The Breaking Wave by Hayton Katherine

Author:Hayton, Katherine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Short Story
Publisher: Katherine Hayton
Published: 2015-10-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

They stayed at the house and slept in the car. It was cramped and uncomfortable, but Gary hugged her close and talked to her, so she didn’t notice as much as she might.

It was the first night since that he hadn’t fallen into a stupor using alcohol. The first night that he’d been present, and words tumbled out of his mouth, willy-nilly, as he tried to capture the thoughts of Tamsin. The sorrow he’d felt, the joy that she’d return.

Like a child on the eve of Christmas. At one point, he hugged her so hard that Christine could feel the muscle in her shoulder start to give, the bones of her upper spine crack. He drummed his feet, needing to get his emotion out. Too large to be contained.

Anong had packed her camera crew up and sent them home for the night, but she’d stayed. Christine didn’t know when it had happened, but she’d managed to score herself a place on the Metharom’s couch for the night. All the better to see you with, my dear.

Christine dozed and woke and dozed again. Even though time passed in skips and jumps the thought that she wasn’t sleeping recurred until she looked at her watch to see that time had once again passed without her knowing.

When dawn started to lighten the horizon, Christine nudged Gary until he released her from his grip, and she opened the car door. Being careful with sound in the early morning quiet. She felt the back of her head. It was wet with tears that Gary must have cried during the night. She wondered if he’d even noticed, or if it was something that had happened while he slept.

Good on him, either way. Tears were something she hadn’t yet managed to shed. For herself, for Gary, for Tamsin. Each time they tried she fought them back, wanting to wait for a better time, when she was alone, when she was comfortable. Each time she thought, now, now is the perfect time to cry, they were nowhere to be found.

The quiet of the morning wasn’t so quiet once she was outside. The water pumps kept up their steady mechanical chugging, and there was already the sound of a chainsaw as someone cut a path that should’ve already been there.

She walked around the side of the house. There was an outside toilet down behind the knocked down shelter belt at the back of the property. It had been hastily erected after the original stopped working, and as Christine squatted over the seat, she thought they should offer to dig another. She and Gary had already spent enough time at the property to warrant at least that offer of assistance.

Malai was sitting on the back porch as Christine wandered back to the house. She waved, and issued a shy smile, which Christine reciprocated. When she sat next to her Malai offered her the bowl she was eating from, but Christine shook her head.

‘Water dropping,’ Malai said once she’d swallowed. ‘Three days, maybe four.

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