The Weekend by Charlotte Wood

Author:Charlotte Wood
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2019-08-26T16:00:00+00:00

When Wendy finally looked up, after getting herself and Finn from the car park to the sand, untangling his forelegs from the lead, she saw the bright white curve of the beach, the shocking blue water—and she saw Jude and Adele far ahead, making off up the beach without her.

So this was how it would be, these days at the house with no Sylvie and the distance stretching and deepening between them all. She stood, watching the expanse opening up. Even the two of them weren’t walking together. Until now she had never considered that the worn rubber band of their friendship might one day simply disintegrate. It seemed impossible. But a deadness had crept into their feelings for one another and, it seemed now, was spreading. She thought of the Barrier Reef, and coral bleaching, and it made her want to cry: the ugliness, the devastation of all this loss.

She watched their little procession up the beach. From a distance the contrast between the two women was even more striking: Adele’s prideful stepping out, separating herself from the shrouded, buttoned-up Jude, who leaned into the soft breeze as though it were a tornado, clutching her ridiculous oversized hat. Jude’s mouth, Wendy knew, would be set in its customary grim line, the expression that meant she would endure without complaint, but she would not enjoy. Wendy knew that expression so well, it was as familiar as her own face.

She straightened up. It was alright. In two days she would be home with her work, and in this moment Finn was here, and he needed her. ‘Come on, Finny,’ she crooned, and tugged on the leash, and at last he seemed to register her presence again, and began to move.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.