The Portal

I was fourteen years old when my father decided we were going to leave the city and move to a sleepy town in Florida named Brooksville. He had purchased the building across the street from the local court house. The bottom floor was going to be my fathers art gallery and studio and the top floor was going to be our home.

My father headed to the town before us to get the apartment and his studio ready. My mother was excited to be leaving the city as she hated living here. I didn't want to leave, as the city is all I knew. My mother kept trying to be optimistic saying how wonderful it would be to me moving to a small town. She told me the building father had purchased was literally in the center of town. I took after my father and she knew I loved to take pictures and draw people and places. My mother took her tie going through the apartment and had slowly started stacking boxes and furniture in the dining room. By the time time my dad came home three weeks later my mom had packed up the whole house and we literally living out of suitcases and 2 boxes of supplies. Mom even had the whole kitchen packed up except what was left in the fridge and a few open boxes and bags of food.

That Monday started my last week of school in New York while my mom tied up all the loose ends with Doctors and accounts. Dad went around to all the studios and stores that sold his art and closed out all his accounts. He wanted to bring all his stock with him to his own gallery instead of paying someone else to sell it. When school ended Friday I walked outside to see my parents waiting in our van. My Dad was leaning against the van and handed me my camera bag.

"Well Maggie do you want to take a few pictures before we leave for Florida?" He asked.

I looked around and it dawned on me I didn't have any real friends as I was always thought of as the weird kid. I smiled and looked at my dad, "You know what Dad, let's get going."

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The trip down to Florida was very uneventful. I spent a majority of my time taking pictures of the scenery and locations. My parents tried to make this a fun trip not just a move to a new home. We stopped at so many roadside stands and attractions. I can't believe all of the different places we went to. Before I knew it we were pulling up in front of the brick building.

"Okay my girls so you know normally we will pull around the back of the building," Dad said, "But you had to see what is now in front of our front door. No more walking out into a smelly hallway and hearing the couple down the hall fighting."

I looked across the street and saw the front of the courthouse. It was a beautiful old building and it was like you could feel the history vibrate off of it. I was looking at all the windows on the side of the building and the bottom set of windows caught my eye. It looked like there was a person peeking out the window.

"Well, Maggie what do you think?" Dad asked as he turned to the front door of the gallery.

"This town definitely has a feel to it Dad," I said. "I am almost expecting to see a horse and buggy or people in vintage clothing leaving the front of the courthouse. Looking at how the buildings are so close I am thankful they left the original building."

"Well, Maggie we will walk over to the courthouse later after you are settled. The old and new buildings are connected." Dad continued, "The best thing is the grounds are open to the public. However, you need permission to view the older section as it is private chambers and offices now."

I walked over to the door and looked at dad, "Well now to the important stuff like what does my room look like and when do I start back to school?"

"Well. Maggie why don't you come in and see. The moving truck should be here in about an hour's time."

Dad moved aside and I walked into his gallery. I saw that he had set up his work area near the front windows of the store surrounded by a counter and that he arranged his register at a low point on the counter. I saw where he had shelves and tables and floor space set up so he could sell his work. Then I saw two things that were very new. He had a glass case set up which had the words written on it 'Maggies Prints' and next to it a red light hung which said no entrance when the red light is on.

"Before I came down here we had talked about how you wanted to see about selling your prints. That case can hold the pictures you would like to sell, all you will have to do is set the prices you want. Also, that was a larger closet that I thought you would like to use as a developing room instead of your own closet. Also I went to a photography supply store and stocked you up on a bunch of supplies"

I was shocked that dad thought of this and I ran up and hugged him, "Thank you so much dad I love it. I can't wait to get all my equipment in here and try it out."

After that we walked through the door that said private. This led into a small hallway the first door contained an office with a lot of shelves. Opposite of that door there was a door that dad said was his supply closet for his art supplies. I opened it up and saw dad had loaded it down with a bunch of different art supplies. I smiled as I saw dad had labels on everything and he must have spent a small fortune on getting set up. We went further down the hall and came to a beautiful kitchen that had a working fireplace with cooking tools. I lifted my camera and took a few shots as there was also an antique wood stove. On the opposite wall there were modern appliances. Opening one door and there was a butlers pantry and the second door led to a laundry room with a washer and dryer. I looked out the back door and saw that there was small greenhouse attached to the wooden porch on the back as well as a driveway.

