Chapter 1

We sat at the kitchen counter, listening to nothing but silence. I stared at  my plate, swirling around my spaghetti. Everyone was hesitant to talk to me ever since the night that Mango died. Mom and Dad looked a little suspicious. Zack was looking a little squirmy. Probably dying to get back to his video games. Beth twirled her magenta colored hair with her finger, secretly texting under the table. Probably wondering what color to dye her hair next, or if she should buy more candles for her room. If you ask me, she has plenty of candles. We all sat in our silence, staring at our plates, feeling awkward. Dad coughed a little, trying to spark up a conversation.

“Bless you,” Mom said. Dad glared at  her. He wanted one of us to say something. Mom eyed Dad, trying to get him to say something, and Dad eyed her back, trying to get her to speak. This went on for about ten minutes. Finally, Mom cheered up, and spoke.

“Kids,” everyone looked up. “We have a surprise for you…!” Mom squeezed Dad’s arm. “We bought tickets-” Dad cut her off.

“To go to France for the summer!” Beth squealed. Her phone practically flew out of her hand. Zack hugged Mom, and fist-bumped Dad. I just sat there, as if I didn’t hear anything. Mom gave Dad a look, as I continued to swirl around my spaghetti. She leaned over.

“Mia, honey. Did you hear us? We’re going to France!” She exclaimed in a loud whisper. I stood up, left the table, and sprinted to my room. I slammed the door shut, and hid my face in my pillow. Tears stream down my face like two angry water waterfalls. Just then, I realized what I had to do. I ran back downstairs, grabbed my coat off the coat rack, and ran out the door. Dad called my name, but I didn’t answer.

It was cold, and dark. Really dark. Rain poured from the sky, like it was made for my sorrow. I didn’t stop running. My dirty blond hair was now dark brown. The strong wind blew in my face as if it were trying to stop me. I ran through the forest, then fell in front of grandpa.

“Grandpa!” I cry. “I wish you were here right now. I miss you. I need you!” My head falls to the ground along with my knees. Tears continue to stream down my face. “I can’t go, grandpa. I CAN’T GO TO FRANCE!!!”

As I started to calm down, my eyelids felt heavy, then they just dropped. Everything went blank.

Chapter 2

I woke up to the smell of fresh bacon. I looked around. I wasn’t with grandpa anymore. This could only mean one thing. Someone came to get me last night after I fell asleep. Although I was still slightly drenched, I went downstairs for breakfast. When I got downstairs, Mom was sitting at the kitchen counter, sipping her coffee. She saw me, then set her coffee down in front of her, and motioned me to come sit.

“Mia, honey. We need to talk,” she started.

“Where is everybody? How did I get back?” I asked. Mom let out a sigh, and began.

“When you left the house, your father got worried that you ran away. But I know my Mia very well, and she would never do that. You obviously wanted to visit grandpa or Mango. So after everyone was asleep, I went to go find you. First I went to the backyard where Mango is. When I saw you weren’t there, I took the car to grandpa’s gravestone. When I got there, you were sound asleep with grandpa, so I picked you up, put you in the car, and drove you home. I tried to dry you off a little bit, but you were soaked!” I stared back at her.

“Well, thanks for getting me. Where is everyone else?”

“Zack is hanging out with one of his friends, Beth and Kylie are dying each others hair at Kylie's house, and Dad is meeting with some guy he meet on how to improve the house,” Mom replied.

I looked down, remembering that I still have to go to France in a couple weeks.

“I know you don’t want to go sweety. But we’ll try to make the best of it,” Mom said in a soothing voice. Mom stood up. “But in the meantime, no more skipping meals! You need to get all your vitamins and nutrients, Mia.” I nodded, and took a bite of bacon. It tasted as salty as my life.

Something hit me. Jenna! I hadn't talked to Jenna in weeks! I shoveled my bacon into my mouth, and told Mom that I’m calling Jenna. Mom simply laughed. She must have forgotten to, and was glad I decided to get out of my gloomy-zone. I’m not quite out of it yet, though.

I ran to my room as fast as I could, and picked up my brand new cell phone. I found Jenna’s contact. I must of had a million text messages from her! I click on her name, and it starts ringing. I get goosebumps all over.

“Hello?” Jenna says through the phone. My throat tightens. I feel my eyes getting watery.

“H-hi,” I respond. A loud gasp comes from the other line.

“Mia!” Jenna exclaimed. “Oh, I just want to hug you! Are you feeling better?”

“Slightly,” I told her. “Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to come over today.”

“Yes! I’d love to Mia! I’ll be right over,” she pressed the end button, and I set down my cell phone. I took a deep breath, and headed back downstairs. Mom was baking in the kitchen. She looked up at me and smiled. I smiled back.

