Beginning
It was another one of those days in Freshwater. One of those days where the rain poured continuously and all that was heard was the pitter-patter of raindrops on the footpath and window panes all over the small village. Where the rivers and lakes slowly filled up and flooded their banks. Normal children weren’t anywhere to be seen outside. The playgrounds were empty and the estates were deserted. The normal children didn’t want to get soaked and cold in the pouring rain. But then again my friends and I weren’t exactly normal.
I grabbed my tracksuit top off the banister in the hall and pulled it on as I searched under the counter for my wellingtons. I had used them less than a month ago when the stream in our estate had overflowed again. Today it hadn’t stopped raining since eight this morning and the rain was still drizzling down the window panes. The stream was guaranteed to be flooded.
I checked the clock on the kitchen wall as I forced the boots onto my feet. It was almost half four. All day, through every monotonous class, my friends and I had been anticipating the bell. After double science we had pretty much run home to get changed and go out in the rain. Most of us lived in Rowanbrooke, a small estate, with around fifty houses well off the main road so it was quite peaceful. There was a large park which connected us with Cloverfield, another small estate and a small stream ran through it. It didn’t have a name as it was only a mile or so long. We simply referred to it as ‘The River.’
“Dad,” I shouted up the stairs. I heard a muffled grunt in response. “I’m going outside with everyone; I’ll be home for dinner around six, ok?”
“Ella, it’s lashing rain, you’ll catch phenomena,” he replied, sticking his head over the banister. Dad was still in his police uniform, although he was off duty. It was obvious he had been up all through the night and there was a thin layer of stubble on his chin. He was working on an important case at the moment and it took up a lot of his time. Matilda said that he wasn’t married to her; he was married to his job.
“Aw come on Dad,” I sulked, putting on the sad face that usually saw me win an argument with my Dad.
He sighed, defeated. “Fine but if you get sick don’t come crying to me.” He grinned, disappearing back to his study. I smiled back and rushed to the back door.
I loved my Dad, even though he did annoy the hell out of me sometimes. I hadn’t known him until I was four years old. When my mum, Rebecca, was eighteen she got pregnant with me. She never told Dad or her parents, she just took off to her cousins in Galway city and stayed there until I was born in August. When I was one Mum decided to stop crowding her cousins house and get her own place in Wicklow so we moved to a tiny flat near the beach in Bray, Co. Wicklow. But mum wasn’t coping; she was too young and not ready for a child in her life. She worked part time in a petrol station but still struggled to pay the bills. Mum missed home, her parents and her friends. She had changed her phone number three times so she wouldn’t be reminded of them. Mum didn’t want to give me up for adoption either; just because she couldn’t care for me, didn’t mean she didn’t care for me. So mum tracked down my Dad, James Hayden. He was living in Dublin City, a few months into his first job as a police man. I dimly remember sitting on Dads couch, chewing on a stale biscuit while Mum and Dad talked intensely at the kitchen table.
Two hours later I was waving goodbye to my mother and holding a backpack filled with what little belongings I had. Dad was on the phone most of that day as I watched cartoons on his small TV. As I was nodding off he came and sat me on his lap. I remember asking for my mum and he told me she was going on a holiday for a long while. He had a letter from her and read it out. Mum left me a necklace too. It was a locket and inside was a picture of me and her. There were 2 blank places for more photos. Dad helped me put it on and that night we both fell asleep watching Tom and Jerry cartoons and eating burnt popcorn and chocolate buttons.
As I shut the back door behind me I fingered the necklace tenderly. I only ever took it off if I was going swimming at the beach near our house. The spare places were now filled with a picture of me, Maddie and Dad last year at their wedding. The other was one of me, Chelsea Larkin and Liam Kennedy when we were eight outside Chelsea’s house.
I made my way out the side gate to the wall that joined me and Liam’s house. The rain was getting a heavier as I pulled my hood up over my long brown hair, which was pulled back into a loose ponytail. Liam was sitting on the wall waiting for me in old grey tracksuit bottoms and a T-shirt, his Gaelic ball resting beside him. He stood up as I came over. His hair was already drenched and he shook it as I reached over to give him a hug. Liam and I had always been similar heights since we were young.
“Hey, watch it,” I exclaimed, mock punching him on the shoulder. Liam rubbed it subconsciously. “I’m actually trying to keep relatively dry today.”
“You do know it’s raining, right?” he replied, smiling slightly. He headed towards Chelsea’s house, just around the corner. I made a face at Liam’s turned back.
“Sorry I hadn’t figured that one out genius,” I replied, running to catch up with him.
“Yeah,” Liam replied and I could tell he wasn’t listening. He bounced the football as he walked, not looking at me. I frowned. Liam was in a mood, I could tell. He always was lately.
