The Bermuda Lines

Chapter 1

A romance.

Click.

A peppy song and dance number.

Click.

A popular sitcom.

Cl-

A knock stopped Kelli in her tracks. "Kel, I know you're in there!"

Kelli rolled her eyes and changed the channel again, this time a children's television show appearing on screen. She was not in the mood to be bothered.

More knocks rang from her front door. "C'mon! I can hear the TV. Open the door!"

Sighing deeply, Kelli swung her legs over the side of the couch and stood up. Her lazy stride took its time reaching the door. Her fingers gripped the door knob, yanking the door open to reveal her best friend Sarina standing there in a ridiculous fairy costume, one which wasn't exactly the most modest. In a tone that showed her annoyance, Kelli snapped, "What?"

Sarina raised an eyebrow. "It's Halloween. Where's your costume?" When Kelli continued to stare blankly at her, she pressed, "JC's costume party!" As Kelli flipped around and retreated into her home, Sarina followed persistently. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't forget," Kelli replied dully, "Just didn't feel like going." She saw the remote lying on the floor. When she went to pick it up, Sarina somersaulted across the carpet and snatched it up, stopping in a one-knee squat. Crossing her arms, Kelli snapped, "Not fair."

Her friend stood up and pressed a button on the remote. The television set went dark. "Look, Kel, I can understand why this time of year is rough for you." As Sarina continued to rant, Kelli's eyes drifted over to a table nearby. On it was a photograph with five smiling, sweet, naïve, oblivious faces. In the front stood a much younger Kelli in a frilly, white and red polka dot tankini. On either side were the twins, her cousins who joined their family at age two. They wore matching colors, blue and green, Raven in a one-piece bathing suit, with Trevor sporting a pair of trunks and a dark blue rashie.

Behind the three children were their parents, Angie and Sam Rodgers. Their mother was a bit geeky, but you couldn't tell in this picture. Her normal glasses had been temporarily replaced with contacts that showed off her stunning blue eyes. Her figure was finally showing off in the black bikini set, complete with a skirted bottom. On a normal, day-to-day basis, her mother usually wore a baggy tee, jeans or sweatpants, and worn sneakers, with glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. Most people would say she wasn't the prettiest, but Kelli always recognized her mother as beautiful, even without the wearing of a sexy swimsuit.

Their father, Sam, wore black trunks with blue accents, and his reading glasses were on his face this time. If she remembered that beach trip correctly, he had been working mere minutes before this was shot. He had always been working, pretty much for Kelli's entire life until the accident. Often, he would leave on business trips, travelling to all sorts of different places and bringing home a souvenir for each of the three children upon his celebrated return.

A hand shot up in her view, the fingers snapping. "Hello, Earth to Rodgers!" Kelli's gaze snapped away from the photo of happier times to her best friend. Sarina put a hand on her hip. "You weren't listening to a word I said, did you?"

Kelli bit her lip. "Um... something to do with this being a rough time of year for me?"

Sarina rolled her eyes and grabbed her wrist, pulling her into the hallway of the house. "You already bought your costume, Raven and Trevor are over at an overnight retreat at the church, which is ironic, because it's Halloween, and usually that doesn't mesh with religion-"