Teen Idle

Dark Paradise

1997

You stroked the hair of your young daughter, her head resting on your lap as the both you lay on the sofa, in the living room. She purred slightly, like an overgrown cat, as you tried to push stray hairs back into her buns, the black strands silky in your grasp.

"Jolyne," You said quietly, the sea crashing in the distance from behind the open doors, that let the breeze come in right from the beach, "We need you to get you to school."

Jolyne grumbled, pushing herself off your legs, and stumbling to put her shoes on, fixing the Velcro into place. In many ways your daughter reminded you of yourself, she was already excelling in her classes and making many friends, like you once had when you were younger, before Egypt anyway. That was one thing you never wanted to let Jolyne experience, anything similar to Egypt, she didn't need her childhood ruined and you would do whatever it took to make sure that didn't happen. Anything.

The two of you made your way to your car, and drove to her primary school dancing around in your seats to the radio, that was blasting the newest hits of 1997. Your daughter furiously rocking out to the Spice Girls, as you tried to keep your attention on the road. The two of you pulled into the drive of her school, quickly jumping out and walking to the building, where all her friends surrounded her pulling her away from her mother.

You managed to get a quick kiss in before she was dragged away by the crowd, her friends latching on to her arms and dragging her off the classroom. The image brought a smile to your face, you remembered those days, where the hardest decision you had to make was picking what crayons you want to use. This were a lot simpler back then.

You had driven back home, windows down, smelling the sea air, as your Parklife cd played in the stereo, letting the music and nature consume you on your day off. It had been so long since you had had one, and a long time since your husband had taken a break too. Nowadays he was always off somewhere, visiting some ocean or something, you never really knew, Jotaro wasn't one to talk about work, unless he had found a new species of very interesting fish, boring you and Jolyne with a detailed analysis on each discovery.But you asked questions and acted generally interested, loving that he was no longer the angsty teenager from all those years ago,

You arrived home and slumped down on your bed, picking out a book to pass the day with, maybe you should ring Jotaro? What had it been now, a week? He was studying some coral in Australia, and would be gone another week at the most. But you couldn't go that long without hearing his voice, sometimes you were scared that you sounded 'needy' and you really didn't want that, you had known Jotaro for long enough to know he wasn't the 'touchy' type. But you were husband and wife after all, you were meant to be close, and those weeks when he was gone would drive you insane.

It was just like all those years ago when you used to patiently wait by the phone, waiting for the calls that would never come, the old empty silence filling up the air. That was something you did not want to go back to, those days wasted, lying in your dirty sheets waiting for it to end, for that void to disappear. But it never did, not until he came back, Jotaro had pulled you out of your misery and now was letting you slowly sink back in.

No, no he wasn't.

You scolded yourself for thinking such a thought, Jotaro was just busy, he didn't mean it, he couldn't avoid work, neither could you. The both of you were rarely home nowadays and you hated it, contemplating leaving to work part time, to give yourself more time with Jolyne, you could afford to do that.

Setting your book down, you decided to go for a walk, opening the large sliding doors of your kitchen that led straight out onto the beach. You pulled your cardigan around your shoulders, stepping down to the yellow sand, heading towards the crashing ocean. You spent most of the day on the beach watching the waves, listening to music and reading, staring off into the distance.