“So who’s coming out today?” I asked, trying to make conversation. “I forgot to ask Noah, I didn’t see him at the lockers.”
“I’ll text him.” Liam fumbled for his mobile in his tracksuit bottoms and began texting. I sighed. I had never felt awkward around Liam, not all the years I’d known him. Why was it now?
I had met Liam Kennedy when I was four years old. A few days after mum left me and Dad together, James started packing up his things. Soon the tiny flat was bare and empty and we set out in James’ little blue car. I fell asleep pretty quickly and when I woke Dad was carrying me into an unfamiliar house. He laid me on the couch and I pretended to be asleep. There were other people in this house. I didn’t know then but it was my grandparents, Tom and Clare’s house, and Dad’s sister, Lilly, who was fifteen at the time. We stayed there for a month or so and I stayed in Lilly’s room with her. They were all very welcoming, even though everyone must have been shocked to find out James was a Dad at just 23.
Then one day we packed up the little blue car again but this time the car journey wasn’t so long. Ten minutes later we entered a little estate. Dad said it was brand new and he showed me our new home. It had a huge bedroom for me. Dad said I could get it whatever colour I wanted. When I asked if mum was moving here too Dad just said he didn’t think so. That was the last time I asked after mum for a long time.
That’s when I met Liam. We were some of the first kids in Rowanbrooke. I had been in the back yard trying out my new slide Dad had bought when I saw a little boy around my age peek his head over my garden wall. He had an untidy mop of dark brown hair that fell over his eyes and a cheeky grin that he’d flashed at me. He’d climbed the wall and jumped into my garden. I glared at him suspiciously.
“Can I play,” he asked, staring at my slide. I begrudgingly agreed and stretched out my hand to introduce myself but he was already heading up the steps. I stared indignantly at his back and started after him. But as he reached the top my new neighbour decided he didn’t want to just slide down. He cried at me to look at him. I raised my eyes to see him waving wildly at me and to my alarm he turned away and threw himself off the side of the slide. I’d heard a thump as he landed, screamed and ran to him but he stood back up, wiped his trousers and got to his feet grinning. He told me to do it. “Unless you’re chicken.”
I’d climbed shakily to the top of the slide and got to my feet. Below me the boy shook the slide from side to side. I shouted at him to stop or I’d tell my Dad, the policeman, and the rocking stopped. I stared down to my left at the grass below. It seemed a lot higher from up here. I closed my eyes, held my breath and jumped. I cried out in shock when I hit the ground but got back up straight away, not wanting to seem like a baby in front of my new found friend.
He was content with this for a while but after another few minutes the game outgrew him. The boy indicated for me to watch him again as he climbed the side of the slide. He reached the top, flashed his cheeky smile and did a somersault off the side. I heard a huge crack as he landed and the boy started screaming. I was sure he was faking but when the screaming didn’t cease I ran over to him and knelt by his side. His elbow had come through the skin and was visible. The boy was clutching at it and wailing. I took his other hand in mine and called for my Dad at the top of my lungs.
When he came home from the hospital I went to see him. He had a cast on and was proudly showing off the huge lolly he’d got for being so brave. We sat on his couch watching the movie his mum had rented from the movie store and he broke a bit of the lolly off for me.
“I’m Liam,” he said, handing me the piece of lolly.
But now it was different between Liam and me. I could keep pretending but I knew we were slowly growing apart. Chelsea said it was all in my head but I wasn’t so sure anymore. He’d been acting distant towards me for weeks and everyone was beginning to notice it. Chelsea was always there to reassure me though.
Chelsea and I had been best friends since we were five. I had moved to Freshwater with my Dad and a few months later Chelsea moved from Gorey with her parents and three sisters. Eventually only Ruth and Chelsea were left, the two youngest. As kids, Liam Chelsea and I had always been inseparable, but now things were changing.
We stopped outside Chelsea’s house, Liam still glued to his phone. Chel was sitting on her porch step with her dog, Rufus. When she saw us she waved, threw open the door and ran over, her blond hair flying wildly behind her.
“Hey, “Chelsea cried, giving me a big hug. “Ready to get the weekend started!”
I grinned. “What better way to do that than get soaked in the rain in the middle of Autumn?”
Chelsea laughed. She looked at Liam but he wasn’t even listening. I rolled my eyes at him and Chelsea nodded knowingly. This was our unspoken signal that Liam was in one of his increasingly frequent moods. I glanced over at him; he hadn’t even acknowledged Chelsea yet. Chelsea cleared her throat loudly. Liam slowly tore his eyes away from the phone.
“Hey,” he nodded, flashing a cheeky grin I hadn’t seen in weeks. “I’m going over to Aidan’s. Noah’s there so we’ll just meet you up at the river.” Before I could reply he was halfway around the corner. Chelsea shook her head after him. I let out an exasperated sigh. Chel wheeled me around and we started towards the park.
