Endless Summer

Secrets

Marianna had walked all the way back to her house. "I'm home." There's no one in the messy room to respond. "Mom? You here? Mom—" Marianna checks the rest of the house, but there's no sign of her mother. "Strange, isn't today her day off?"

"Then go. Go start your new life." Her mother's voice from the dream flooded Marianna's mind, the words clear. "That's not right. If the dream was real, why did mom agree to let me study in Hazlitt at the end? I remember it seemed like she had a package to give me... Was it something to do with the package? What could it be?"

The clock on the table ticked on. Even if time was flowing backwards, its hands were still turning clockwise. "I should look in mom's bedroom."

The bedroom door is slightly ajar. It looks like mom left in a hurry. After a soft knock, just to check, Marianna pushes the door open and walks in. "...So messy. Mom hasn't been keeping things tidy recently. Where could that package be?"

There's a small red book on the desk. Marianna picks it up, and starts leading through it. "An account book. Starts June 22nd. The day we moved here." The account book is a record of the family's monthly expenses. Marianna's eyes linger on the pages covering the last few months. "February, income from salary 8200, total expenses 5120. March, income from salary 7900, total expenses 4100. April, income from salary... huh? Why's it blank? Other income 500, 850, 1200, total expensive 3016. May, still no salary number, total expenses 3945. Other income is around 2000... The numbers for money coming in the past few months are strange. What's going on with her work? Did she lose her job... Has she been coming and going at strange hours because she's working odd jobs? Busy enough she doesn't even have time to clean her room, let alone deal with me." Seeing all those red numbers in the account book, Marianna sighs. This is obviously not the life her mother wants to give her. "If we're already struggling, how could she ever let me go to Hazlitt..."

In the pocket of some clothes on the bed, Marianna finds two train tickets. "Return tickets to Gyrate. May 5th? Didn't I go to Gyrate for a diving competition that day? Did mom come to watch my first competition? There's no way she could have known I've been learning to dive. But then why did she go to Gyrate that day?"

In a small cabinet under the desk, Marianna finds a divorce certificate. Marianna looks at the photos of her parents on the divorce certificate and sighs. There's no way to mend a broken mirror. "If they hadn't divorced, we'd have never had to leave Hazlitt. I could have studied there... What do 'If's like that even mean in the real world?"

Under the dusty dressing table, Marianna finds two checks. "What are these? Checks from dad...! They haven't been cashed. Mom's been refusing his money. It must have been dad on the phone this morning. How could she have told me he was dead?! She must have known I would eventually figure out she was lying, surely...?

After searching for a while longer, Marianna accepts that she isn't going to find the package, leaving with a heart filled with doubt. "I can't work out what is going on with those train tickets; the timing and destination can't just be a coincidence. Did mom really come to watch me compete? Maybe I should just ask her." Marianna pulls out her phone, and sends mother a message.

"Mom, did you come to watch me compete in Gyrate?" Marianna sent her, but got no reply. "No reply? Where is she? Oh right, the fireworks show tonight." Then Marianna sends another message.

"Let's go watch the fireworks tonight."
"Up on the cliffs, where we went before."

Marianna takes a deep breath. "I hope she sees it. Trust yourself, Mari, talk this out with mom." Marianna clenches her fist and runs off towards the coast.