Journey's Child

6

We unpacked the groceries and found places to store them all away. By the time we were done it was after 6 pm.

"Before we do anything else, let's go for a walk on the beach," my mom said in a determined voice.

"Really?" I asked, surprised by her suggestion.

"Really!" she echoed, jumping up and taking my hand.

We walked out through the aqua blue door. The cool air wrapped around us, pulling and tugging like a small child wanting to play. Together arm in arm we strolled towards the beach. We found a path worn down through the overgrown weeds that formed a barrier between the cottages and the shore. It opened up to a small strand that was lined on one side by high rock cliffs. They jutted into the sea at uneven angles, forming small alcoves at low tide.

The other side of the shoreline was bordered by a gradual wall of once red molten rock. It climbed up from the sand, standing about eight feet at its highest point and stretching out as far as we could see. The low tide had sprinkled the beach with its treasures. We picked up several shells, then decided to climb up the lower rock face and check out tide pools. A thick wall of billowy white fog sat off shore until darkness began to push it in. The playful breeze had been replaced by a cold wind pushing down on us. Finally, we were forced to go back to the cottage, barely making it before our way was blocked by nightfall.

I wouldn't have thought that old mildewed cottage would ever feel comforting, but for a brief moment, it did. Stepping through the door after our walk on the beach, the warmth that wrapped around me actually pulled me further inside.

"I'm going to go make up my bed," I told my mom.

She was in the kitchen trying to get one of the bottles of wine open. "Okay, do you need any help?"

"No, I've got it." I picked out some sheets from one of the suitcases and headed off to see what I could do to make the blue bedroom my own. I set my suitcases against one wall and opened them up. I moved all my clothes back and forth until they were organized like my dresser drawers back home. Each suitcase had to serve as two of my drawers, but in the end, I knew where everything was.

I sat down on the squeaky bed and frowned. If only I had brought some posters or a couple of my stuffed animals. I fell back against the lumpy mattress and moaned. Tears involuntarily filled my eyes as the full realization that this nightmare was real, hit me.

From the bedroom, I could hear my mom talking. Listening, I realized she was talking to Lorraine.

"The cottage is a dump. What was I thinking?"

There was a silence, then she said, "You know secretly I think I didn't care where I ended up, as long as I didn't have to sit around the house thinking about my old, now defunct life. But what about Gilly, Lorraine? How is she going to manage here all summer?"

Another silence was followed by, "I know, you're right. I do have to think about what I need, too. Sometimes it is about me. I better go, it's getting late. I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight. Bye friend."

In the silence that followed, my eyes started to tear up again. A movement caught my attention as I looked up to find my mother leaning against the doorjamb with a glass of wine in her hand. In her other hand she held a Three Musketeers, one of the candy bars she bought at the market. She tossed it to me and smiled.

"We'll have none of that, Gilly. Tomorrow we can go shopping and see what we can find to make this place more livable. I brought your clock/radio so maybe you can find a station you like?"

She didn't get much of a reaction from me, I just rolled my eyes at her.

"We're not on a different planet, even if it feels like that right now," she said giving me a crooked smile. "Come on, help me make my bed."

I sat up with a heavy sigh. Sliding down, I followed her into the other bedroom. Just what had she gotten us into I wondered, feeling my stomach tighten with a sudden grip of fear.

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