build a ladder to the stars

Think about January 1st, 2015 - are you where (and/or who) you thought you’d be a year later? “I definitely am not. When Stella died, I knew I had to move back home. Her death was the driving force to get me out of Seattle and back in Northpoint. I also didn't think I would ever see Dahlia, I'd never imagined it in a million years, but here we are sort-of dating.” Imagine you made a time capsule for 2015. What are five items you’d put inside? “1) The picture of Dahlia where she's wrapped in a blanket and just looks beautiful and blissful. 2) the receipt from the u-haul trailer I used to move. 3) Dahlia's broken camera lens, if I could steal it from her. 4) My name tag from the harvest festival! I used to volunteer there before I moved, but this was my first year back so it's kind of sentimental. 5) The bullet journal I kept all year” 

Describe a significant relationship from 2015. “DAHLIA SWANSON!!! My high school love came back to Northpoint and back into my life, and it's honestly been so exciting. We got to reconnect, and it's been really neat to see the adult she's turned into. I still adore her, but she's so different than when we were 15.”

Describe a favorite New Year’s Eve/Day memory. Do you have any traditions for ringing in the New Year? “Honestly New Years was never that big a deal in my household. Sometimes growing up we would have a bonfire in the back yard (if it wasn't too cold, that is). We didn't have a bed time so staying up until midnight wasn't anything exciting, but my siblings and I would always compete to see who could stay up the latest. When I was 11, my little sibling Rowan and I managed to make it all night and watch the sunrise from our tree house. It was beautiful, and it's something we've tried to do ever since.”

Northpoint lay sleeping beneath them, and the ocean stretched out ahead. The fireworks, and their campfire, had long since died down. Now only the stars were left to light up their little tent and the two girls within, but even they were fading with the approaching dawn. Iris knew she should have given into sleep hours ago, back when Dahlia had drifted off in a warm haze of joy and alcohol, but instead she was waiting for dawn. Halfway across town, Rowan was doing the same. Staying up to the dawn together had been their custom since they were two carefree kids with nothing else to do. Back then of course, it had been in their tree house, drinking microwaved hot chocolate, and playing game or talking all night.

Things were more different now. Rowan had friends to party with, and Iris had Dahlia. And Dahlia had alcohol, fireworks, and a camp out on the tallest part of the cliffs all ready for them. Iris would be lying if she said if wasn't one of the most fun nights she'd had in ages and that seeing Dahlia so carefree and happy had made her chest ache in the best way. But she would also be lying if she said she didn't miss her tradition.

She untangled herself from the sleeping beauty beside her, grabbed one of the many blankets they'd brought and her phone, and crawled out of the tent. She made her way to the edge of the cliff and sat down, letting her legs dangle over the side. The sky was beginning to turn pink and orange from the oncoming dawn. The first dawn of a new year, and like always she'd be there to see it. So much had changed in 2015 that it was kind of intimidating to think about how different she would be at this time next year. Maybe by then she and Dahlia would be officially a couple again. A smile crept over her face at the thought. When the two girls had met, she had never imagined their future to be as complicated as their present currently was. They would graduate high school, go off to college (preferably together) and get married right after graduation. Then they'd spend a year or two traveling and taking photos before moving somewhere (preferably Northpoint) buying a tiny home, adopting two cats, one dog, a fish, and a child and grow old together. That was the plan she'd laid out in her head. When Dahlia had been taken from her, the plan was too. She'd never dreamed they would see each other again.

I’ve only been gone a few months, so anything that’s happened since maybe like - October.

Hmmm, let me think... Northpoint has been pretty quiet actually! Tourist season ended and all the excitement left.