Skimming the Surface

Chapter 3- Home Not So Sweet Home

On the right, I envision Melissa McCarthy as Aunt Mary

Chapter 3

Olivia

    She rounded the corner to her street, her bare feet pounding the pavement. It didn't hurt- in fact, she found she liked the grit and sand. She liked the feel of knowing what was beneath her and feeling like she was part of it. It was one less thing between her and the world around her, and she was going to soak it up. Besides, shoes were overrated.

     Her house came into sight as she quickly walked down the street, her little footsteps tap-tapping. It was a simple, brown and white two story house with a cute porch for rocking chairs with cushions that matched the house, hanging flower plants that spilled over with vibrant spots of purple  morning glories, and a tan mason stone path leading to the porch. It was inviting and warm, but Olivia wasn't fooled. The sun was up, and with it her aunt Mary. 

     She walked onto the soft green grass, and rounded the corner of the house. On the back side was more morning glories scaling the walls, these ones a soft gentle pink. Cleverly hidden among the tangle of green vines was a ladder Olivia had hidden from her aunt. After all, she wasn't allowed to be out of the house during curfew, and she most definitely wasn't going to use the front door. She found the foothold and started climbing, going slowly and with caution to avoid snapping any of the vines. If she did, there would be hell to pay.

     Reaching the top of the ladder, she came upon a little dormer window sticking out of the dirt brown roof. She hoisted the cream colored window up, and heaved herself in. It was a tight fit, but Olivia was only 5'3" and was tiny enough that it was never a problem. Once in, she observed her small room, making sure nothing was out of order.

     Her room was in the attic, and it had been like that ever since she could remember. She'd asked her aunt about living in the spare bedroom on the second floor, but her aunt said it was reserved for visiting family members, even though it was rare anyone ever visited. She got the hint, and didn't ask again. And besides, she'd learned to love the attic. It was small, but so was she. It was also out of the way and none of her family visited her up here, which was fine with her.  

     Her bed was on the far side, underneath a little circular port window, and she'd adorned it with blue sheets and silvery pillow cases that she'd bought with her own money. A mobile of colored sea glass hung in front of the port window, and it made the room filled with rainbow spots when the sun shone on it. Other than that, she had a small wooden dresser with a mirror above it, and a wooden bookcase full of knick knacks from the sea- a conch shell, more sand dollars than she could count, sea glass, coral of different shapes and colors, a letter in a bottle, and a round, silver pendant with a green emerald in the middle. 

     She dropped her clothes on the floor and rifled through her dresser for some clothes. After deciding on a grass green blouse and pale blue, torn boot-cut jeans, she descended the ladder onto the second floor and hurried into the lighthouse-themed bathroom. She would have to make it quick- Aunt Mary didn't approve of her taking long showers, saying it wasted hot water unnecessarily. 

     She stripped quickly and hopped in. Lathering her hair with her orange scented shampoo, her mind wandered back to the dock that morning. That had been a close call, and she had been mentally scolding herself ever since. She shouldn't have gone to Kearny Beach in the first place. It was the main beach, and it was always busy, and she knew that. Cocoa Beach was where she normally swam because it was much less crowded, but it was a bit farther and she had been running late today. Well, that's what she got for trying to take a shortcut- someone almost caught her.