Fly on the far side

Fly on the far side

(he looked younger than his age) (I understand you are sorry)

You may not know me but my name is Kylie Byrd and I’m 26. I’m moving from Hong Kong to live in Sacramento, California with my 2 sisters, Adina and Nora, and my father Christopher who is 57. My sisters are still at school which makes my life awesome since they are 21 and 15.

December 18, 2016. As we were arriving into California, I asked for my last bag of chips (my 5th one) when suddenly I see out the window the marvelous city of Sacramento, covered in the pure, fresh snow. I could feel the cold air by touching the window. My sister Adina is sitting next to me and Nora next to my father. We prepare our tray tables and our seat for landing. As our plane descends, Nora is constantly holding on to my father. The landing was a little bumpy which made my sister yelp.

Nora lets a deep breath out and says:

“I’m glad that that ride is over.

- You are so dramatic!”, Adina answered as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

As she says that, I roll my eyes.  

We head down to the baggage pick-up as I see this weird man just staring at people like they were somebody he knew. I ask my dad who he might be and he answered:

“Those are people who ask for money to buy food”.

My family picks up the extremely heavy luggage and we head for the sign saying “RV pick-ups”.

“Dad, I’m just confirming: we’re buying one right, Nora asks.

- Duh”, I answered.

The taxi from the RV company was waiting to pick us up. We loaded our luggage in the trunk. Once inside, I took my computer out and started to look at campsites with great trails and extraordinary animals. I clicked on a page and there it showed the most magnificent beach I had never seen before. It was called the Glass Beach. The page showed a lot of its history and then that’s is when I saw a picture of the man I saw. His name was Georgy and he was accused of “destroying” a really clean beach to one made of glass. I gasped as I saw the picture.

“What’s wrong, asked Nora.

- Nothing, I responded, you’re too young for this.

- I am 15, she screamed.

The driver looked back at Nora as she said that. My sister gets very emotional very quickly.

- Gosh, calm down, I said.

- Then tell me!

- Kylie, tell her, Dad said.

- Alright. You know that man we saw at the airport and dad said that he was poor, and...  

- And what, Adina said, we’re waiting.

- Well, I was searching for a good hiking trail and I landed on this beach. It’s called the Glass Beach. And that man that we saw, is the one who “destroyed” it, I whispered, now he lives on a mountain named Half Dome”.

My family was silent. They knew I cared a lot for the environment which made them feel sorry for me.

Since my dad had already bought the car, things went pretty quickly. Once we arrived at the RV site, I went over at the front desk and told the man our family name, Byrd. Our RV was already waiting for us outside. Adina was helping load the suitcases into the van while I signed the agreement paper to finalize the payment.

We stayed at a horrible campsite the first night where there are no showers or fire pits. We make roasted sausages with salad and had “raw” marshmallows for dessert. We don’t take a shower that night and Adina goes to bed right away while Nora and I take the trash out. She almost fell asleep but all of a sudden, she trips which wakes her up. Even if she is almost 16, I still carry her back to our RV. She is really heavy! Even if she may be a little annoying, she is still my sister.

December 19, 2016. We left at 6:45 am this morning which made me really tired. Adina was driving while my dad and Nora were falling asleep. I tried to stay up but my body kept telling me to let it sleep. I finally let myself fall deeper and deeper into my dreams.

I was awakened by Adina shaking me like crazy.

“Kylie, she murmured.

- How long have I been sleeping, I asked, are we here?

- Probably 5 hours and no we are not here. We’re having lunch.

- Oh ok, I replied, let me stretch.

We went to an Italian restaurant named La Mona Lisa. I ordered a pasta dish with mushrooms and shrimps which I devoured like crazy.

We continued our 9 hours trip to Yosemite National Park, making tons of trips to the bathroom since my younger sister needed to go every 5 km. We made one last stop at a campsite much better than the one before: really clean toilets and showers, located in the center of the forest. That night, I saw an extraordinary animal, a bear…

We were eating fish and lentils when we heard a branch crack and my dad saw this black shadow in the trees. Right when we were wondering if it were just the wind, a bear popped out of the forest. Nora, Adina, and my dad ran away, leaving the food on the fire pit. While they were running, I grabbed my book and examined the posture and the movement of the bear. As the animal was heading for the food, I took tons of pictures, hiding behind a bush. After a moment, the bear left, stomach full. I stood there, amazed by this moment.

“Kylie, co..co..come here, my dad mumbled.

- Yes, I wondered

- I know this is your job, but you can’t always stay where the danger is...you, you may get injured or worse, killed, he exclaimed.

- I know, I know. But this is my life and I can’t let you take it away from me, I replied, a little harsh.

- Kylie, Adina cried.

- I love animals and maybe you don’t know how amazing animals can be but -

- You love animals as much as we do and -

- No, you don’t! I have something inside me that makes me like animals more than you do!

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