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Exit Zero

July 12th, Present Day

Maya exhaled dramatically into the warm summer air as she contemplated her view from the car window. She had been gazing for hours at a seemingly endless row of pine trees as she and her mom drove down the Garden State Parkway. The late afternoon sun warmed her naturally bronzed arm as it rested in the car’s window frame and a slight citrusy scent coming from the pine trees drifted throughout the car. Sighing once more, she rested her chin on her arm, the wind blowing her dark chestnut curls around a freckled, heart shaped face. She gently shut her eyes against the pale shapes which had begun flitting and peering out at her among the gnarled branches of the dense pine trees as they passed.

“Patience, Maya Mey” her mother Willa gently sing-songed beside her. “You will be dipping your toes into the Atlantic Ocean before you know it. And the Pine Barrens end well before we reach the island. I promise.”

Smiling, eyes still shut, Maya responded in the same soft musical lilt of her mother’s gentle voice, “Promises, promises”. Which caused her mother to laugh as she leaned over to tousle Maya’s curls, charm bracelets jingling softly as she did so.

The happiness in her mother’s laugh and voice was hard to miss and even Goose, their lanky golden retriever, stretched in response to her happy tone as he lay napping in sun on the back seat. Her mother’s sweet laughter matched her personality and always put a smile on her daughter’s face.

Maya sat up and reached behind her head to twist her long curls into a loose bun, cooling off the back of her neck, the sunlight glittering off the little gold butterflies hanging from her ears. She was glad she had made the decision to wear a sundress on such a warm day. The light blue cotton dress with its delicate spaghetti straps was perfect in New Jersey’s July weather. She thought again how happy she was to escape Texas, with its relentless summer heat, and happier still to hear her mother laughing again.

But living in New Jersey is going to be so different,” Maya thought nervously for what had to be the millionth time. New home, new friends, new school…

Nerves aside, she was excited by the idea of living just a few blocks away from the ocean. It was something she’d always dreamed about growing up in the baking Texas heat. She loved hearing her mother’s stories about her adventures on the beaches and boardwalks with her big sister, Delle. While Maya had only been to New Jersey a few times when she was little, she had surprisingly clear memories of the time she had spent in the town with her mother and her aunt.

Going over her memories again, she sighed with happiness. Even in the summer sun, she could remember the feel of crisp sea breezes ruffling her hair and stinging her ears during a November visit. The smell of salt as she trudged down a damp beach looking for shells. The cold sea air making her lungs burn, the crash of the waves ever present in the background. She had been so excited to see rabbits on the beach among the dunes and sea grass and always fell behind, distracted, racing to catch up to her mother and Aunt Delle as they walked down the beach front, arm in arm.

Her heart swelled when she thought of her flamboyant Aunt Delle, with her bright red hair and brilliant smile. Her aunt had never formally left the family home and used it as base when she wasn’t travelling with her acting troupe. She would be returning this September, after Labor Day, and Maya was still disappointed she wouldn’t be there to welcome them “home” today.

Of course, there was also the memory, not so pleasant, of playing hide and seek in