Just a little short story for you this weekend. Hope you all enjoy it...
Stormy Weather
Aurora stood and waited by the sea. She listened
to the waves crashing against the rocks just below her, felt the cool damp of
the spray as it stung her face, but she did not move. The seagulls called
overhead, their voices clamouring against the storm, desperate to be heard, but
Aurora stood in
silence. Beneath her feet, the coarse grass was whipped about by the wind, but
she did not stir. Why did she stand so alone on such a stormy day, looking out
to the sea? Why would anyone place themselves so close to the dangerous ocean
that was thrashing about just below her? Aurora
did not fear the sea. She did not fear the wind. Aurora feared only one thing; the storm that
she had left behind. The storm that was of quite a different nature.
Back at the house, Molly stomped around the
kitchen, banging pots and pans down on the sideboard. Geoff rustled his
newspaper and pretended to be engrossed in the black and white print. Rows
always made him uncomfortable, especially like the one he had just witnessed
between his wife and his daughter.
“Did you hear the way she spoke to me?”
snapped Molly, for perhaps the third time since Aurora had stormed out of the door, slamming
it behind her. Perhaps she had not meant to slam it though, he reasoned. After
all it was very windy out there.
“Yes, dear,” he said, glancing up over the
top of the newspaper. Molly was standing; one hand on her hip, the other
grasping the frying pan in such a way that suggested it had become a weapon,
not an instrument of cookery.
“And fancy going out in this weather! Why
would she go off in such a storm?”
“Maybe I should go after her?” suggested
Geoff, reluctantly. He really didn’t want to go out into the rain and the wind,
but maybe the storm out there was worth weathering if it would calm his wife.
Molly pushed a hand through her mass of red curls and sighed, angrily banging
the pan down onto the table. Geoff flinched.
“No! She wants to get cold and wet that’s
her business. You don’t need to go out there too. What a silly idea!”
Geoff nodded and glanced back at the
newspaper, lifting it to cover his face. He couldn’t look at her when she was
this angry. Molly was still beautiful, even now in her mid-forties. She was a
little broader round the hips than she had been when he first met her, but that
suited him fine. After all, he wasn’t exactly a pretty picture himself these
days. His hair had been steadily growing greyer and greyer as the years went
by. The older his daughter, Aurora got the greyer and sparser his hair
became. Really, he supposed, the problem
lay in the fact that they were too alike. Aurora
too had that dangerous red hair, with a temper to match. Her green eyes would
narrow in temper and he would be obliged to seek cover of some form, preferably
the Miner’s Arms with a good pint in his hand.
Tonight though he had made the mistake of
wandering in mid-argument and what an argument it was. Both women were
screaming at one another; he could hear them from down the path. It was too
late to turn round and go back though; Molly had spotted him and had opened the
door for him. And he had walked straight into the lion’s den so to speak, with
the two women pacing the room, sizing each other up, growling and snarling at
one another and then asking him to take sides. Safest bet had been to sit in
his chair with his newspaper and pretend he wasn’t there. They had soon
forgotten about his presence as he had known they would.
Molly sat down opposite him, resting her
chin on her hands. She looked towards the window, at the rain outside and
sighed again.
“Did you hear what she said, Geoff?” she
asked, her voice suddenly quiet. Geoff looked up from the newspaper and saw
that there were tears in her eyes.
“No,” he said. “I just caught the tail end
of it, love.”
Molly suddenly dropped her head down onto
the table and began to sob. Geoff got up from his chair and hurried round the
table to wrap an arm around her. Molly turned to him and threw her arms around
him, weeping bitterly.
Aurora sat down, the weight on her feet suddenly
too much. She rested her chin on her knees and looked out towards the storming
blue. The wind was calming a little now, but the rain still fell heavily,
drenching her. The waves were relenting a little beneath her, as the world
began to return to normal. She brought a trembling hand up to her face to wipe
the tears away, then sat as still as she had stood.
Her mind wandered back to the cottage, back
to her home. Her relationship with her mother had always been turbulent. But
perhaps this was the straw to break the camel’s back. Never had anything she
had done been good enough. Never had anything placated that sense of disapproval
and discontent that she sensed every time she was near her mother.
“Aurora?”
The voice next to her was quiet. He sat down beside her, without flinching at
the damp and the cold of the ground. Without another word, he placed an arm
round her shoulder and she rested her head against him, still staring
wordlessly out at the sea.
Eventually she sat up again and looked
across at him.
“She told you then?”
“Yes,” he replied, taking his turn at
staring out at the sea to avoid her gaze.
“And what do you think?”
Geoff was silent for a moment, considering
his answer carefully. Aurora
was as fiery as her mother and he had no wish to be drawn into a row with her.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted, eventually.
“But I’d like to know how you feel about it.”
He glanced across at her and suddenly saw
how her eyes were now shining, enthusiastic, excited. She smiled at him.
“I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “The
best thing that could ever have happened!”
“Then I think it’s great too, love,” said
Geoff, kissing her gently on the forehead. “We’ll just have to convince your
mother is all.”
Molly looked up as the kitchen door opened
and stood up. Aurora
came in through the door, uncertainly, Geoff behind her. He peeled off his coat
and sat down on the step to take his boots off. Molly crossed the room in an
instance and grabbed her daughter, hugging her fiercely against her.
“You know I love you, Aurora, don’t you?”
she said. Aurora
hugged her back.
“And I love you too, Mum, but I have to do
this. You do understand, don’t you?”
“I’m not sure,” said Molly. “But I guess if
you want to go study in America
I can’t stop you. Your father thinks it will be a wonderful opportunity for
you. I just wish it weren’t so far away.”
“I’ll be back before you know it, Mum. And
we can talk on the phone…”
“Well, the rows will certainly be quieter
and shorter no doubt,” said Geoff, chirpily. Molly and Aurora turned to look at
him, both of them smiling now and he sighed. He loved them both and he would
miss his daughter, but he had to let her take this chance.
“I love you both so much,” he said, opening
his arms wide and embracing them both tightly to him.
