First Night in Willowbrook
The night was quiet, and the air was cold as the first snow fell from the cloudy skies. The arrival of winter cast shadows over the land as the sun began to set early. Everyone in Willowbrook, a large and usually busy town in the Swiss countryside, was inside their houses, sleeping peacefully in their warm, comfortable beds.
Well, almost everyone.
At the edge of town, in a large house, a young girl named Lydia was wide awake. She sat at her wooden desk near the window, her bright green eyes fixed on the small snowflakes drifting past the glass, slowly making their way to the ground. She had hoped that watching the snowfall would ease her mind, but it wasn’t helping as much as she had hoped.
Lydia’s thoughts swirled around her old home back in London—the place she had to leave behind. Along with it, she had left her friends, her favorite places, and even her father, Tom. The night before Lydia and her mother, Cindy, left for Willowbrook, Cindy and Tom had gotten into a serious argument. Lydia recalled her father’s words:
“She can’t stay here. Not after what happened. She’s one of them, and we know what happens to children like her.”
Lydia had wanted to hear more, but her parents caught her eavesdropping and sent her to her room. She assumed they had been talking about the incident at her school.
A few weeks prior to the night of the argument, Lydia had gotten into an argument with one of her teachers after they embarrassed her in front of the entire class for failing a math test. Frustrated, she had screamed—and when she did, all the lights in the school flickered violently before going out. A strange energy filled the air. Nobody understood why it had happened; there had been no storms, no construction, nothing that could have caused a power outage. When Lydia told her parents about it, they immediately pulled her out of school.
She didn’t understand any of it. She knew the school incident was only part of the reason they had moved, but she had no idea what the real reason was. And no matter how many times she asked her mother, Cindy refused to tell her.
Lydia also didn’t understand why her father hadn’t come with them.
She sighed in frustration. All she wanted were answers.
Suddenly, a soft knock on the door broke her thoughts. A familiar voice followed.
“Lydia, I know you’re awake. May I come in?” Cindy asked
Lydia turned toward the door, hesitating. She thought about it for a moment.
“If I let her inside, maybe she’ll finally give me answers.” Lydia thought
She stood up, walked over, and opened the door, stepping aside to let her mother in.
Cindy entered the room and sat on Lydia’s bed, motioning for her to sit beside her. But Lydia remained by the door, folding her arms and shaking her head.
Cindy sighed. “Look, Lydia, I know you’re upset that we had to leave London, but I need you to understand that it’s for your own good.”
Lydia rolled her eyes. “How am I supposed to understand that this is for my own good when I don’t even know why we had to move in the first place?!”
Cindy responded calmly. “I promise I’ll explain everything when I think you’re ready to handle the truth.”
Lydia threw her arms up dramatically. “I’m fifteen years old! I can handle the truth—I just want answers!”
Cindy opened her mouth to speak, but Lydia cut her off, pacing back and forth as she bombarded her with questions.
“Why did we leave Dad behind? What were you two arguing about the night before we left? Why did you pull me out of school when I told you about the power outage—”
Before Lydia could ask another question, Cindy shushed her gently. She took a deep breath and motioned for Lydia to do the same. Lydia rolled her eyes but complied. They exhaled together.
“Lydia, you’ll get all the answers you’re looking for soon. But for now, I want you to go to bed. We have a lot of unpacking to do in the morning, and I don’t want to hear any excuses about being too tired.”
“Fine,” Lydia muttered. She climbed into bed and pulled the covers over herself.
Cindy’s tone softened. “Goodnight, Lydia. I love you.”
Lydia mumbled something under her breath that sounded like an “I love you too.”
Cindy smiled and quietly closed the door behind her.
Lydia, exhausted, closed her eyes and allowed sleep to take her.
