Life starts now - A Bondi Rescue story

Introduction

A/N: Wow...my first story :) I'm not sure if I should continue with this, so I appreciate any feedback. Also, please note that I'm not Australian, so I'm sorry if I get certain details or slang wrong.

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16-year old Melanie Finnigan sat at the edge of the water at Bondi beach, arms wrapped around her knees. The morning breeze played with her sun-bleached hair, blowing it into her face. Despite her healthy tan that spoke of hours and hours in the sun and surf, she was pale.

She watched as dawn crept up, the first slivers of light peeking over the horizon, announcing the start of a brand-new day. With winter just around the corner, the breach wasn't going to be filled with heaps of people – tourists and locals alike – who wanted to enjoy what promised to be a great sunny day. There would be some, but it wouldn't compare to the buzzing crowds of summer.

For Melanie, however, the day was neither great nor sunny. The day before, her world had crumbled around her, leaving her life in shambles. And now, she found herself at a complete loss as to what to do.

Her older sisters, twins Alice and Hailey, had decided that they had "babysat" their younger sibling long enough and that they deserved to have some fun after all the years they had been forced to give up their freedom for her. So they had up and left to travel the world and let their hair down after "having been forced to be responsible for so long." That had stung. It still did.

Melanie had barely gotten more than a "See you in a year or so, sis" and a snarky "Oh, stay out of trouble, will ya? We don't wanna have to come back 'cause you messed up again." That had stung even more. Still did. The goodbye had been fleeting and seemingly only an afterthought to her older sisters.

Hurt, lonely, sad, lost, terrified and completely overwhelmed with the entire situation, the teen had fled the empty house she somehow couldn't call home anymore and headed to the one place that always made her feel better, that always helped her clear her head and calm down. Bondi beach.

But today, the magic didn't seem to be working. She sat on the cool sand, chin resting on her knees, tears spilling from her brown eyes and trailing down her cheeks. Caught up in a whirlpool of thoughts and emotions, the young girl didn't even notice the shivers wracking her frame. Soft sobs were drowned out by the waves, carried away by the light breeze. What was she supposed to do?

The twins had taken a substantial amount of money on their trip in the form of two credit cards – leaving a total number of zero at home – and cash. Even with the bills for the house being payed by their mother, who was God knows where doing research, Melanie still needed to eat. Also, there were other expenses to cover. Bus fees, clothes and the occasional piece of sports gear like board wax or a new rashie.

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The love for being in the water was about the only thing that connected Melanie and her mother. Dr Susan Finnigan had been a passionate swimmer and surfer in her youth and she had been proud to see her youngest daughter loving the ocean just as much as her. Melanie learned how to swim before she could walk, diving and surfing following soon after. In her childhood, she and her mother would spend hours on the beach, the only place where they were close.

But then, Susan had decided to focus on her career. The weekends, evenings and early mornings in the water became fewer and fewer, the relationship between mother and daughter dwindling. The Finnigan sisters got to see less and less of their mother as she became one of the leading experts in her research area that had something to do with genetics.

The twins had basically raised Melanie for the last 5 years, ever since they had turned 16. And now, they wanted a taste of freedom. Melanie couldn't fault them for it, but the abruptness of their departure still hurt. If they had told her earlier, they could have worked everything out together before the twins left.

It wasn't that she couldn't take care of herself. In the past two years, her sisters had become increasingly frustrated with playing mother, their discontent impossible not to notice. It was more that she was shocked by how quickly they had fled the house – yes, fled, there wasn't any other way to describe it – after hurriedly, absent-mindedly wishing her a happy birthday.

Looking back now, Melanie should have known something was up. Alice's smile had been a bit too bright when aimed at her and Hailey, always more bitter about having to "babysit" her, had been strangely excited for her younger sister's birthday.

Another sob worked its way past Melanie's throat and she buried her face in her knees, unaware of the eyes watching her.

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