Low Tide

Croissants de France was a bit overpriced, and the name of the place was woefully kitschy, but Emmeline had to admit, they did make the very best petits fours on the island. Not the best idea for a breakfast food, particularly in a climate that led Emmeline to spend a good portion of her time clad in naught more than a swimsuit, but on occasion she had to indulge. A quick stop at a coffee house not far down the road, and she was fully equipped for a pleasant morning spent in The Garden.

The shop door sent a musical jingling of bells as Emmeline pushed it open and she smiled, closing her eyes a moment to breathe in the scent of a myriad of flowers perfuming the air. It was warmer in the shop, for the benefit of all the beautiful blooms, and Emmeline felt the heat of the two large paper cups she balanced in a carboard carrier pulsing against her side. Careful to balance the pink box of pastry she carried in the opposite hand, she adjusted the multicolored woven bag over her shoulder and let the door swing shut behind her.

( Would Be Nice )

Destiny stretched out on the beach. The person whose former life she now possessed didn't have any sign of a job. The bungalow was empty, a one bedroom deal within walking distance to the beach. Not knowing what else to do, she grabbed a book from the bookshelf in the living room and made her way to the beach. The bookshelves in that room rivaled the shelves at Unseen Insight. She felt a pang. She hadn't seen Emmeline Keddle since Aidan's funeral. It was way too painful and with the passage of time, they gradually grew apart. Destiny left for Jersey without even saying goodbye. She ran a finger across the ridged spines as she moved towards the open French doors, white sundress billowing in the wind. What did she do in her previous life to wake up in paradise? She caught her naked ring finger out of the corner of her eye. Well, almost paradise.

Shunning her flip-flops, the Slayer sunk her feet into the sand and closed and locked the door behind her. She hung the key around her neck on the rawhide lanyard and walked down the beach. It was gorgeous out, as usual. Finding a quiet stretch of beach, she watched the snorkels of divers bob and weave through the azure sea. She leaned back and closed her eyes, novel forgotten. Breathing deeply, she exhaled and looked out, watching the waves retract into the sea and disappear into the horizon.

There was very little that could keep Emmeline Keddle out of the water these days. She was determined to master her first element by the winter season's end, and with the ocean on all sides, water was in ample supply for a start. She had been out with her snorkel and dive bag again, this time in the shallows off the beach, just observing the brightly colored schools of fish and searching out a stray rock here and there that might prove useful in her craft, for the better part of the afternoon. With Bailey and her father set to arrive for a holiday meal the following evening, she hadn't much time to spare before she needed to begin preparing their feast, but the draw of the ocean was just too much.

Never one for flippers, she swam up to where the water shallowed enough to stand and walked up the surf towards her beach bag and towel in the sand, foregoing a dry-off for just slipping back into a long gypsy-styled skirt and wearing the black halter of her swimsuit as a top. Her hair, long and wet and threatening to dampen her bottom with the free-swinging dripping tendrils, was quickly pulled up messily into a black plastic clip retrieved from her bag, and she started up the beach to comb for shells and whatever other treasures it might yield. Spotting a new face near a vintage beach bungalow, Emmeline paused to offer the stranger a smile.

( In another time, in another place )

The morning had been... unproductive, at best. Useless was a better term, or even wasted, but Emmeline refused to surrender to apathy and preferred to think it had simply been a quiet rest. When she had found herself rewriting the same paragraph for the fifth time, she'd given up, grabbed her dive bag and a snorkel and headed to the shore.

( Read more... )