When Tides Roll In

5

Lucy's service was put together by her sister that I had never met.  Lucy never really liked mentioning her family much, yet when she did it was never good things.

The service was quite dull.  It was the second funeral I had been to in a week, and I was all out of tears.  I know I should have cried, or at least sniffled but I was as drained as an empty well.

When it was my turn to speak to the sea of black I got up to the podium and forgot everything about Lucy.  It was as if she'd never been in my life, and all I could remember was her name and her job.

The audience sat there crying until her sister came up to the podium and made me move out of the way.

It was a terribly embarrassing performance.  I wasn't even wearing anything relatively pretty to make up for the letdown of a speech.  I'm sure her parents were expecting something wonderful seeing as Lucy had taught me the ways of life, yet as we waited in silence they closed their eyes and huddled together, crying harder.  

I was left with a guilty pit in my stomach.

Luckily the day came by and went, leaving me standing on the pier, on a new day filled with bright skies, and not a cloud in sight.

Children ran along the cobbled streets laughing and talking, while this time parents watched them fondly while chatting with their neighbors, or buying things from the merchants that had traveled overseas for the time of the festivities and ball.

Tonight's event was a bonfire.  Workmen were already climbed up on makeshift platforms to string garlands all along the lamplights.

All signs of mourning were gone, and while I felt partly bad for Lucy and her family, I was so sick of all the black that had enveloped my family recently.

Wreaths were plastered on doors, sunflower seeds scattered the streets as an offering to the Goddess of the Hearth.  Sunflowers were in pots on every window seal, and every window was open.

The week of the Summer Masquerade Ball had everyone in good spirits.  It was a perfect time to recover from a loss, and an even better time to forget about one.

In the following hours, it would be midday.  Diners, restaurants, and even little food stands would all begin to acquire long lines and reservation requirements.  Every local knew to eat lunch early, and dinner late.

It was just the customs of the island.

Inside the diner my assumptions were correct.  I only saw a handful of off-islanders, and the rest were faces I'd seen while walking around the town the week before.  The lights were all a warm yellow, and my shoes crunched the seeds below me.

If I had little sisters, they would have loved to sit at the high seats and order from the old-fashioned styled bar.

I settled myself in a booth to wait on my food.  Once it was finally served I began to eat, only to be stopped again when a familiar face sat down at the table with me.

A familiar face that invoked a small sense of jealousy in me.

"Annaleigh," I greeted quietly, offering her a piece of bread for the cheesy fondue.  She politely declined to explain that she wasn't quite hungry yet.

She and Luc were most definitely from a different island, or possibly even the mainland.  Even if you weren't hungry it was always wise to eat your midday meal early.

"What brings you here?" I ask again, chewing my bottom lip.  Ever since the question she'd asked me when Lucy had died, I'd been on edge, even when just thinking about her.