“Now is it all in my head,” I sighed, my brow creasing. Chelsea put an arm around my shoulder and we continued to the stream in silence.
I grabbed my tracksuit top off the banister in the hall and pulled it on as I searched under the counter for my wellingtons. I had used them less than a month ago when the stream in our estate had overflowed again. Today it hadn’t stopped raining since eight this morning and the rain was still drizzling down the window panes. The stream was guaranteed to be flooded.
I checked the clock on the kitchen wall as I forced the boots onto my feet. It was almost half four. All day, through every monotonous class, my friends and I had been anticipating the bell. After double science we had pretty much run home to get changed and go out in the rain. Most of us lived in Rowanbrooke, a small estate, with around fifty houses well off the main road so it was quite peaceful. There was a large park which connected us with Cloverfield, another small estate and a small stream ran through it. It didn’t have a name as it was only a mile or so long. We simply referred to it as ‘The River.’
“Dad,” I shouted up the stairs. I heard a muffled grunt in response. “I’m going outside with everyone; I’ll be home for dinner around six, ok?”
“Ella, it’s lashing rain, you’ll catch phenomena,” he replied, sticking his head over the banister. Dad was still in his police uniform, although he was off duty. It was obvious he had been up all through the night and there was a thin layer of stubble on his chin. He was working on an important case at the moment and it took up a lot of his time. Matilda said that he wasn’t married to her; he was married to his job.
“Aw come on Dad,” I sulked, putting on the sad face that usually saw me win an argument with my Dad.
He sighed, defeated. “Fine but if you get sick don’t come crying to me.” He grinned, disappearing back to his study. I smiled back and rushed to the back door.
I loved my Dad, even though he did annoy the hell out of me sometimes. I hadn’t known him until I was four years old. When my mum, Rebecca, was eighteen she got pregnant with me. She never told Dad or her parents, she just took off to her cousins in Galway city and stayed there until I was born in August. When I was one Mum decided to stop crowding her cousins house and get her own place in Wicklow so we moved to a tiny flat near the beach in Bray, Co. Wicklow. But mum wasn’t coping; she was too young and not ready for a child in her life. She worked part time in a petrol station but still struggled to pay the bills. Mum missed home, her parents and her friends. She had changed her phone number three times so she wouldn’t be reminded of them. Mum didn’t want to give me up for adoption either; just because she couldn’t care for me, didn’t mean she didn’t care for me. So mum tracked down my Dad, James Hayden. He was living in Dublin City, a few months into his first job as a police man. I dimly remember sitting on Dads couch, chewing on a stale biscuit while Mum and Dad talked intensely at the kitchen table.
Two hours later I was waving goodbye to my mother and holding a backpack filled with what little belongings I had. Dad was on the phone most of that day as I watched cartoons on his small TV. As I was nodding off he came and sat me on his lap. I remember asking for my mum and he told me she was going on a holiday for a long while. He had a letter from her and read it out. Mum left me a necklace too. It was a locket and inside was a picture of me and her. There were 2 blank places for more photos. Dad helped me put it on and that night we both fell asleep watching Tom and Jerry cartoons and eating burnt popcorn and chocolate buttons.
As I shut the back door behind me I fingered the necklace tenderly. I only ever took it off if I was going swimming at the beach near our house. The spare places were now filled with a picture of me, Maddie and Dad last year at their wedding. The other was one of me, Chelsea Larkin and Liam Kennedy when we were eight outside Chelsea’s house.
I made my way out the side gate to the wall that joined me and Liam’s house. The rain was getting a heavier as I pulled my hood up over my long brown hair, which was pulled back into a loose ponytail. Liam was sitting on the wall waiting for me in old grey tracksuit bottoms and a T-shirt, his Gaelic ball resting beside him. He stood up as I came over. His hair was already drenched and he shook it as I reached over to give him a hug. Liam and I had always been similar heights since we were young.
“Hey, watch it,” I exclaimed, mock punching him on the shoulder. Liam rubbed it subconsciously. “I’m actually trying to keep relatively dry today.”
“You do know it’s raining, right?” he replied, smiling slightly. He headed towards Chelsea’s house, just around the corner. I made a face at Liam’s turned back.
“Sorry I hadn’t figured that one out genius,” I replied, running to catch up with him.
“Yeah,” Liam replied and I could tell he wasn’t listening. He bounced the football as he walked, not looking at me. I frowned. Liam was in a mood, I could tell. He always was lately.
“So who’s coming out today?” I asked, trying to make conversation. “I forgot to ask Noah, I didn’t see him at the lockers.”
“I’ll text him.” Liam fumbled for his mobile in his tracksuit bottoms and began texting. I sighed. I had never felt awkward around Liam, not all the years I’d known him. Why was it now?
