text: Alice remembered the night she left her hometown. The sky was a marble of grey and indigo, and the crescent moon peeked through a cirrus cloud. A cool breeze went by whispering by the soft murmurs of the highway in the distance. Otherwise, the whole street of Bellflower Drive was silent. A moment passed, and one by one, the streetlights began to flicker on for the incoming night. They casted a dim light on the sidewalks and edges of the asphalt road. It was so peaceful. It was so normal. Alice sighed tightened her grip on her duffel bag and violin case. She looked back, and found her house looming over her. The windows glistened in the weak moonlight and stared at her, as if it was expected for her to come back inside. Alice shuddered at the thought. Before a stray thought could stop her, she ran towards her car. With fumbling hands and a fumbling heart, Alice fished out her keys and turned on the engine. “Goodbye,” she mumbled to herself. And with that, Alice Henderberry, seventeen years old, ran away from home in the early summer night. Fifteen years later. “We’re here!” Alice cried out loud. Amazement filled her cheeks with a soft pink. The house she had lived in for the first half of her life was still the same as if it was the night she left. The windows glistened in the sun and sparkled mischievously, as if it was saying I told you so. I knew you would come back. Alice frowned. Her heart was squirming and butterflies fluttered around her stomach. “ This is the place we’re staying?” A whining voice popped up. On the other side of the car was a girl with hair the color of dark chocolate and eyes the color of amber. She was the spitting image of her mother. In her hands was her mother’s violin. Alice nodded. “You’ll love it, Melody. Trust me.” Her daughter rolled her eyes. “I’ll trust you then.” Melody sighed and began to trudge towards the front door of the house. “At least help me unload!” Alice called back. Melody didn’t respond. Alice bit her lip. The only thing Melody cared about was the violin. It was nice to see her love something so much, but her obsession over mastering the violin was beginning to become an annoyance. However, Alice could not bring herself to stop Melody’s passion. Alice could not bring herself to act like her own mother, who tried to stop her from attending music school. BANG! The sound of fireworks erupted down the street. Alice whirled around in shock at the sudden blast of noise. Fireworks were banned years ago. From a distance she could hear the faint cries of delight and childlike laughter. Before the laughter faded away, another fireworks blast exploded from the park behind Alice’s house. Someone had also turned on their stereo to max volume and a song began to play. Country Road~ Take Me Home~ “Alice?” A voice interrupted Alice’s thoughts. A lady with a large bonnet and a pastel plaited sundress approached her. Her eyes were a deep black, and her hair was as light as corn silk. “June?” Alice widened her eyes. “You’re finally home.” June hugged Alice. “It took what, fifteen years? Everyone was getting tired of wondering when you would come back.” June was Alice’s friend from preschool until high school graduation. The two both lived on Bellflower Drive, Alice at the bottom of the street and June at the top hill. Alice was glad to see someone she knew. There was that nostalgic twinkle in June's dark eyes that she missed. “There’s a neighborhood barbeque party on Labor Day,” June continued, “Everyone would be glad to meet you.” Alice grinned. “Is it at your place?” “Of course. My mansion is made for partying.” June winked. “Do you still play the violin? You can perform there, like the good old times.” Alice’s gaze fell. “Maybe another time,” she whispered softly, “I’m kind of taking a break from it.” BANG! Another loud bang cut in their shot chat. Both of them flinched. “I need to get back to the kids. They’re way too hyper on the last day of summer break,” she mumbled and then a bit louder, “Alice, I’ll you at the party then?” “You can count on it.” Alice waved June goodbye as June jogged away in her tall sandals. If June was still back, then maybe Marcus would be too. Perhaps Roy and Cherry would also still live in the same houses on Bellflower Drive too. Her heart jumped in joy. With a slight bounce in her step, Alice entered her old house. Within the house, she heard a faint whistle of the wind. She instantly knew it was from the third bedroom upstairs. The window always let the wind whistle. Melody must have opened that window. She wondered if Melody liked the place. Upon arriving at the bedroom door, Alice asked, “So, how do you like the house?” Melody was facing towards the open window. The transparent white curtains fluttered in the wind wildly, the same way Melody’s hair did. “I don’t