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wiping the single tear in my eye with the back of my arm, i took a deep breath as the round woman approached me, a big, gushy smile stretching accross her wide face. "hello, pam, dear!" she chimed, grabbing my hand. "my my, what scrawny hands you have dear," she rambeled on. aunt barbera was a large lady, with a wide head and bobbed hair that sat perfectly on her round shoulders. behind aunt barbera, two small boys came running up the dusty path behind their mother. they had sandy-brown hair that was knotted and tangled and stuck out behind their small, peachy ears. my stomach twisted into a knot and my lips drew dry once again, as i was now faced with 3 unfamiliar faces. as aunt barbera set off to collect her grocery bags, i was left with the two small twins, ty and tristan. i looked down at the two small boys. they looked up at me. not knowing what to say, i awkwardly stumbled over my words, and peeped out, "awful day today..." with no reply, i glanced up at the grey, pale sky stacked upon me. it was dotted with puffy clouds that seemed to scream "alone", to. i as i was starting to calm down, although i could still feel the intense Hazel eyes of the twins darting back at me, i heard a faint voice in the background, and jolted my head back. standing beside the big, black, polished black buggy, aunt barbera and an older boy stood, bickering at each other. i couldn't make out what he was saying, but he had his dirty, large hands shoved inside his pockets and was kicking at pebbles on the dirty path angrily. "you never told me we were living with a clown"! the boy looked around 17 or 18. he had a large nose, small, squinty eyes, and wore dull, dark colours like his surroundings. he kept his eyes up at the big, dead branched willow trees resting against the thick gray canvas sky. i opened my mouth to make a snappy comment about the insult he had made, but as he approached the thought of talking to him intimidated me far too much to speak up. he didn't seem to mind the awkwardness as he strode right past me, not taking his angry eyes off the dull scenery in the background. as he walked past my emotions bubbled up inside of me once more. i held back tears as his clown reference kept coming back in my mind, taunting me. i hugged myself tight as i tried to reconstruct my confidence. everything was going to be okay. suddenly a feeling of warmth fluttered through my body. it shivered up my legs, into my spine, and into my heart. i looked down... ...and smiled for the first time in a long while.