I had met Liam Kennedy when I was four years old. A few days after mum left me and Dad together, James started packing up his things. Soon the tiny flat was bare and empty and we set out in James’ little blue car. I fell asleep pretty quickly and when I woke Dad was carrying me into an unfamiliar house. He laid me on the couch and I pretended to be asleep. There were other people in this house. I didn’t know then but it was my grandparents, Tom and Clare’s house, and Dad’s sister, Lilly, who was fifteen at the time. We stayed there for a month or so and I stayed in Lilly’s room with her. They were all very welcoming, even though everyone must have been shocked to find out James was a Dad at just 23.
Then one day we packed up the little blue car again but this time the car journey wasn’t so long. Ten minutes later we entered a little estate. Dad said it was brand new and he showed me our new home. It had a huge bedroom for me. Dad said I could get it whatever colour I wanted. When I asked if mum was moving here too Dad just said he didn’t think so. That was the last time I asked after mum for a long time.
That’s when I met Liam. We were some of the first kids in Rowanbrooke. I had been in the back yard trying out my new slide Dad had bought when I saw a little boy around my age peek his head over my garden wall. He had an untidy mop of dark brown hair that fell over his eyes and a cheeky grin that he’d flashed at me. He’d climbed the wall and jumped into my garden. I glared at him suspiciously.
“Can I play,” he asked, staring at my slide. I begrudgingly agreed and stretched out my hand to introduce myself but he was already heading up the steps. I stared indignantly at his back and started after him. But as he reached the top my new neighbour decided he didn’t want to just slide down. He cried at me to look at him. I raised my eyes to see him waving wildly at me and to my alarm he turned away and threw himself off the side of the slide. I’d heard a thump as he landed, screamed and ran to him but he stood back up, wiped his trousers and got to his feet grinning. He told me to do it. “Unless you’re chicken.”
I’d climbed shakily to the top of the slide and got to my feet. Below me the boy shook the slide from side to side. I shouted at him to stop or I’d tell my Dad, the policeman, and the rocking stopped. I stared down to my left at the grass below. It seemed a lot higher from up here. I closed my eyes, held my breath and jumped. I cried out in shock when I hit the ground but got back up straight away, not wanting to seem like a baby in front of my new found friend.
He was content with this for a while but after another few minutes the game outgrew him. The boy indicated for me to watch him again as he climbed the side of the slide. He reached the top, flashed his cheeky smile and did a somersault off the side. I heard a huge crack as he landed and the boy started screaming. I was sure he was faking but when the screaming didn’t cease I ran over to him and knelt by his side. His elbow had come through the skin and was visible. The boy was clutching at it and wailing. I took his other hand in mine and called for my Dad at the top of my lungs.
When he came home from the hospital I went to see him. He had a cast on and was proudly showing off the huge lolly he’d got for being so brave. We sat on his couch watching the movie his mum had rented from the movie store and he broke a bit of the lolly off for me.
“I’m Liam,” he said, handing me the piece of lolly.
But now it was different between Liam and me. I could keep pretending but I knew we were slowly growing apart. Chelsea said it was all in my head but I wasn’t so sure anymore. He’d been acting distant towards me for weeks and everyone was beginning to notice it. Chelsea was always there to reassure me though.
Chelsea and I had been best friends since we were five. I had moved to Freshwater with my Dad and a few months later Chelsea moved from Gorey with her parents and three sisters. Eventually only Ruth and Chelsea were left, the two youngest. As kids, Liam Chelsea and I had always been inseparable, but now things were changing.
We stopped outside Chelsea’s house, Liam still glued to his phone. Chel was sitting on her porch step with her dog, Rufus. When she saw us she waved, threw open the door and ran over, her blond hair flying wildly behind her.
“Hey, “Chelsea cried, giving me a big hug. “Ready to get the weekend started!”
I grinned. “What better way to do that than get soaked in the rain in the middle of Autumn?”
Chelsea laughed. She looked at Liam but he wasn’t even listening. I rolled my eyes at him and Chelsea nodded knowingly. This was our unspoken signal that Liam was in one of his increasingly frequent moods. I glanced over at him; he hadn’t even acknowledged Chelsea yet. Chelsea cleared her throat loudly. Liam slowly tore his eyes away from the phone.
“Hey,” he nodded, flashing a cheeky grin I hadn’t seen in weeks. “I’m going over to Aidan’s. Noah’s there so we’ll just meet you up at the river.” Before I could reply he was halfway around the corner. Chelsea shook her head after him. I let out an exasperated sigh. Chel wheeled me around and we started towards the park.
“Now is it all in my head,” I sighed, my brow creasing. Chelsea put an arm around my shoulder and we continued to the stream in silence.