Unamed Story part 1

The car rumbled past forests unlike any she had ever seen before. She had seen pine trees, of course. But never this many, never a forest full of evergreens. They loomed up above her, around the mountains, who circled around her, everywhere she looked they sat glaring down. It was like she was in a giant crater. The pass they had just come through was already too far away too see. Louis and Clark must have had a hard time here. They hadn't had signs pointing them to the ocean.

A deer ran past their car, taking cover in the shadowy forests. She had never seen a deer before. They were beautiful. Of course, everything in this strange state was beautiful. The mountains, the forests, the animals she saw running past. They weren't like the hulking towers she had lived around all her life. Those towers were crude, man-made. Sure, they looked sparkly enough. But this place had a sense of grandeur she had never felt before. Those towers certainly weren't like this.

Mom smiled back at her, her white teeth sparkling like those tall, tall buildings. Her green eyes normally stood out, but now she felt like she had seen enough green to last a lifetime. Dad was driving, the steering wheel in an Australian Shepherd cover. That was his favorite animal. He was still working on convincing Mom that they should have one. Before they didn't have enough space. But now space would be unimportant. They did own five acres of this beautiful land, after all.

" How are you doing, Cleo?" her mom asked, still showing those teeth that looked so fake. She shrugged.

" Better than Damian here, at least."

Damian was her little brother. He had black hair like Dad, and it was as messy as his too. Their Mom calls it a rat's nest. And it was. His eyes were light blue like Dad's also, but his skin was the Miles-family tan. At the sound of his name the ten-year-old boy looked up and stuck his tongue out at her. She rolled her eyes and punched him lightly on the side.

" Hey!" Damian turned off his Game-Boy and faced her. She noticed that his seat belt was unbluckled.

" Dami, you really should buckle up," she laughed. His face flushed pink and he went for here, but luckily Mom's authoritative hand reached back to keep him away.

" Don't call me Dami!" Damian muttered and buckled himself up. Cleo giggled. " Just because you're named after a queen doesn't mean you can boss me around."

" But I thought I was your big sister?"

" Shut up."

" Stop fighting you two. We're going to stop for lunch. How's Dairy Queen sound?" Their Dad called from the front of the car. She and her brother chorused a loud "hurray!" as they parked in front of the fast food place.

As she stepped out of the black car, Cleopatra had a feeling she was being watched. When she turned around, though, there was no one and nothing there. She frowned, and started walking towards it, but her parents called her away inside. As she walked in, she knew she was being watched.