Elayna felt the boiling hot embrace of the Australian summer weather engulf her body the second after she stepped foot out of the busy airport. She looked around at her surroundings, noticing the deep blue skies above her with feathered clouds floating around, some thin and nearly transparent, others plump and pure white. Australia always seemed much more peaceful than her hometown in the United Kingdom- or at least she thought so until her head was struck by a hard sphere. It wasn't long until she recognized the round figure as a football by it's distinctive black and white pattern. She stared at it in a daze until the owner, an eleven year old boy, came up to apologize profusely in an adorable Australian accent with his parents glaring at him.
"It's alright, love." Elayna smiled nicely, handing him the ball back. "You have a good kick, though. Maybe you'll be a professional football player when you're older,"
His eyes sparkled. "You think so?"
"If you want to be one, I think you can definitely do it." She replied, kneeling to his height. "But next time when you practice, you should probably aim for something other than somebody's head, huh?"
He grinned and nodded. "Thank you, miss."
Elayna watched as his parents dragged him away, inaudibly hissing under their breath in a disappointed tone. Elayna knew all too well what it felt like to be on the receiving end of one of those conversations, listening to her parents tell her how much she had failed to fulfill their expectations of her. Elayna was always too rash, too ignorant, too tiresome- always too deficient for her family. She reverted her gaze to the road before flagging down a taxicab to take to her grandmother's house.
She leaned against the passenger window of the taxi cab, her cheek laying against the warm glass whilst she watched the trees pass her so quickly they were nothing more than blurry green figures. The drive to Nan's house was a solid half an hour, which wasn't that bad considering the amount of time the driver spent weaving through traffic. She passed the time by reading her favourite novel and listening to music on her iPhone.
As the car pulled onto the street her mum grew up on, Elayna searched for the familiar looking house she had seen in pictures what seemed like millions of times. The dwelling her grandmother had called home for over forty years was surprisingly modern for a house that had been owned by an elderly couple for decades. She stared at it whilst the car approached the building, observing anything she could see. The blue skies that were littered with clouds were reflecting on the large windows strategically placed evenly on the two top floors to allow as much natural lighting into the house as possible. The white side panelling surprisingly never had a spot of dirt on it anytime Elayna visited, and the black roof contrasted perfectly against the pale siding which made the house look rather nice. A colourful low-maintenance garden which laid in the garden boxes Elayna's mum and uncle built when they were little gave the very tiny front yard an appealing look.
She handed the driver money before hauling her bags to the front door, ringing the door bell with a swift movement. She fiddled with the hem of her t-shirt nervously like a young girl seeking the approval of her friends, feeling foolish for being worried Mary would be displeased to see her own grandchild. Elayna knew that was a ridiculous thought- Mary was the nicest lady in the world, far more amiable than anybody else Elayna had the privilege of meeting. There wasn't a chance in hell that such a cheerful, wonderful woman like Mary would be bitter towards her only granddaughter, especially when they only visited each other once every few years.
Elayna's anxiety immediately fluxed into comfort as her Nan opened the door with her eyes widened in excitement. Elayna's Nan had changed a lot since the last time she seen her. The sparkle in her eye had gone dull, her white hair wasn't tucked into a neat bun and she had earned a few more wrinkles. Still, she was a beautiful elderly lady.
"Oh, darling!" Nan cried out as she hugged Elayna. For a soon-to-be eighty year old woman, she had an incredibly strong grip. After letting Elayna go, she placed her shaky hands on her shoulders, scanning her granddaughter with her eyes. "You've grown like a weed since you've last visited! My goodness, you're such a beautiful young lady now, Elayna,"
"Thank you, Nan." Elayna smiled. "It's lovely to see you,"
She grinned for a few more seconds before leading Elayna inside the house, giving her a quick tour to refresh her memory of the dwelling she hadn't been in since she was ten. The lounge was off of the two story foyer and was home to a flat screen television that looked relatively new, two sofas and a nice wooden coffee table. Next was the bright kitchen painted with light colours that made it look even bigger than it was. An office, a walk-in pantry and a bathroom took the rest of the floor. Upstairs there were four bedrooms, two bathrooms and about a million closets in every nook and cranny.
The bedroom Elayna was staying in for the four months she'd be in Sydney was her mum's old bedroom. Elayna always asked if she could stay in there because her mum designed the room when her granddad built the house in the mid 1980s, when Elayna's mum was only fifteen. The interior had hanged a little since her mum plastered the wall with posters of rock bands, but the furniture like her old dresser with her and her high school boyfriend's name carved into the wood still remained.
Elayna caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror accidentally, seeing her blonde curly hair that, to her dismay, was sticking up in each and every direction and her blue bloodshot eyes. It definitely wasn't her best look and her joggers and oversized jumper definitely didn't help the situation either. Sighing, she went to the lounge and watched a film with Mary.