Next to the door, there was a set of stairs. I went up the stairs with my parents behind me. The stairs led to a large living room that had a patio on one end with stairs that led downstairs and on te other was large windows that looked out the front of the building. On one side of the living room there was two doors. One was a bathroom and the second was my room. My room had beautiful windows that looked down on main street as well as restaurant row.  These windows also had a ledge. on the other side of the living room was the door the led to my parents suite. I walked into their room and there was a bathroom in their room as well as a large closet.

I looked at my parents and they seemed so happy. I was going to say something but there was a honk and dad said, "The moving truck is here. Maggie please do me a favor I am going to run down and lock the door to the shop. After that I am going to move the van to the back parking lot. Why your mom and me direct the movers to where everything goes. Will you please start unloading the van and once that is done start unpacking some of the boxes. There is a dumpster and a recycling dumpster for all the businesses in this strip. Would you try to keep the unpacking organized?"

I put my camera back in my camera bag and walked to set it in my closet. "Sure thing dad I will meet you in the back."

Mom met the movers at the back door as dad pulled up and parked in our families parking spot. He handed me the keys and I popped the trunk to start unloading what was in the van. They had barely made a dent in the moving van by the time I finished emptying the van and got all the garbage out of the car. As dad walked past I tossed him the keys. I walked into the kitchen and saw all the totes and boxes and decided that I would start unpacking there. The first box I came across was pantry items. I walked the box into the butler's pantry and got to work.  By the time I unpacked a large amount of the kitchen the moving van was finally unloaded. My mom and dad walked into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"Wow Maggie you got so much done in here," Dad said. "Where are the boxes I will take them out."

"No need dad I broke the boxes down as I went and took them out as I went. Also, Mom that butlers pantry is so nice. I hope I put everything the way you would want.  I also put the cast iron on the hooks next to the fireplace and on the wood stove as a display." 

My Mom looked at the fireplace, "Oh Maggie I love how you set it up. I don't know about you both but I am tired and hungry. Why don't we clean up and go grab some food?  That way we can come home and just sleep."

I went into my room and saw mom had my bed set up and she made the bed.  I went into the bathroom to wash my face and get ready.  I heard my parent's shower kick on so I started to unpack my room while I was waiting.  I had unpacked a bunch of my hanging clothes boxes as well as a lot of boxes for my shelves.  I had broken down the boxes as I went and I heard my mom call for me.  I grabbed my cell phone and the stack of boxes and headed to the living room.  My dad grabbed the stack of boxes from me and we headed down the stairs and out the back door. Dad dropped the boxes in the recycling and we headed to the nearest Mexican restaurant to get some dinner.

We sat down in the restaurant and placed our order. I looked at my parents and realized I never saw them looking so relaxed and happy. This move will be a good thing for all of us I thought.  I must have been lost in my own thoughts as my Dad waved his hand in front of me. 

"Earth to Maggie you with us," He joked.

I shook myself a bit and said, "Wow sorry Dad I must have been lost in my own thoughts."

Dad laughed, "It's okay kiddo it has been a long couple of days and we are all tired as well. I was saying you will start back to school in eight days. That way mom and I can get everything settled for you and you can explore a bit of the town before you join your class. Also, do you have any pictures or prints that you would like to put in your sale box?"

"Well, honestly dad I am not sure. I didn't take a lot of film-based pictures on our way down. I used my regular camera but I was thinking I do need to get those pictures gone through. I have eight memory cards from the time you announced we were leaving till now." I said.

"Maggie that's not like you. Normally you keep up on your working social media videos and your sell sites for the pictures." Mom said, "Not that you need the income. But you always said you enjoyed posting videos and selling prints on Adobe, Amazon, and Dreamtime? WHat about your slide shows on YouTube?"

"I know I guess I let everything get away from me. Now that we are settling in I might take a few hours the next couple of days to catch everything back up." I followed up with, "Mom I see there is a Suntrust across from the house. Can we go there on Monday so I can set up a bank account?  I can't cash out on any of the social media or photo sites until I have a new account."

"We sure can. Also, we will need to run and get you a Florida identification card so there are no issues," Mom said.

"Awesome Mom," I said. "Where do you want to unpack tomorrow?"

Mom started thinking about it and said, "Not sure let's play that by ear. We got so much done today I know Dad and I want to sleep in."

I laughed, "You don't have to tell me twice."

As mom and dad joined in laughing the waitress brought our food to us. As we ate I started looking around the restaurant. This place was so busy being a Saturday night. I looked over and a few tables away there was a cute guy around my age with curly red hair looking at me once in a while. Maybe moving to Florida wouldn't be so bad after all.