A half an hour later Jenna and I were upstairs in my room, laughing as if we were almost as back to what we were before. Almost. I really just wanted to hug her and tell her I was sorry for ignoring her. But that would just be embarrassing.

It felt like hours, but finally, she said, “Hey, Mia. I gotta go. I’ll text you later.” I nodded, a little disappointed our fun for the day was over.

“Hey, maybe we can hang out tomorrow?” I suggested. Jenna smiled.

“Why don’t we hang out after dinner tonight?,” Jenna offered. “I’m busy tomorrow.”

“Sounds good,” I replied.

Chapter 3

This dinner was not as bad as the previous night. I shoveled my enchilada and beans in my mouth, hoping to finish dinner early tonight. The earlier I finish, the faster I get to go on my pic mission with Jenna. Mom is too busy smiling with Dad at me. Seriously, it’s not that big of a deal. All we did was hang out and now we’re going on a pic mission. Zack had a smirky look on his face. I bet he has plans to raid my room while I’m gone. I give Zack the glare.

“If I come back and my room’s a mess…” I start, “you’re not going to be happy with me.” Zack rolls his eyes with an even bigger, even more smirk smile.

“Mia, let’s watch our tone of voice, please,” Dad says in an almost-serious voice.

“Yeah Mia, let’s watch our tone of voice,” Zack mocks. I just roll my eyes and continue to eat.

I finally finished and was out the door. I ran all the way to Jenna’s house without stopping for a gasp of breath. I knocked on the door. No one answered. I knocked again. Still, no one answered. I began to think I was set up.

“Who is it?” Jenna’s dad asked.

“Mia,” I replied, with a little eye-roll.

“Mia!” He exclaimed, swinging the door open. “Come in! We haven’t seen you in a while.” He bellowed for Jenna, and she came downstairs, with a smile. She motioned me to follow her to her room. I trailed behind her like I was a baby chick, and she was my mother.

We hung out for a while, and then it started to get dark out. I left Jenna’s house with a hug, and started back home. Then something struck my mind like a bolt of lightning. I ran as fast as I could back home. When I got back, I slammed the door and sprinted to my room. Mom tried to say something, but I didn’t have time to forget about Mango, again. Hanging out with Jenna was to much of a distraction. I can’t forget about Mango!

I sat on  my bed, my face buried in my pillow. I kept on thinking, Mango. Mango! MANGO!!!!!! I knew that going to France wasn’t going to help. We were going in two weeks. Just last night we were told! I knew this was going to be a bad night. A bad life!

Chapter 4

I had a dream last night. I was visiting grandpa’s stone, and all of a sudden I fell down a hole. A huge hole. It was dark. Then, I landed in a soft, white, dream-like area. Grandpa was there, staring at me. I ran up to hug him. Mango was at his side. I kissed Mango on the cheek. Grandpa motioned me to sit down on a little floating cloud that appeared out nowhere.

“Mia, my child. I must talk with you,” he began. “You’ve been sulking around for many weeks, and it is bothering me. And it has to do with Mango and I?” I nodded slowly.

He lowered his head more directly towards me. There was a little frown under his excitement to see me.

“You will go,” he demands. “You will go on this trip to France.” I was speechless. How did he know about the trip?

“But how did you - ?” he cut me off. I ran up to hug him, and he disappeared in my arms. Mango let out a ‘meow’, and went along with grandpa. Then I fall through the clouds. My voice echoed loudly as I screamed for help. Tears streamed down my face, endlessly. “Grandpa…!”

I saw a faded image of Jenna, yelling. “How could you? You forgot about me, all because of that stupid cat of yours!!!” she yelled. The image disappears.

Beth was next. There was an image of her, when she entered high school and dropped me like a piping-hot bag of popcorn. She laughed loudly. Not a friendly laugh, but a big, loud, mean laugh.

Mom and Dad came after. “Go outside, and stop thinking of the past!” they said, pointing to the front door.

Last, was Zack. The worst one. “You’re such a wimp,” he says, setting off all my alarm clocks. He disappears in the color of the noise. The colors swirl around me, and I finally reach land.

I find myself in the helicopter, next to Mango’s dead body. I shrieked, and run out in tears. Laughs surrounded me, causing more colors. The colors whirled around me, and I got really nauseous.

I woke up screaming, sweat dripping down my neck.

Chapter 5

Mom, Dad, Beth, and Zack all surrounded me, staring wide-eyed at me. Beth’s hair was now dirty blond, like mine. What a shock! She only dyed her hair weird unnatural colors. Zack just looked a bit freaked out. Mom and Dad looked scared.

“Um, Mia?” Beth asked. “What on earth happened?”

