Nine Lives

Tin Can In The Sky

"They have dragons!! No fair, I want to live in Wells!" She shouted, crossing her arms without being able to hide her wide, interested eyes.

"Wales, sweetie." I said, spelling it out for her and congratulating her as she learnt yet another new word. "The dragon is what's on their flag, you know like the big red cross that's on ours? Mummy taught you that during homeschooling, remember?"

She stuck a finger up to her lips, making her thinking face before giving me a big thumbs up and giggling under her breath. "Yes! Like the stars in the corner of the place daddy gets his chow mien from?"

I laughed even more, pulling her into my embrace and tickling her tiny belly. 'That's the one! And I'm sure Wales has little toy dragons that could play with your princesses."

She gave me a massive smile and tickled me back, starting a grand tickling war that ended in me up the other end of the bed and poor pooh falling onto the floor. I laid back, admitting my defeat as she fist pumped the air and used her small blanket as a scarf and medal.

"You always win!" I shrieked, holding her perfect little smile in the back of my mind.

"Because I am the best, of the best, of the best!" She announced, meaning every word.

I smiled back, hypnotised by her pure innocence. "Of course you are. You know this means I'll be away for a little though, Viv. Not long, only a few days. Can you be a big girl and look after mummy and daddy for me?"

She hugged me tight, but gave me a look of encouragement "I always look after mummy when she's sick, and daddy says i'm the best nurse there is when one of my teddies is in the hospital!" She explained, pointing to her home-made doll house of cardboard boxes that doubled as a teddy bear hospital.

"I knew I could count on you, munchkin. I'll see you in a few days, okay? I'll tell daddy you're awake." I said, kissing her on the head and being overly grateful she was only four and couldn't see through my obvious lie. Why was it always so easy to lie to children?

"Okay, miss you!" She kissed me back, and ran over to her hospital, readying bandages she stole from the first aid box and examining her toy octopus with a heart shaped stethoscope.

I left the door ajar behind me, grabbing my bag from the end of my bed and shoving on my green leather jacket to cover the long-sleeved shirt I was wearing and give me some warmth that I wouldn't get from my super ripped jeans. My watch buzzed as i'd set the alarm for 8pm, letting me know it was time.

My heart began to race, a completely stupid reaction. This was only a trip to London, i'd done it many times before. Matter of fact, I loved London, so why was I so nervous? Was it lying to my parents and Jackson? Maybe it was the fear of backing out of my plan? Or, it could be the simplest option I didn't want to believe...that it was because I was going with Blake. He'd offered me what I'd been looking for behind the scenes for years on end, and now it was finally happening. It was just excitement...right?

I shook off the anxiety in my chest, downing a pint of water and instantly regretting it. I needed to just lean into this and remind myself I have nothing to lose.

As I slowly paced down the stairs, I became my own hypocrite. It was like pulling flower petals in a game of do I don't I.

Step 1, I do. Step 2, I don't. Step 3, I do. Step 4, I don't. Lucky enough for me, the last step was I do, and that made up my mind. I was really doing this.

"Bye, dad!" I shouted, not waiting around for an answer. I stepped into my porch and took a deep breath, searching for the classic car I'd danced on in the night.

The air was fresh as I stepped out from the shelter, raindrops settling on my head and inviting frizz to return. I walked quickly to the side of the road, searching for the car, but it was nowhere to be seen. I looked where he had parked last night but there was no-one there, then I looked the other way down my street, but still nothing. My watch definitely said the right time...did I set it wrong?

I went to take a quick look at my phone in my bag when headlights appeared from around the corner, coming from the deadend culdesack that was my road. Smooth, dance music began to float into my ears, matched with the low rumble of an engine changing gears. I smiled as the old car pulled up, and the passenger door flew open, welcoming warmth and shelter from the rain.

"A first class pick up, once again." I smiled, throwing my bag into the back seat and buckling up.

Blake flashed his charming smile, shifted the gear stick into first and captured my eyes in a game of lock and key "5 star review...I'd only ever want that from you."

Song Dedication - Arcade, Duncan Laurence