After we ate our food we decided to walk around downtown to stretch our legs. My dad ran into the apartment to grab my camera so I could take pictures of the area around us. We ended up walking all the way to the May-Stringer House. This was a beautiful historic home that is reportedly haunted. On the way back we walked up the other side of the courthouse until it was time to head back to the store and the apartment. 

Once we got into the apartment we headed upstairs and headed to our separate rooms for the evening.  I shut my door and went to sit on the window seat. I saw the red hair guy walk past with his family. The move was starting to look more promising as long as people do not think I am a freak for always being behind the lens of my camera.

I moved away from the window and headed to my bathroom. After unpacking everything and going to dinner it is definitely time to take a shower and get settled in. It felt so good to relax and once my shower was done I decided to throw on the television and before I knew it I had fallen asleep.

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When I woke up the next morning the sun was shining bright. I turned over and looked over at my alarm clock and saw that it was almost 10am. Stretching a bit I climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom and put on some clothes. I went out of the room and heard my parents downstairs. When I got to the bottom of the stairs my mom handed me a cup of tea. "Good morning sleepy head, How did you sleep?"

"Good Morning! I slept so well," I said grabbing a pack of oatmeal out of the cabinet. "So what are we doing today before real life starts again on Monday?"

Dad laughed, "Well we have been up for a while. I have been setting up the store today and have been setting up my windows. If you get a bit later I wanted to post some pictures on the store's new website as well as the county's chamber of commerce site. Would you mind taking pictures of the storefront for me?"

"Sure dad I will take pictures outside and in. By the way, did you also get ink for my printer for digital pictures?" I asked, "If not, not a big deal I can order some after I get my bank account tomorrow."

"Actually when I went to the supply store they were having a sale so I stocked up on ink as well as all sizes of printer paper. I also got you the paper for the regular pictures you take with film. The sales person was in heaven with the small fortune I bought." He said getting up to head to the store, "What are your plans for today?"

I sat down with my oatmeal and tea. Looking at them I said, "I plan on working on my memory cards to see what I took. Then I will probably make a few videos, and print as I go. I will be down shortly to set up the printer after I get my first batch ready to go. I hope you are both okay with me not unpacking anymore today."

Mom leaned over and brushed my hair away from my forehead, "That's fine sweetie I think we all need an unpacking break anyway.  A good friend of mine Jane lives in Brooksville now as well so I think I will call her later and make plans to meet up with her or have her over for coffee."

I finished my tea and oatmeal and washed my bowl and mug, "Okay well I am gonna grab a Pepsi from the fridge and start up at my desk." 

I grabbed a bottle of water, 2 cans of Pepsi, and a bag of Doritos and headed up to my room. I looked at all my cards and thank god I numbered them. I grabbed the first memory card and loaded it into the card reader. I was lost in my own world going through each of the groups of pictures. After I loaded a bunch of unused pictures to my portable hard drive that was marked unused pictures, I uploaded a few Youtube travel videos and decided which pictures needed to print and in which size. I ran downstairs to my print closet and set up the printer with all the paper sizes I would need. I sent off the first round of individual prints to make sure they looked okay. 

I bounded down the stairs again and went right to my printing closet again. I stacked all the pictures from the smallest to the biggest and headed back to the stairs mom gently said, "Maggie sweetheart are you okay."

Stopping in my tracks I turned slowly and mom was sitting at the table with a woman I never met before. "Mom I am so sorry I was in project mode. I just went through over 1000 pictures, uploaded 8 travel videos, posted 100 pictures to the sell sites and then moved all the pictures I did not use from the pictures I went through. By the way, remind me I need to work on ordering another portable hard drive. The original one you and dad bought me for pictures I did not use will be full by the time I go through all these memory cards.  Thankfully my video and pictures I am selling is only half full. I may just buy two or three more."

Mom started laughing, "Maggie breathe."

I stopped talking and took a deep breathe. I turned to my moms friend and stuck my hand out, "I am so sorry I am Maggie. When I get to working on my photos I can't stop normally."

"Maggie, I am Jane." She said taking my hand. "You are fine it's nice to see someone your age having such a passion. May I see what you have printed?"

"Sure," I said handing her the pile of prints.

She started looking through the prints and was smiling. Looking up she said, "I wish my boys had such dedication like you do. These pictures are amazing Maggie you have an amazing eye. Your mom said you sell your pictures and prints as well."

"Thank you! I do sell my pictures and prints. I also have a YouTube channel which i do picture collages set to music. I have a huge following," I said taking the pictures back. "But I do need to go over these pictures to see which prints are good to go or not being made into prints."

Mom laughed, "Fine Maggie go hide."

