Shifting Waters

Chapter 2

" Sh-!" Heather stumbled into the ground, her hands meeting the rocky floor with a thud. She groaned and stood up again, shaking the dust of her umber skin . She couldn't waste any time, since she was already late and there were still 3 km to home.  Heather wasn't actually a good long-distance runner; she was more sprints-type, do-things-quickly-type, why-bother-running-10-km-type. That was exactly why she was running around the town's coastline at 6:00 AM.

Heather took up pace as she headed back home. The town was mostly silent, except for the quiet song of a few morning birds and the occasional rumble of a car's engine in the distance. Everything was calm. Everything was still. Honestly, calm wasn't a common thing in Heather's schedule. That's why she liked these runs. It was like a little island of peace in an ocean of stress. An island that was beginning to disappear as she arrived home

Her house was in a small neighbourhood up in a hill, overlooking the sea. Block-like, white houses filled the quiet streets of the neighbourhood, the street lamps already turned off. Trees and branches loomed over the houses' fences, rich green and deep emerald leaves everywhere. Heather's house wasn't any different, with sweetgum trees and large oaks reaching over the fence. Heather opened the door and Kai, one of her dogs, rose his head sleepily at her, waving his tail softly before going back to sleep. Zeyn, Kai's sister, didn't seem to notice her.

Heather opened the door quietly, but she  noticed she wasn't the only one awake. Coffee smell hang in the air,coming from the kitchen. Heather walked towards the kitchen, dropping her dirty running trainers on her way. Inside, a tall, sleepy-looking man was pouring himself some coffee when he saw her.

" 'morning, Dad" The words didn't feel odd anymore. Nicolas, Nick, had been there for most of her life, ever since her biological father travelled to America for job... and never came back. That happened about 10 years ago. when she was 5, and Nick rolled in a couple years later. Now, she couldn't think of him other than as his dad

" Hey, morning bird. How was the run?" He smiled.  

" Good. Is Mum awake?" she asked

" You know Mum. She says she's waking up at 6 and then you see her snoozing hell off at 8 AM. Your siblings are sleeping as well" He laughed and stirred his coffee. " Now, go up and take a shower. You smell like a pig" Heather laughed quietly and went upstairs. She took a quick shower and by the time she went out, she could hear the groans of her siblings being woken up. With a soft smile, she tried to uselessly tame her afro curls into a bun. She quickly gave up and leaved her hair down, just at the time her mother called her for breakfast.

" How was your run, sweetheart?" she asked, spreading some butter over her toast. Heather poured some juice into a glass, only to get knocked by Nathan, one of the twins. 

" Nathan, you-! It was good, Mum" she said after growling at the boy. Lauren nodded and started talking about some gossip at the office. She listened absently checked the folded paper on her skirt's pocket.

"What's that, darling?" Nick peered over her shoulder. Heather quickly folded it back into her pocket.

" Nothing!Nothing" Conveniently, her watch's alarm rang, giving her an excuse to go away. She excused herself hurriedly, grabbed her school bag and headed towards hell.