THE ESCORT

ONE | TALE AS OLD AS TIME

Elodie Evans could cry about how much life sucked.

How it was unfair that she became a care-giver of her brother at the young age of eighteen when all she should be worrying about was where she'd spend her gap year before going to college, and how her parents shouldn't have drove off a cliff because taking care of two children, and owing a mountain of debt was too much for them. She could also cry about how she had to work two jobs each day while running on few hours of sleep to keep from sinking below the surface of the water that was her life.

But she certainly wasn't the first, and neither would she be the last to go through these things. That was just how life was: you win some, you loose some. It was a tale as old as time.

Currently, though, Elodie just got back from her daily run—it kept her demons at bay for a few minutes each day—and she barely had enough time to grab a shower before getting out of her house. The place she lived wasn't much of a house, what with the wall plaster peeling, cracks in the ceiling, and the rats that kept running through the apartment if she stayed as much as an hour in this place. Her only furniture consisted of just the pull out sofa she slept on, second hand coffee table that had certainly seen good days, and the single arm chair she'd also gotten from the flea market. She was barely in the house anyway, so it didn't matter.

Aqualine Shore, the downtown of Sunset Bay, was home to people like her; the poor, and working class. Crimes happened in this part of the town everyday, but trouble didn't find you unless you go looking for it.

The sky was a dull, smog colored blue, the sun was yet to rise, but people peppered the sidewalks: some with their heads down, clad in office wears and holding briefcases, others in tiny clothes, catcalling those walking by. It was all a normal day in this part of the town, once again.

The walk to Neverland Homes was a long one (thirty five minutes at best) and if she wanted to make it to her first job on time, she had leave the house before five-thirty a.m.

Elodie's body had gotten used to her schedules that no matter how tired she was, she was always on time. She'd never failed to wake up on time before her alarm thrilled, and her body was never too sore for a run each time.

The nurse at the front desk was a familiar one, and she grinned immediately Elodie walked through the front door. "Good morning, Elodie."

"Good morning, Lisa," she replied, offering a bright smile in return. "How's work going and how are the kids?"

Lisa Jewel was a single mother of four whose husband ran away with all their life savings, so she had to start afresh here in Sunset Bay where no one knew her, plus he couldn't also find her here, too.

"All good, my dear." She hit a few keys on the board then looked up at her. "He's been stable, so there's nothing to worry about. He's just had his medication, and the therapist had been in to see him this morning."

Which meant that he was asleep, but it was good, anyway. She just had to see him. "It's okay. I'll just pop in to see him."

Lisa smiled warmly, eyes shinning with that maternal feeling all mother's seemed to possess, not that she knew that many anyway. "God bless you for all you've been doing for that boy, Elodie. He's so lucky to have a sister like you."

"Thank you so much," Elodie told her, eyes shinning with tears. "You have no idea how much I needed to hear that."

"I think her do." Her smile was all-knowing. "Go ahead."

Elodie nodded her thanks and set off down the corridor to the room she'd considered her second home for seven years now. She passed by a few nurses, exchanging a brief greeting with them, then arrived at door 27.