The Ocean's Call: Part One | ✔

Part Seven

Part Seven

I manage to fall back into a semi-similar routine I had before the incident. Everyone else around me takes a little longer to get used to my being back. Every time I leave the house to go into town to see Emily or help out the family everyone wants to talk to me, offer their well wishes and see how I'm doing.

It's nice to know so many people care about me but it's beginning to get on my nerves. I just want to slide back into my old life and move on, something that is hard to do when everyone wants to keep dredging it up.

My calm demeaner about everything is frustrating mum. I can hear her at night talking to dad about how odd she thinks I'm acting. She can't understand how I'm so calm about everything while she feels like she's falling apart. Mum is taking this a lot harder than I thought she would. I thought she would be relieved to have me back, but she seems more on edge than anything.

Instead of helping nana make the jewellery pieces I watch her instead. I am not quite in the mood to get back into that rhythm. Nana has filled several boxes with jewellery pieces she's made, the collection the biggest inventory we've ever had on hand at one time.

"I had to keep my fingers and mind busy." Nana says behind me.

I glance over my shoulder at her. Her attention is focused on the earrings in her hand under the lamp. "You never went to the market?"

"I only went back a couple weeks ago a couple of times but then...everything happened, and I haven't been back since. This was our thing to do, and it didn't feel right doing it without you." She explains.

I nod, running my fingers along the row of boxes. "We should get back into going to the markets." I suggest.

"When the time is right, sure."

I turn away from the boxes, walking over to the spare seat at my old desk. I pull the chair away from it before I sit down. "Made anything unique lately?" I ask, eyeing the finished earrings in her hand.

The earrings look like the others we used to make, distinctively a one of a kind but similar lay out of the shells is the same. "Not really. That's awfully pretty, where did you get it?" she points to the thin bracelet on my wrist.

I play with the bracelet, running my fingers over the thin gold material. "It's very pretty." I answer. I keep the knowledge that I don't actually know where I got it from to myself.

"It suits you very well." She smiles, reaching over to touch it as well. She frowns. "It needs to be cleaned though. Can I put it through the cleaner?"

I nod, unclipping the bracelet. I ball it up before dropping it into her hand.

"Isla." A quiet whisper grabs my attention.

"Yes?" I look up at nana. She turns, looking at me oddly.

"Yes, dear? Did you say something?"

I frown, shaking my head. "No, I'm okay. I thought you said something. Never mind, do you need help with anything?" I push off my chair and gesture to the chaotic mess of her desk.

She shakes her head, loading the jewellery cleaner with my bracelet and some chemicals to clean it. "I'm all good here. If you want to go do something else, I'll be fine." She moves back to her desk, sitting down.

I nod. "I might go do some drawing or painting."

"That sounds like a lovely plan."

I farewell her and head back to main house. I grab my drawing pad from my bedroom and sit on the back deck, pencil at the ready to draw something. I look around at the open expanse backyard, wondering what to draw.