Molly Harding's Short Stories: A Long Way Home

Molly Harding is an eighteen year old girl currently living in Memphis, Tennessee. She lives in a two story house in Germantown with her parents and her younger brother, Cooper. Molly is going to college overseas in the summer and has yet to apply for a passport and visa. On top of that, her class is going to Florida for their senior trip next week and she has to read some maps and brochures of local attractions before leaving on Monday.

First, Molly must get her parents to sign the travel release form to go to on the trip to Tallahassee. After receiving the slip at school on Thursday, she forgot to have her parents sign it and bring it back on Friday. It’s now Saturday night and she definitely can’t go on the trip if her form isn’t in by Monday morning. As Molly was thinking about this, she ran downstairs

She pulled out some slightly crumpled brochures from her school bag, which she had picked up the day before, on her way home at the travel store. “Tallahassee in a Week” and “50 Things to do in Florida” read the bold prints of informative texts. She read through the pamphlets and the attached maps and proceeded to highlight some of the places she hoped she’d get to visit, or at least pass by, one being the Florida State University where her best friend Vicky would be attending.

As Monday morning rolled along, Molly gathered all her stuff at the door and yelled for her parents to hurry or she’d be late to catch the bus at school. With all her things stacked in the trunk of the car, her dad could hardly see past her purple suitcase in the rearview mirror, yet that didn't stop him from driving. When Molly and her family pulled up to the parking lot, it was packed with other seniors and their families, they had to park at the back near the entrance gate which was farther away from the bus she needed to go