Savannah

Suddenly I wake up. It is early in the morning, but my senses are sharp, my muscles are ready to run.

Run away from this place.

It is high time to do that. I hate this house, my relatives, and everything around me. Especially my brother, Tyler. He is still sleeping, and doesn't have the slightest clue about our plan. Why should I tell him? He is the one, who is responsible for the entire situation.

Our parents died six years ago, in a car accident. Tyler was 24 years old at that time, I turned 18 in that year, and our little sister, Taylor was only 12 years old. Our brother became our tutelar. He and his newlywed wife, Sylvia. Taylor and me both loved our sister-in-law, and she quickly became everything to us: mother, sister and best friend. But soon she and Tyler divorced that summer. It was inevitable, because of the circumstances.

Since our parent died, we had to sell everything from our parents' possessions, and the remaining money was everything, but enough to make a living. Our parents were free spirits, and they were so young, when they died, so they didn't thought of savings. But they left us debt. Fortunately, or unfortunately Tyler got a great job in a movie – and went to a faraway location to work to get some money. No, he was not an actor, and not famous. Nothing to be proud of, or to show off. He was a simple stuntman. While he worked on that movie, he left me, Taylor and Sylvia for the care of our paternal uncle, Ian.

Ian brought us to his home – after paying all our deceased parents' debt, we didn't have enough money to rent a new one. Tyler was glad, that we could live with Ian. We really liked our uncle at that time, but this admiration staled fast: his home was in the northern part of the country, out in the boonies, among the hills. The closest neighbor was in two kilometers. That's why Ian called his house The Anchorage. It was hate for first sight for us, girls.

Well, the house is hardly can be called a house. Ian is an architect, and really loves Asian housing and the nature. His house became the fusion of them. Looks like a giant turtle, coming out from the hill. The inside is pure white, with a lot of free space, but without so much furniture. The walls are erratically sloped, it feels like falls on your head. So the building itself caused a big stress on us.

The second source of stress is was the lack of civilization. There is no cable tv, or phone signal strength. Just fresh air, and agricultural work. Who would have thought this kind of simplicity in this century? Ian named his house well: it is nothing more, just a cave of a monk. Unbearable lifestyle to a modern girl. You could guess what's happened to our social life. Collapsed. It is natural consequence of not being able to call your friends, or send a message. Meeting with friends? Impossible, because of the location – since the messages don't reach you in time, to arrive to a gathering.

Although the house is not far from the civilization, there is a bus stop and a small, vintage store nearby – it takes twenty minutes on foot. The store was build for the tourist, because the area is a popular ski paradise. There is a huge mass of skiing people in the winter, but in the summer it is empty, like a desert. Only the hillbilly people visit the store. They are like their name suggests: they don't speak a word, just grumble, and staring at you, as you came from some foreign country, or from the outer space. They even stopped the grumbling, when Taylor, or Sylvia, or me stepped into the store. Inconvenient enough? Nope. This treatment is simply cruel.

Sylvia was the first, who fed up with this life. When Tyler came home from the shooting, she was waiting for him with her already packed suitcases – and a new fiancé. The divorce was made in three days. It was all Tyler fault. Taylor and I were very annoyed. Our brother simply let our beloved sister-in law to go away, like he was kicking her out of the house.

I was lucky, because the university, I attained was in another town, not the closest one, in Ravenshilltown. I had a certain freedom from our brother, our uncle, and the whole lifestyle-thing, they enjoyed. I quickly had my own circle of new friends, and I found my love, Peter. I fell in love with him, and I was lucky: he felt the same.

Peter was one of the most popular man in the university. Handsome, clever, and rich, but without the restrains of being an heir: he had an older brother. So he was free. Ideal man, and every girl on the university fell in love with him. Me too, but I had never imagined that he even took a glance on me. There was a big party, when he suddenly came to me, and asked, if I wanted a drink. I was frightened first, but nodded a yes. That night, we drank a lot, and later went to my room, and loved each other until morning. Peter asked me to be his girlfriend at the first rays of the sun. It was very romantic.

But the consequences were not too romantic. We were always together, and I wasn't so clever as Peter. I failed too many of the upcoming exams, so I had to enroll for a plus term. I didn't have too much money, so I had to tell everything to Tyler and Ian. Tyler didn't blame me, or Peter. Just stormed to my room in the next morning, strictly told me to dress up, and pack my things. The most embarrassing thing was, that I slept with Peter, and under the blanket, we didn't wore a thing. Peter and Tyler started to argue on my education, rights, and money, and my brother won. I had to move back to Ian's cave, and graduate from the local university. It was the cheapest solution.

Cheapest? I paid a big price for my love. When I was forced back to The Anchorage, I experienced, what my sister had to endure. The loneliness, the boredom, and the hard work in Ian's company, without payment. I got some pocket money, but Ian refused to pay me a salary. He said, he paid my education, and living expenses, not to mention he was the one, who gave me food. Our relationship rankled.

I didn't care about getting in good relationship with my relatives, but I cared about my love, Peter. We changed letters – in an old-fashioned style: by post, which he found charming. Sometimes I called him from the university, but my pocket money was not enough for long talks – and besides the work on the farm, I didn't have a chance to work somewhere else. It was awkward, always asking him, to call me back.

Peter wasn't bothered by calling me. He came from a rich family, so his allowance was far more, than my pocket money. He quickly found a nice job after graduation, he became the principal of a prestigious voluntary school. His salary was not too big, but his family is allowed him this hobby, the teaching. His school was in Hardersfield, the town in the southern part of the country, where Sylvia lived with her new husband and their daughter. Peter was still in love with me, and asked me to marry him, and teach physical education at his school. My heart was aching for Peter, for Sylvia, and for living with them, but I had one more term because of my failed exams.

Moreover, I couldn't leave Taylor behind. My sister is the one, whom I really had to save from this place. She was an underage, and also suffered by the lifestyle of our brother and uncle. She found a hobby for herself, but when she revealed it to me, I refused to listen to her argument, and stopped her. I was unable to accept her choices, because in the meanwhile Ian made choices himself, and the rooms of The Anchorage became occupied. I was also against his choices of tenants, but I had no words in his cave. Taylor and I had to give up our rooms, and share the biggest room with our brother.

This room, where I am lying in a mattress, and wishing of my sister to wake up. This is our last day in this prison. This day is the day of our liberation. The end of our suffering. Our freedom is finally coming. It is Taylor's 18th birthday, so we are both adult by right. We can go, and live whenever we want. The joyous feeling of this riddance of our family is almost unbearable.

I carefully check my sister, and realizing, she is also awake. We simultaneously get out of the bed, quietly, not to wake up our brother, and leave the room.