really like it,” she admitted, “There’s too much dust. It’s making my head spin and hallucinate.” “Well, with a little cleaning, we should be okay then.” Alice sighed to herself in relief. She thought Melody would hate the place. Despite the relief, her stomach thought otherwise. There was still a flutter inside. It was a calm, but intense fluttering, as if anxious for the future. A day later Alice decided to visit Marcus’ house. He was a close classmate of hers who often became her teammate in group projects. He was smart, witty, and overall, a kind person. She would often go to his house to study and work on school projects. It was two houses down hers, with red roof tiles and a small metal balcony. Alice rang the doorbell with a basket of butter cookies in another hand. The door opened to an unfamiliar face. “Who are you?” The unknown person inquired with a tinge of suspicion to his voice. “Ah...” Alice’s grin vanished. “I’m looking for Marcus. Is he here?” “There isn’t a Marcus here,” the person replied politely. He asked again. “Who are you?” “Oh, I’m the new neighbor that moved in yesterday, just two houses up.” Alice fumbled around before handing the basket of cookies to her neighbor. “I’m Alice Henderberry.” “The new resident! I’ve heard about you from June!” The person took the basket and grinned in recognition. Alice laughed nervously. “You did?” “Yes!” He held his hand out for Alice to shake. “I’m Harvey. Nice to meet you.” Alice shook hands with him. “Nice to meet you too,” she returned with an awkward grin. The flutter in her stomach started up again. “Did you meet any of your old friends?” Melody set down her violin and raised her eyebrows at Alice. Alice threw her cardigan to the nearest couch and slumped down. “They’re all gone,” she answered back with a defeated sigh, “Marcus, Roy, Cherry, Birdie... I’ve tried all of their houses and each one had a stranger inside.” “Maybe they’ll be at the party tonight.” “Maybe.” Alice sat straight up and turned to Melody. “By the way, how’s orchestra at school? I know it’s strange to play with others rather than by yourself. Are you getting along with others?” Melody squinted her eyes and hesitated. “It’s... tolerable,” she forced out with an acrimonious tone, “But what about you? Do you think this place is okay?” “Why are you asking me that?” “Well, we didn’t move out of New York for no reason right? For my whole life until now, you’ve never mentioned anything about your hometown. And now, all of a sudden you decided to come here.” “I just wanted to relax a bit. I’ve retired from playing violin after all.” “Yeah right.” Melody waved a finger at Alice. “The reason you retired from playing violin was because your mother died and you couldn’t bring yourself to pick up the violin anymore.” “Melody!” Alice shot up. “You think coming back here will give you something. Something that’ll let you pick up the violin again. But it’s too late. She’s dead, Mom. Everyone you know is gone. There’s nothing here that will give you anything.” “Melody Henderberry, one more word and I’ll burn the violin,” Alice seethed. Melody clamped her mouth shut and hugged her violin tightly. Alice glared at her daughter for a full minute before realizing that it was no use. She walked away from the living room and headed upstairs. “Dress up for the party,” she called back flatly. She had no more spirit to go, but she had promised June she would attend. One by one, each adult introduced themselves to Alice. Each face was unfamiliar, and each name was a blur to Alice. All of them smiled at her, but Alice felt nothing from each person. For some reason, she felt so far away from everyone. No one noticed however, and continued to chat with her as a whole group. “So you ran away from home and went to music school in New York?” One adult raised an eyebrow. Alice nodded. “It must’ve been difficult, being so far away from home.” Actually, it felt more like home over there than here. Alice nodded. “That’s right, my son is studying abroad in Japan,” another piped in, “He always misses us.” “Ah, Sean? He’s a bright boy isn’t he? And his sister Akagi.” “Yes, Akagi. Is she doing okay?” And just like that, the conversation tilted into another direction. Alice was ignored and out of the attention. The other adults began to discuss each of the children, and every time one brought up their child, others would nod in familiarity. Again, the space between Alice and everyone else began to widen. She was out of touch. She was fifteen years behind. Before anyone would notice her, Alice slipped out of the group and walked around to find Melody. Hopefully Melody was doing fine with the other children. Much to her disappointment, she couldn’t spot her with anyone. Maybe she went to the bathroom. Alice headed to the Nightshade manor. June was