• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

Her mom was squatting next to her, a look of fear on her face. As Lena's gaze focused, her mom said, "Oh, thank God." She put a hand to her chest. "Lena, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Sure. Why?"

Her mom continued to stare at her for a long moment before she answered. "I've been calling your name from all the way back there." She pointed back to the beach path. "Then I came right up to you, and you didn't seem to hear me. You—" The expression on her face was strained. "...were humming. Your eyes were open, but you acted like you were in a daze, or something."

I wish I could remember that song, thought Lena. It was gone from her mind.

"Lena." Her mom's grip on her shoulder tightened. "Honey!"

"What?"

"You're scaring me. You're not acting like yourself."

"I'm fine." There was that phrase again. Lena spread her hands out in the sand, running her fingers through the soft grains. It's weird that I don't remember coming over here and sitting down, she thought.

"Okay," said her mom. "Let's get you home. I'm going to call Mum." Grandma Kath was her mom's mother, and a nurse-midwife. Whenever there was a minor illness in the household, Mom always called her first. "What happened? You were crying when you left the house. Dad said the two of you had words."

Lena's gaze came back to rest on the sea. "I'm not leaving," she said. "Dad said he wants to sell the house. I don't really believe him, but if he does..." She looked steadily at her mom. "I'll move in with one of my friends. I'm not leaving Diamond Bay."

A series of emotions swept across her mom's face before she finally said, "Of course not, honey."

"Why would he say that?" cried Lena, tears threatening again.

Mom pulled her close and patted her back. "Shh, it's okay. I don't know. Your dad ... he gets overwhelmed, sometimes. He worries about ... us."

Lena relaxed under her mother's touch, but she heard the slight hesitation in her words. It sounded like she'd been about to say, "He worries about you."

CHAPTER 6

When they got home, Lena's mom made her a cup of tea, which was the first solution to most problems in their house. Strangely enough, Lena felt better after she drank the hot, milky tea.

Cole asked her to play Ninja-Cat with him on his Mind-bender, so she picked up a controller and joined him on the floor.

"...eyes were open ... conscious ... seemed almost like a fugue..." Her mom was speaking quietly into the phone, but Lena could still hear fragments of her sentences. There was a pause, then her mom said, "Yes. All right. I'll see you soon, then."

Fugue? thought Lena. Isn't that a music thing?

Her dad was pacing between the kitchen and family room. He had apologized to Lena already, saying, "I'm sorry I upset you, sweetheart. We're not leaving Diamond Bay. I was just..." His voice had trailed off, and he resumed pacing.

When Grandma Kath arrived, she bustled in with her usual English good cheer. "All right, love?" she asked, kissing Lena's forehead.

Cole hugged her. "Grandma!"

"Yes, yes, darling, hullo!" Grandma Kath gave him a cuddle, then went to the kitchen sink and washed her hands with soap before examining Lena. She removed an electronic thermometer from her bag, pressed a button on it, and said, "Open up, love, there's a good girl."

"Is Lena sick?" asked Cole.

"No, darling," said Grandma Kath. "It's just a quick checkup."

Lena held the thermometer under her tongue.

"Can I listen to her heart?" asked Cole. He was fascinated with Grandma Kath's stethoscope.

"In a few minutes," she said. "Go back to your game."

But Cole stood watching for another moment, then raced upstairs.

The thermometer beeped, and Grandma Kath took it out of Lena's mouth. "Perfect," she said. "Now let me take a look in those lovely eyes ... the color of a stormy sea, your dad always says." She shone a light in Lena's eyes, and down her throat. Then she took her blood pressure, and listened to her heart, all the while keeping up a soothing patter. "Breathe in.