by Marie Browne
Under Sam’s bed, I found his ready-packed rucksack containing his beloved beddybear, one hand-held games console, some games and a handful of Beano comics. I showed the contents to Geoff.
‘There would have been ructions if he had left this behind,’ I laughed shakily. He smiled and, taking the rucksack from me, continued walking up the boat.
Charlie and Sam were sitting quietly (for once) together on the sofa. Charlie had her rucksack and Geoff gave the one he was holding to Sam with a shake of his head.
‘Come on,’ Geoff indicated the door. ‘Time to go.’
The kids nodded and climbed out through the doors and on to the tow path.
‘Have you got everything?’ he looked enquiringly at me as I leaned against the kitchen unit.
I sighed. ‘I think so. Come on, let’s get out of here.’
Out on the bank, he stood for a moment in the twilight. ‘Are you sure, you lot, that everything is out, because once I lock this padlock we can’t get back in.’ After a moment’s silence, we all nodded. Geoff hesitated for a few moments just waiting for the normal ‘Argh, I forgot ...’ and then turned and decisively locked the padlock into place.
Without a word, we all hoisted our backpacks and headed down the tow path toward the car. Just before the bridge, Geoff and I turned to look back at Happy, floating in the darkness.
I looked up at him. ‘We had fun?’
He nodded. ‘Yes, we did. Are you upset?’
‘No, not really.’
He nodded again. ‘Come on then, onward and upward. Let’s get this monkey show on the road.’
As he left, I stood for a moment and thought about what I had just said. It had been the truth, I wasn’t really upset, and I was looking forward to doing something else. I peered through the deepening dark for a final glimpse of Happy. Without her cheerful, yellow lights throwing squares and circles of reflected illumination on to the tow path and into the water, she looked dead and cold.
I turned decisively away. Geoff was right, onward and upward, a new boat would be great. I thought about it for a moment, then shouted up the tow path to Geoff who was standing under the bridge watching me.
‘Geoff?’
‘Yes?’
‘I’ve made a decision.’
He stepped out from under the bridge with a quizzical and wary look. ‘What would that be then?’
‘Do you know where the passports are and how fast we can arrange tickets to Holland?’
He frowned. ‘Yes, and pretty fast. Why?’
I squared my shoulders and took a deep breath; a new challenge, new things to learn, new things to run into. I grinned at him and, heaving my rucksack out of the dirt, threw it over my shoulder.
‘Let’s go to sea.’
About the Author …
© Inkwell Photographic
Marie Browne
Marie Browne is a gently harassed mother of three who, for the past fifteen years, has been desperately trying to escape the Customer Service industry.
Apart from her husband and kids, the best things in her life are real ale; barbecues; ugly mad dogs that nobody else wants and cream-covered designer coffees. She also has an obsession with shoes but her husband is threatening to get her help for that.
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