I turned to Jane and said, "It was nice meeting you."

"I am sure I will see you again soon Maggie," She said.

Smiling I headed up the stairs. I was so buried in my project I passed them a few times as I worked through the day. One time while walking through the kitchen I heard Jane tell my mom, "I wished my boys were that motivated with something other than girls and sports ." 

After a while longer my stomach started growling and I headed back downstairs. I found mom and Jane finishing up unpacking the kitchen. Mom looked up and said, "I made you a sub it's in the fridge." 

Laughing I said, "Aww mom you know the way to my heart. I still have half of the first video card left. My eyes are burning." 

Mom came over and felt my head, "Maggie you look really pale are you feeling okay?" 

"I am sure I am fine. We just got settled here and I just spent 4 hours working," I said. "Oh Jane I am glad your still here. I will be right back." 

I walked to my printer and grabbed the pictures that I found on my last card. Smiling I put them in a envelope and walked back in the kitchen. "After I met you I realized you look familiar. After dinner last night we were walking around and I took a bunch of random pictures. I didn't realize that was you until I looked at them. I have more but since I don't keep pictures unless I get a release signed I will email you all the pictures. Also I will send you my professional release as it has my watermark."

Jane opened the envelope and started smiling, "oh Maggie these are wonderful thank you. The boys never let me take family pictures so I appreciate these."

Smiling I said, "Well if you ever want to get them all together I will do some family pictures for you."

Jane looked up, "You would do that for us? I would pay you of course."

Laughing I said, "No need I need more practice doing pictures of people. So you would be doing me a favor."

Jane was happy and set up an appointment with me for the upcoming weekend, "I will make sure they are ready and we will meet you where ever you want."

"Listen," I said. "A lot of people do not like set up pictures. What does your sons and husband like to do?"

She laughed and said, "Oh they like to fish."

"How about we all go fishing then, " I said "Then they will be relaxed and I will get them while they fish?"

"Okay that is a plan," She said. "I will pick you up and send them ahead with my husband."

My mom smiled and said, "Your gonna go to the river right?"

Jane laughed and said, "You know it."

Mom went into the closet and handed me my paddle board. "Finally she will have a place to use this."

Smiling I said, "Oh Jane I will get some good pictures for you. I just unpacked my waterproof camera equipment."

Mom and Jane started laughing and I went upstairs to continue my work. When I got upstairs and decided to be proactive and made a bag up that held my beach towel, sunblock and water proof equipment. I sat down and continued to work on my old pieces when I heard a knock at my door. Looking up Jane was standing there with a smile on her face.

"You know I wish my boys were as proactive as you are about work. How does Sunday sound for a picture date I talked to my husband and he said that would be a great day to go fishing and do pictures. None of the boys have plans." She continued, "Your mom said if your good with it she and your dad are just gonna be home anyway?"

"Jane that sounds great!" I said nodding over to my bag and board. "What time should I be ready?"

"I will send the guys ahead and come get you around 9am if your okay with it?"

"That sounds great. By then I should have most of this done," Pointing to all of my memory cards. "I kick myself as I never let myself get this far behind."

She walked over and saw both my computers linked together and all my pictures. I explained my process and she looked up my travel videos on Youtube and started to follow me. I notated her picking me up on my calendar. After she left I decided to take a break and stood up and looked out the window. Looking over the town square I realized that there was a lot of history and could not wait to really look into the history of the town. I was looking forward to the shoot and using my paddle board while visiting Jane. Silently I thanked my parents for moving us to Florida and hoped that maybe I would be more accepted than I was in New York.

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During the week we finished unpacking the house. Mom and I did take a break to set up my new bank accounts and register me for school. On Sunday I woke up and got up all my things together and at 9am Jane arrived and we loaded up my paddle board in her jeep and we headed to the river. While we drove through town and the country side I took a lot of pictures. She took a path through the state forest. As we drove through she stopped and said, "Look at that Maggie."

Ahead of us grazing along the side of the road there was a herd or deer. I stood up in the jeep and started taking pictures of the deer. We stayed still and soon enough the herd started walking past us. I stood still and started doing close ups on the deer. As they passed us I had a doe nudge my leg I looked down with my camera and took a few pictures of her face. She was soon joined by her baby and I got a few amazing shots. As they finished passing us I climbed down and took a few shots of them walking away. After I climbed back in and we headed to meet Janes family.

When we got to the road that meets the river she said, "You will hear them before you see them."