“Sweety,” Dad started, looking startled. “We heard you screaming. Are you alright?” I wipe my neck.

“Yeah, I think I’ll survive.” Mom kisses my forehead, and pats my suitcase.

“You might want to finish packing,” she says. I stare at my partially empty suitcase. A frown slaps its way on my face. She stands up, and leaves the room. Everyone else trails behind her, like a train. Beth sneaks her way out of the train.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” she asked.

“Just a bad dream… maybe a little more than a bad dream,” I told her. “It wasn’t really a scary dream, but certainly not pleasant.” Beth starts her ‘big sister to little sister’ prep talk.

“Mia, you know you can tell me,” she began. “It was about grandpa or Mango, wasn’t it?” I nod my head wildly.

“Both.”

“You have to move on, Mia. You can’t let this ruin your life.” I shake my head, not because I agree, though.

“You can’t really expect me to just let go, can you!?” I replied, angrily.

“No,” Beth said, “ but I do expect you to be mature about it. Just think about what I said, okay?” I nod my head, and she leaves the room.

I sit still in bed for a couple of minutes, then knew what I had to do. I pushed the sheets off me, then reached for my suitcase. I plopped it on my bed, and started digging through my drawers. Soon enough, my suitcase was overflowing.

What? Can’t a girl listen to her grandpa?

Chapter 6

I woke up to the colors of my alarm clock going off. It was two AM. Today was the day. We were going to France. I didn’t know if I should be excited or mad. I rub my face awake.

Mom comes in to make sure I’m getting ready. She gives me a hug, and goes to wake up grumpy Beth.

I go downstairs to find an almost-empty house. It looks so… so different. Dad takes out the camera and yells:

“All Winchell’s please report to the kitchen.” Dad squeezes my hand with a smile. “This might go on our Christmas card, so look happy,” he jokes. I  smile back. Everyone piles into the kitchen, and gather into a picture pose. The camera timer goes off. Mom goes over to look at the picture.

“Awww!” is all she could say.

The taxi pulls up in front of our house, and we all scramble out the front door. “Goodbye, beautiful home,” I whisper. It’s a bit squishy in the taxi, but everyone just sucks it up.

When we got to the airport, I took one last deep breath of home-town fresh air. We walk in the doors, and head to the Delta Airlines bag checkout. I struggle to lift my suitcase up, but that’s what family’s for. When we get to the train, I lighten up. I head straight for the back, my favorite part.

When we get to the gate, I don’t know if I should be mad or happy. I chose neither. Beth was super happy, and texting pretty much the whole world. Zack has the camera, and is taking photos of anything around us. The lady at the desk scans our tickets, and motions us to go on the plane.

We go to find our seat, but then the speaker calls our name. Dad walks up to the front, and butterflies flutter around in my stomach. What if we get kicked off the plane? What if one of our tickets wasn’t real?

Dad comes back with a huge smile on his face. Phew!

“Guess what?” he asks.

“What?!” Mom asks, nearly fainting. She was probably as worried as I was.

“We got upgraded to first class!”

“WHAT?!?!?!” We all exclaimed. I dashed to the front and plopped myself in a first class seat. This was awesome! Beth plopped herself right next to me. I fell asleep to the colors of my music.

Chapter 7

Mom shook me lightly. “Mia… wake up sweetheart! We’re here!” She soothed. I blinked a couple times to get my eyes adjust, and I let out some moans. Beth let out a couple squeals. Zack jumps up out of his seat, and gives Dad a fistbump. We’re here… we’re really here! I couldn’t believe it! Excited or not, this was awesome. Dad looks over to see my smile, and he can’t help but hide the big smile on his face.

I stand up, wait for the isle to be clear, then grab my carry-on from above. I roll it out of the airplane, and wait at the gate for the rest of my family to get out of the airplane. When they got out, Mom wanted to make a couple pit stops, so we agree to meet back at the gate in about an hour. My first stop was Nantes Nouvelles, which is pretty much like Hudson News…. I think.

I walk a little until it’s bright sign catches my eye. I walk in, and head straight for the map section. There is a huge variety of maps, so I look carefully until I find one in English. I head towards the cashier, then set the map down on the table.

“Juste ça?” She asks in French. Good thing I take French class in school.

“Oui,” I respond. “Combien nouilles?” I’m positive that I said how much money. But she disagrees. She laughs loudly.

“You must really like noodles,” she chuckles in a strong accent.

“You speak English?”

“Oui,” she says. “I learned in school. That would be deux dollars.” I had her a five dollar American bill. She gives me my change, and my map.

“Merci.” I thank. Next I head to go get something to drink. I walk a little further until I see a sign that says ‘Coin Café’, which means ‘Coffee Corner’. I walk in, thinking don’t say noodles! DON’T SAY NOODLES!

