Heading North (an excerpt) by Listeria Calvin

Elisa sat in a vinyl chair next to her mother and waited for Ms. Everett, the principal, to hang up the phone and emerge from her office to sign the documents that would finalize Elisa's transfer into the school. Elisa's mother pointed to the coat rack next to the door. Elisa knew that her mother wanted her to hang up her coat, but Elisa still felt cold—she had been barely able to contain her shivering since they arrived in this sleepy little Pennsylvania town. But Elisa obeyed her mother's wishes and hung her down-filled jacket on a hook…

Leaving her happy life in Sarasota was not easy for Elisa, who at first dug in her heels. She cried and pleaded with her mother to look for work in Florida. But she was no longer a little girl and realized that she had to accept her mother's decision because it was in their best interest. Elisa's mother had been out of work for a while and the job she had been offered was a good one. And Elisa also knew that there was more to her mother's decision than finances. Her elderly grandparents lived alone and were now at an age where they needed family nearby. They were no longer able to drive and depended on buses to take them where they needed to go, which was not always convenient or even possible. And there were tasks that they just couldn't do anymore, like shoveling snow and carrying heavy bags of groceries into the house.