at the entrance holding a new basket of breadsticks. “Taking a break?” She asked. “Where’s Marcus? Cherry? Birdie? Roy?” Alice returned with another series of questions. “Where are they? These people--” Alice gestured to the party guests. “-- I don’t know them.” “Alice. It’s been fifteen years,” June said, “You’ve changed. Everything changed. All of the neighborhood kids moved out to attend college. New kids moved in.” Perhaps deep in her heart, Alice already knew. Perhaps it was the source of that anxious feeling she got when coming back here. Perhaps it was the source of anxiety she had fifteen years ago, when she left for New York. She was anxious that one day, when she came back, no one here would remember her. “Alice.” June tapped her arm, as if she had noticed Alice’s worries. “I’m still here. I never left this town.” When Alice didn’t reply, June grabbed Alice’s shoulder and led her down a hallway. “Come, I want to show you something.” June dragged Alice upstairs, through the thick mahogany paneled walls and past the line of family portraits. Alice remembered when she and June were young, and June would always talk about every family picture. The whole line-up series were several generations long. “We’ve seen so many people come and go,” June spoke wistfully, “It’s sad, but they aren’t gone forever. Most of them come back here for a while. Like you.” They arrived at a glass side door, and June opened it. Outside was a large patio that overlooked the whole town. Alice raised her eyebrows and remembered how spectacular the view always was at June’s place. The two looked at the distant sunset as it shined a warm orange light over the small city. The thick clouds, a dark cobalt blue in the shadows, slowly began to surround the bright sun. “You have a daughter?” June asked suddenly. “Yes. Melody,” Alice replied. “I have a son,” June brought up suddenly, “He plays the violin. He’s very passionate about it. But he won’t go anywhere with that passion. He can’t. It’s impossible.” June glanced at Alice. “I’m sorry if that offended you.” “It’s okay, I know how it is.” Alice frowned. “My parents were like you too. They didn’t let me pursue a career in music. I understood why. To them, a musician was nothing without talent. It wasn’t a stable job, and on average they wouldn’t earn as much money as other professions would.” Alice smiled at the last part. At one point of her career life, she had an annual salary that was higher than her mother’s. She remembered feeling proud of completing that feat and proving her mother wrong. “Yes, Amelie talked about that a while ago.” “Who?” “Oh, you probably haven’t met her yet. She’s short, black bun and eyes. She moved to Bellflower Drive two years ago.” Alice’s smile wavered. She averted her gaze away from June’s. “I don’t think I belong here anymore.” “Why not?” “Everything’s different. Everything’s new. I barely know anyone. I just feel like an outsider to everything, despite having lived here before for almost half my life.” The two stood by the sunset in silence again. “You’re right. Bellflower Drive isn’t the same as it was fifteen years ago,” June admitted, “but it’s still Bellflower Drive. They are all different people, but they are still Bellflower Drive neighbors. They might not share the same old memories but they sure are ready to share new ones with you.” June clasped Alice’s hands. “You need to stop clinging to the past Alice. Look around you.” Alice turned around. Behind her were all the party members. One of them stepped up. Judging by her black bun and eyes, Alice knew her as Amelie. “I thought we could hear you play the violin,” Amelie proposed, “I’m not a fan of music, but since June was so intent in telling us how good you were, I thought I’d give you a chance.” Alice’s expression softened. “I would be glad to,” she responded softly. Within the crowd she found Melody in the midst holding her violin case. Her eyes were wide in surprise. Alice smiled softly. “Melody, can you let my use the violin?” Melody hesitated before slowly walking up and handing it over to her. “I’m sorry about lashing out at you earlier,” Melody apologized quietly. “It’s okay.” Can you really play?” Melody whispered frantically, “Did someone finally give you the will to play? Alice shrugged. “We’ll find out.” If what June had said was true, then Alice had nothing to worry about. However, her stomach had other plans. The fluttering had started again. As she set the violin on her shoulder and rested the bow on the string, a familiar feeling overtook her. It was as if she was still in high school, performing in front of all her friends again. Eyes were stuck on her, and the atmosphere was tense with anticipation. And, as if almost by magic, the fluttering in her stomach faded away into nothingness. She began to play.