all of the lights!  They are everywhere.”

    “I’ll tell you what we’ll do Matt.  After we order our dinner, I’ll take you to the gift shop and show you around.  Maybe, if we’re lucky, some of the people that I worked with will be working and I’ll introduce you.  How does that sound?”

    “Great!  I can’t wait.  This looks like a really neat place to work.  I don’t think that I would ever stop working here.  I’d have too much fun!”

    “It was loads of fun and you get to meet all types of people.  It was very rewarding in a lot of ways.  Some play sports like football and basketball.  You may have even seen them on TV.  One that I met used to be a quarterback for the Miami Dolphins and another plays on the local pro basketball team.  Others are from different countries and loads of different races.  It was very educational besides being rewarding.  I hated to leave.”

    “Sounds like you learned a lot and had fun on top of it.  I’d like to meet those guys too.  I see what you mean by loads of people.  They are everywhere Mom!”

    “It’s a pretty big place so there’s plenty of room for them all.  Well, here we are.  You ready to see what you’d like to eat?”

    “I am pretty hungry.  Where’s the menu?”

    “It’s right here on the wall.  Take a look and see what you’d like.”