Josey's Story

Chapter One

Josey spent her entire childhood adoring the sea. She loved the inviting color and the friendly waves she liked to imagine were waving at her. Her father on the other hand refused to go near it, much less let his daughter near what he chose to blame for the death of his wife. Paul never truly understood what happened that night, but knew with every fiber in his being that he had to protect his daughter from the sea. But that didn't stop Josey from finding ways to it.

There was a reason Josey was the best swimmer in her swim team, but not the one she thought.

At first, Josey felt guilty for lying to her father. She knew he loved her more than anything in existence. She knew he couldn't finish his last year of college because she needed him. She knew he had to sell his car to pay for her medical bills as a child. Josey got sick quite often growing up, but ironically enough she hadn't been sick for a day since she caught the flu when she was twelve.

Josey knew she shouldn't betray her father's trust in her every time she told him she was going to her friend's, Beth, house to study. With all the time she's spent "studying", you'd think she'd have perfect grades. For years she wanted to just tell him the truth, but she couldn't understand why he hated the ocean so much!

This was a thought that was going through Josey's head one morning during breakfast. Josey was looking beyond her window to the beach and stared longingly at the cool blue waves under the hot Hawaiian sun as they playfully touched the sand and retreated just to return again. Even under the kitchen fan, small beads of sweat were forming over Josey's eyebrows. She really needed to swim today.

"And I told him "Wow, how many times did your dog get run over? Here I thought only cats had nine lives"" Paul said through a mouth full of scrambled eggs and bacon.

"Wait, what?" Josey asked, returning to reality.

"You okay, kid?" Paul asked once his mouth was free of chewed food. "You've been pretty quiet. Most teenagers would be setting the town on fire if they were graduating high school."

"I have one exam left." Josey said, pushing her food with her fork. "There's still a chance I can fail and I never graduate. You could be stuck with me forever." Josey joked.

"Nah, you're too smart. Plus, it would be great to have my precious daughter with me forever."

"You're not getting sentimental on me, are you?"

"Give me a break. It's perfectly natural for a man to get choked up when his only child is growing up." Paul said, picking up his empty plate and coffee mug and carrying it to the sink. "Soon you'll be an adult and married and I'll be calling everyday asking when you and the kids will come visit me and I'll be all alone."

"You do know how to paint a pretty picture. But c'mon, Dad, you don't have to be alone. You could finally start dating. You haven't gone on a date since Mom died, right?"

Paul's back went stiff and there was a big clank of a plate dropping into to sink. Fortunately, it didn't break.

"You never talk about Mom." Josey stated quietly in the awkward silence.

"Sure, I do." Paul said when he finally regained movement of his limbs. "I tell you all the time how your mother would've been so proud of you."

"That's about it. You haven't even told me how she looks like. Although I can assume I got the hair and eyes from her. Did she have freckles too?"

"No, she didn't have freckles." Paul said loudly making Josey jump.

Josey and Paul didn't say anything more and let the silence linger. Paul was the first to move. He kissed Josey on top of her head and told her he'd see her after work and to have a good day at school. He went to the door and left. Josey sat there feeling guilty and lost all her appetite.