(no subject)
Day 3
I woke to the racket of heavy rain smacking against the caravan roof. It was 6:30am. My lower stomach was bloated and like a rock…I had to get to a toilet before my bladder exploded. Half asleep I threw on my clothes and burst out of the caravan, I ran through the shingle car park my feet hitting the wet pebbles loudly. I ran back feeling so much better, but deciding to do some pelvic floor exercises as might have done some damage lol. As I was awake I wanted to pack my stuff and get the hell out of Aragog’s cave as soon as possible. Julian woke from my bustling about and joined me in packing. Luckily Hattie had said we could use the house shower to save trouble so I showered and had some breakfast. When everyone was sorted the adults decided to go for a walk to the pub, me and Jules stayed at home to read our books, I was reading Mansfield Park by Jane Austen and was finding it hard to get into as my copy was very old-yellowing round the edges with tiny print. After a few pages I fell asleep along with Jules who had been snoring after a few lines. I was in a f*cked up dream when I woke with a start to the phone it was just the guys asking if we wanted to come down…we declined and put on Shaun of the Dead. By the time that was over we were ready to move on and so said our goodbyes and made the 45min drive to my Great Aunt Margaret’s. As the car turned onto Silver Drive where she lives it was like dolls house land. The street was perfect- all little neat bungalows with immaculate front gardens newly washed cars in the drives, and yet there was the hint of retirement in the air. We arrived and said our hello’s and brought in our bags. She was showing everyone where they were sleeping. She designated my parents, then Julian then….
“And as for this one…You don’t mind staying with my friend Joyce down the road do you?”
I thought she was joking so just laughed nervously…………………she wasn’t joking.
“Fine...yeah...um...that’s fine, of course” I gushed trying to compose myself, though inside was screaming (‘Best holiday ever!’)
I was sharing a suitcase with my brother and so started to try and extract my stuff, before deciding to only sleep at Joyce’s, but shower and basically stay at my aunts so I stopped unpacking. I went with my aunt to meet Joyce. She was a friendly old lady similar to my great aunt with a similar house neat clean smelling, perfectly decorated. No clutter. She showed me my room it was empty but for a double bed, a dresser, wardrobe and a chair. I thanked her for putting me up as she handed me the keys I would use to get in at night. I went back to the house with the resolution of being quiet and polite, the perfect daughter/great niece and not cause any grief for anyone. If I just read and absorbed myself in books for the holiday it would go pretty quickly…wouldn’t it?
That night when it was time to go my dad walked me to the door. There was no sign of Joyce so I let myself in quietly and slipped into my room. I had washed my face and cleaned my teeth before I had left and so was able to slip into bed straight away…I read a few more chapters before going to sleep. I was comfortable in a clean, large double bed at a good distance from my parents…maybe this wouldn’t be so bad!