I stood up and she took the trail and started taking pictures. As we got to the end I saw the river open up in front of me and took a quick series of pictures. I grabbed my gear and my paddle board and headed with Jane towards the noise. When we got to where they were fishing Jane introduced me to her husband Mike and she said, "That's them good luck girlie."

I placed my board up against the tree as I got the cover on my camera. Went a few feet up the river with my paddle and got on. I took the Paddle and stabbed the ground to keep myself in place and took a bunch of pictures before everyone realized what I was doing. I floated past them so more and repeated the whole process. I made sure I got a good picture of each of her boys and then took the paddle board to shore. I sat next to Jane and pulled out my tablet in its water proof case to show her the pictures. She looked at the pictures and said, "Maggie your amazing. You did all that while standing on your paddle board?"

"My dad loves to do art shows so when we go I do large crowd shots," I said. "My mom should have many of gray hair from all the scaffolding and trees I have climbed to get great pictures. Wanna mess with her watch my video with the pictures from Mardi Gras 2019. I was literally standing on a drag queens shoulders getting pictures of the parade."

Jane laughed so loud as she searched for the video and she laughed even harder when she heard Mal say, "No little bit your light as a feather I do not want to drop you."

While she watched the video I said, "Mal is this amazing drag queen who hired dad to do some art for his review. He also bought some of my pictures from the parade. I am sure we will be seeing him soon enough. I need to ask mom and dad if we are going this year. I was thinking of learning to walk on painters stilts do I can get better shots."

"Maggie where do you find the time," She asked. 

"I get bored easy," I said. "Plus my camera is always with me."

Janes oldest Chris sat down and asked, "So your a freshman right? Don't worry I will not let anyone harass you. But if your a nerd thats on you."

"So being a smart, talented, beautiful and bad ass photographer is a bad thing around here?" I asked. "Teens are allowed to work right? Well my job is my own successful business."

He put his hands up and said, "Damn girlie no shame. Seriously though me and Charles will have your back and next year Shawn joins the party as well. Do you seriously make good money doing what you do?"

"Yeah I do," I said. "I just got my gold play button from YouTube and all my social media has thousands of subscribers. Not including the sites I sell pictures on and my dads gallery. Which thank you Chris you just reminded me I have to get framed pictures together for art in the park."

Jane looked up and said, "Oh are you going to have your own booth?"

"Yes I am and I am going to do photos for anyone who wants to pay for a eight by ten print," I said. "I have multiple backgrounds and I am doing the one picture on the cheap."

She looked at her boys and said, "See you guys show some initiative. This girl could support herself if she wants to."

The boys laughed and Chris asked her, "Mom what would you do without us?"

She got a serious look on her face and said, "Sleep."

The youngest Sam laughed and said, "That's harsh Mom."

She laughed and said to me, "I am lucky these guys let me sleep past seven in the morning they are so loud."

I laughed and said, "My mom wishes I would sleep to as I am up at 630 in the morning every day. I try to work for at least an hour before I get ready for school."

Charles asked, "When do you have fun?"

"That's why I get up early in the morning," I said. "My job revolves around me. So if I don't work I am pretty set up now I get residual money from my sales and videos. But I like to sell my pictures and get myself out there to make a name for myself. Once I get my license and car I am off and traveling the state in my free time to do even more photography and shows."

Charles looked up and said, "Well then if you ever want a travel buddy I will go with you. When do you turn sixteen?"

"My birthday is August 11th," I said. "I just got my permit and they said I have to have it for at least six months before I can I get my license. So I am working on finding a car now. But with all my stuff for photography I am thinking a SUV or truck."

Jane looked up and asked, "Can you afford it?"

"I sure can," I said. "Since I started my photography channels two years ago I have been paying my own taxes. So I learned to save more than half of what I earn. Not bragging but I can get any car I want but it will probably be second hand as its my first vehicle."

Mike looked up and said, "That is a very smart decision. If you need someone to look it over call us and I will look at it I am a mechanic and can tell you what problems it will have or may have."

"Thank you," I said. "I appreciate it and will call you. Dad can at least change a tire but he is not good with cars."

Mike laughed and said, "I know he brought the van to my shop to get the oil change and to be looked at. But hey I couldn't do the art he does either. Everyone has their talents."

We sat relaxing along the river the rest of the afternoon. When Jane dropped me off she sat in the kitchen talking with Mom. I over heard her compliment Mom with what a smart and talented girl she had. She talked about how Mike offered to look over any car I might decide to buy as I wanted to get something used. Knowing I wasn't the geek made me feel so much better when I got started on Janes pictures. 

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Maggie Mom Dad Jane-moms friend (mike) (chris,charles, shawn. ben, sam)