He had been sitting in the dated Corolla for hours upon hours, drifting along to a new home. A new oppurtunity, his mother had told him. He turned to look at her, brushing his brown hair out of his line of vision; the hot summer showing on his forehead. She caught his glimpse and gave him a half-hearted smile. Adam didn't return the emotion.

"Almost there," his mother Janine said. She received no response. Adam buried his head in his pillow, just as he had been doing for the past six hours. He had been through all of his CD's already and he was out of batteries. Downside of having no money, Adam thought.

The move would be Adam's first in his fifteen years of life, all of which were spent in the bustle of the Big Apple. On the drive to Alabama, he viewed animals that he had only ever seen dead on his dinner plate. When stopping at gas stations, Adam noticed he could kick field goals between gaps in teeth with more ease the further south he went, and realized that country life would be a full one hundred eighty degree turn. Adam finally broke his silence, which he had conscientiously upheld.

"Mom...when the hell are you going to explain why we left as if a bomb was going to strike New York?"
"Because your grandparents are down here. I want to spend time with them; do you think it lasts forever?" the blonde woman of thirty-five said defensively.
"Then where is Dad?" Silence ensued. The question had been avoided for the hurricane two days it took Adam's mother to pack. Adam considered shouting at his mother, but realized that his earlier screamfests produced the same results. Silence. Was Dad flying down? Did Alabama have airports? Adam leaned his head against his pillow once again, trying to rid himself of the thoughts of his father. Didn't work. The silence of Janine only added to the enigma that was Adam's father. Richard Fatum was rarely home at their New York apartment during the week. Saturdays always seemed to produce a sudden business call or an outing with friends, and Sundays were dedicated to watching football in the fall, and possibly tossing the pigskin with Adam during the other seasons. Adam realized he wouldn't have a clue where to go if he was looking for his father.

The rest of the drive was in silence. The duo eventually approached a small town, and passed through it, favoring a right turn that led up a mountain road. Two miles later, a left turn led to a small cottage of a house, complete with crackling paint on the shutters and a well in the front yard.
"Don't worry about the well...we have electricity in the house," Janine said. Adam ignored the fact that the two observations were unrelated, and simply nodded. "Your grandparents live down in that town. It's called Stanton."

Stanton, Alabama. Adam decided to try dropping a pin on the ground later to see if he could hear it. Needless to say, Stanton life would be much different from the constant noise of New York City. Janine parked the Corolla in the yard near the well, and Adam got out of the car. Heading for the trunk, Adam grabbed two suitcases and shuffled toward the door of the cottage. He stood aside and waited for his mother to procure the keys from her pocket. Janine placed a small silver key inside the keyhole and turned to the right. She pushed the door open and they both walked in.

Adam looked around the one-story house. He was standing in the kitchen. Two bedrooms were to the left of him, a bathroom and a closet to the right. The kitchen was fairly spacious, but nothing extravagant.

"It's small, I know," Janine said reluctantly. Adam paused before speaking.
"It's not bad."

Adam walked into one of the bedrooms and set down the suitcases. He sat down on the bed.

Wait. "Mom, why is there furniture in here?"
"Apparently the last owners died. I didn't ask many questions, but I guess there was no family to take their stuff."

Adam got up, picked up one suitcase, and took it to the adjacent room. He began to unpack his suitcase, placing his clothes inside the mahogany dresser and his PS2 on the floor next to it. No TV. Almost everything had been left at the apartment. He closed the door and flopped onto the bed, not wanting to deal with his mother's nagging. Nonetheless, the door opened three minutes later.

"We're going to your grandparents' house for dinner in half an hour," Janine said. Adam said nothing and nodded his head in acknowledgement. No point in falling asleep now, he thought. He got up and decided to explore his new yard. Exiting out the front door, Adam walked around the cottage and into the backyard. Nothing, except for the seemingly endless woods. As he zoned out, Adam could have sworn he saw an elderly, bespectacled man looking at him, but his double take resulted in nothing. Shaking his head, he turned and walked back to the house.

"Let's leave now," Janine said. Adam nodded and walked toward the Corolla.

E-mail me some comments. Simply an introduction to a fictional work. I want to know what is shit and should be changed. If the whole thing is shit, then that's a scrap. An IM will do as well.