When she entered the house she noted how quiet it was. It was always this way but she'd only notice it after coming back from a different world.

This time it was the world of loud pop and pop rap music and the growl of her older 

minivan

. She wished that she could be back out there again. Her fingers grazed the plastic remote and the other metal keys on her 

lanyard

, she even turned around, back towards the front door of her parents' house. But as soon as the dark of the evening hit her eyes she knew it was a 

fool's errand

. A chase for something unobtainable. Something no longer real. Was the past fake?

She put her lanyard back into her purse and instead went back outside. She heard no footsteps, which meant that neither her mom and dad heard her return or didn't care enough to come greet her. Outside she lit a 

Camel

and took a deep breath while listening to the crickets in the distance.