“Bonjour! Comment peut j'aide toi?” The cashier asks. He said, “Hello! How may I help you?”. I clear my throat, still thinking don’t say noodles! DON’T SAY NOODLES!

“Pouvoir je avoir l'eau glacée?” I asked, which means “can I have ice water?”.

“Oui.” I go to sit down at the nearest table. A minute later, they call my name, so I go to get my drink. I hand them a ten dollar bill, and go back to the gate to meet the rest of my family.

Chapter 8

I lay down on the hotel bed, thinking about Mango. The quiet reminded me of him. Mom knocks on the door. “Come in.”

“We’re going out to explore the city. Just wanted to warn you,” she tells me. I nod, grab my map, throw on my flip-flops, and run out the door. I wait for Beth, Zack, Mom, and Dad, who are debating where to go first. They all agree to visit a couple museums, and then go to the beach. We walk out our room door, and catch the elevator.

We hopped in the rental car, and headed to Musee du Louvre, an art museum. It was beautiful. There was this huge pyramid dome thing outside the building, and it was amazing. Just the building itself was beautiful. And, it used to be a royal palace!

Next, we went to Musee Rodin. It was fit for a queen! There was a huge pond in front of the building, and there was a sculpture in the center which caught me eye. Each sculpture inside and out stuck out in it’s own special way.

The last museum we went to was called Musee Marmottan. It kind of reminded me of the MET in New York. But some of the rooms looked kind of, well, terrible and way too modern, although some rooms looked pretty.

Finally, it was time to go to the beach. I was boiling, so it would feel good to go in the water. I took a nice soak in the cold ocean. Mom was happy to see me happy. I was to. Beth, Zack, and I were running around, laughing splashing each other, and somehow we managed to drag Mom and Dad into our game. I realized I would be disappointed when it would be time to leave. But I savored every last minute of it.

Chapter 9

It was the last day, and I found myself disappointed to leave, but happy to go back home. I wrote down a list of things I learned here:

• Not everything revolves around one person or thing

• We must learn to let go, even when it feels wrong

• Bonding with family makes a better family

As we started heading towards the airport, I hugged my map tight. It was my souvenir, and it had the strangest colors for each letter. Mom looked back from the passenger seat and smiled.

    “So, did everyone have a good trip?” She asked us all. We nod wildly. “I did to.” We all talk about our favorite part of the trip.

We arrived at the airport, and went through security, then passed by all the gift shops, restaurants, and cafes. We passed by Nantes Nouvelles, and the same girl was there.

“I’ll meet you guys at the gate,” I say to Dad. “I have to make one last stop.” I sprinted over to Nantes Nouvelles, and went over to the cashier.

“Bonjour, noodle girl!” She says in her same strong accent.

“Bonjour! Pouvoir je avoir tout de la les Anglais cartes ici?” I ask sarcastically. That means, “Hello! Can I get all the maps here?” She laughs.

“Noodle girl, what is your real name?”

“Mia,” I answer, “Mia Winchell.”

“Claire Bernardy,” says, as if she was just introducing herself. She points to her name tag. “The colors of each letter do not go well together, but I’m used to it now.” I stare at her, speechless. Letters… colors…?

“Do you have synesthesia too?” I ask, with my eyes nearly popping out of my head.

“Oui. You have it too?!” She asks, just as surprised as I am. She blows my a kiss. “I hope to see you soon, chéri!” I wave goodbye, and head towards the gate. Mom was waiting for me. She looks at me happily, and gives me a kiss on my forehead.

We get on the plane, but not in first class this time. I look out my window as we’re taking off. The last couple of months have been amazing here. “Goodbye,” I whisper out the window, and we take off into the air.

Chapter 10

“Mia….” a soothing voice calls my name. I open my eyes, and look around, a bit confused. I was laying in bed, under the covers. I must have fallen asleep on the airplane, and someone carried me home. Mom shook me. “We have a surprise for you I think you’re going to want to see.” I spring out of bed, throw on my robe, and run downstairs to follow Mom.

Mom and Dad leads me out the front door, and we walk for a while. We reached grandpa’s stone, and I was quite surprised. How could any good surprise be at a graveyard? Just then, something small, grey, and furry comes out of nowhere, and stands next to grandpa. It’s eyes were as blue as grandpa’s. I cover my mouth, trying to hide my happy tears. Jenna comes out from behind a tree.

“Welcome home,” she says softly. I pull her into a hug.

“A new Mango!” I cry, staring at the purring cat. I pull my new furry friend into our hug.

I was now sure that I had let go of Mango, but he will always rest in my heart.