Darla, Jessica, and Atticus were having time-off from school starting after the final bell today. Each of them were fidgeting in their desks and waiting for the clocks to strike 3:00 so they could go home and start their vacations like their fellow students and classmates.
'Come on, ring already.' Atticus thought.
Darla's pencil danced in her chubby little hand. Jessica's teeth were nearly chattering. The clock still slowly ticked, but it finally struck 3:00 and the school bell rang and their teachers all wished them to have a nice vacation and would see them in a few weeks after their time off.
'Come on.' Atticus thought.
Atticus didn't seem to realize his classmates were already leaving to start their vacation as the bell had already rung. Once he did, he ran out of the class room. Emily and Patrick decided to pick up their children from school instead of having them on the bus to surprise them. The three of them were and they went out to get aboard and then go home.
"This is exciting," Darla beamed as she hooked on her seat-belt. "My first FAMILY VACATION!"
"The same for me." Atticus said.
"You haven't been on one either?" Darla raised an eyebrow.
"We used to travel all the time, but by the time Atticus joined the family, travel's been a little hard." Jessica informed.
"Luckily we could arrange for something to HAPPEN." Patrick smiled as he drove the family off.
"This is so exciting, so where are we going for vacation?" Atticus asked his parents.
"How does the beach sound?" Emily smiled.
"Awesome!" Jessica beamed.
"I haven't been to the beach in forever." Darla sounded delighted.
The mention of the beach brought back a painful memory of when Atticus was really young and he had thought that he was drowning. Patrick drove on ahead to get them home and get them ready for their FAMILY VACATION. They would have to leave early in the morning and spend almost half the day driving over and getting settled. Jessica plugged her music in while Darla was singing to herself, both unaware of how Atticus was doing.
'Beach means ocean, as long as I stay away from the ocean, I'll be okay.' Atticus thought.
The Fudo family got to their home. Emily went to help Jessica and Darla pack and Patrick decided to help Atticus pack up. They wanted to get it over with, then they would have a nice dinner and pack up some things for the trip over such as cold drinks and sandwiches.
"So that's the plan, stay away from the ocean." Atticus said.
"Drowning incident?" Patrick sounded familiar.
"H-How did you know?" Atticus asked out of shock.
"When I was a kid, I surfed with these other kids, they taught me how," Patrick explained with a smile. "Though, on one of my first tries, I kinda fell overboard... Luckily they helped me."
"Th-The same for me I-I thought that I was drowning and decided to never go into the water again." Atticus said. "And yet it feels like the ocean is a part of me."
Patrick hummed. "That's an interesting case... Maybe your mom should check you out for when your sisters go swimming."
"I also keep having these strange dreams I'm underwater, but I'm not drowning." Atticus said while packing.
"Those are dreams though, they're strange things." Patrick replied.
"Yeah, I guess." Atticus said while still packing.
"You boys about ready?" EMILY asked. "I got a nice turkey in the oven."
Patrick chuckled. "Em, we're leaving tomorrow, you didn't have to make anything too fancy."
"Just a little token as our last night at home before we go off into the world, I've always wanted to explore ever since I was a little girl with my cowgirl Jessie doll." Emily chuckled at her thoughts and feelings about this journey.
"Whatever HAPPENED to her?" Atticus asked.
"Who, dear?" Emily looked down to him.
"Your Jessie doll," Atticus asked. "Whatever HAPPENED to your Jessie doll?"
"Well, dear, you see, I was terribly shy when I was a little girl," Emily explained. "I had Jessie a lot and grew up with her like a real best friend, but my mother decided that I should MEET WITH someone my own age. But, our neighborhood was a little lonely since I was the only kid on the block, but then a NEW GIRL moved in and my mother thought it would be good if I played with her instead of Jessie."
"So did you spend less time with Jessie then?" Atticus asked.
"YES, dear, I'm afraid I did," Emily said softly. "Though one time I thought about her one day when my friend had to leave town for a while... It was good to see her AGAIN, but I was growing up... I was going to move out of my parents' house, go to college, and eventually I met your father and, well, you can guess where that led to."
"Yeah, but still, why didn't you keep Jessie?" Atticus asked.
"I'm not sure, sweetie," Emily gently ruffled up his hair. "I loved her and all, but I just didn't think about her as much when I got older and started my own family. But I named your sister Jessica after her."
"That's cool." Atticus said.
"I think I remember," Patrick spoke up. "Your parents left the house and you were gonna move in with me. You put all your stuff in a box and you were gonna show me your old doll."
Emily looked to him and thought. "That's right... I must've accidentally put her in that old storage box without even realizing it..."
"That does sound possible." Atticus said.
"Well, I'm sure she's fine." Emily shrugged with a smile.
"Mama, can you come here, please?" a FEMALE voice called.
"Coming!" Emily smiled, loving to hear Darla refer to her as her mother. "Excuse me, boys..." She then left the room to allow Atticus and Patrick to finish packing.
"I think I might go for a swim at when we get to the ocean." Atticus said as he was finishing his packing.
"You sure?" Patrick asked as he clicked Atticus's suitcase shut.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Atticus said.
"I hope you have a good time." Patrick put his hand on Atticus's shoulder gently.
YOU ARE READING
The Mermaid Beginning
FanfictionIt's summer vacation, Atticus has been having unusual dreams about being in the water, but not exactly drowning. His family seems to wonder about this, but his mother reveals to him that she is the former Queen Athena's sister and that they are cons...
