once upon a fairy tale...
+ she loves her mama's lemonade, hates the sound of goodbyes made +
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far, far away #2
Monday, April 30, 2012, 12:30 PM ///
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of all the mysteries i encountered while staying with my relatives in barnacle bay, it was why their guest bedroom was their guest bedroom that puzzled me the most. large bay doors opened straight out to meet the sunrise; not ten steps away, the swimming pool; within reach of a gentle breeze, the scent of the ocean.
i woke every day believing i was in paradise... at least, until i realized korva was hogging all the sheets, again.
i suppose one major component to traveling is trying new things, and of that, i did plenty. gracie tried her hardest to expose me to something different, from their food (hot dogs > sushi, blech) to their dress (she let me keep her sundress!) to swimming in the ocean rather than a public pool.
however, it took the combined efforts of both her and owen's girfriend, fern, to get me to try yoga. fern's taking classes to become an instructor, and she thought she could prove her teaching skills by showing me a few basic poses.
unfortunately, im not a very good guinea pig.
i guess when it comes to anything that requires balance, ill always fall a bit short. (ha, punny.) i know im not the only one in the family with two left left feet, but coming here showed me just how different our couch-potato household is from the rest of family.
and then, theres gracie. she lives up to her name. where i find a way to hook my belt-loops on doorknobs as i walk through life, she always manages to move with the elegance of a feline.
... a talented wasted by her chronic laziness.
as horrible as it is for me to say, it somehow makes me feel better, knowing that shell never have the stamina to fulfill her dream as a dancer. she wants to pursue music as an alternative--which doesnt help my self esteem much more--but at least this way, im not the only kane who risks an over-indulgent lifestyle of twinkies, hamburgers, and a personalized butt imprint on the couch.
i guess we're kindred spirits, in a way.
but, even if all they do is go out and lay beneath the sun, no one here seems to like staying indoors--a fact that kory really seemed to enjoy. for the first time in a very long time, i saw kory smile in a way that didnt delight in the pain in someone else.
she forgot about dad. she forgot about her slipping grades. above all, she forgot about her hatred for me. ill never forget the way she curled up in bed, blankets around her chin, looking up at me with her crystal blue eyes--telling me she loved me. i dont think shes ever told me that, before.
it was the weirdest thing ive ever heard.
we had fun together in ways siblings are supposed to--id imagine, at least. though i know it wont last, part of me hopes that somehow, getting away from the pain at home and school, the two of us are finally finding a way to connect...
... even if it means i have to take a few baseballs to the head to do it, every now and again.
is it worth it? i dont know, but id be stupid not to try.
now, i guess it just wouldnt have been fair if owen and sally didnt try to open me up to something new, too--their strategy just was a little more... unorthodox.
just beyond the hill sloping from their house, the place of an old shipwreck from long ago sits nestled on the edge of the ocean. they say barnacle bay was founded by the descendants of those travelers, too weary to carry on--but at the place of the boat's final resting place, they built a graveyard as a home for all those who were lost to the sea.
... well, big freaking whoop.
its a graveyard, there were dead people buried there.
it was as creepier than @*(^@$.
im not sure how they managed to bring me out here, but one look at the massive grim reaper statue in the very center of a stone-henge like cropping of rocks pretty much told me all i need to know:
there is no such thing as a happy graveyard.
im not sure what it was i saw that night, but it once and for all proved why im afraid of the dark. just thinking back to the moment i caught it through my lens sends cold shivers down my spine.
owen says its the ghost of pirate longshanks, prowling the graveyard in search of his ill-gotten treasure, but who it might be and why he might be there really does not interest me very much. not nearly as much as the idea of throwing his remains overboard. lets see how far he can haunt from 20,000 leagues under the sea!
but, as much as i learned how much i truly havent changed over the years, i cant say that my journey here wasnt full of teaching experiences. fern may not have been able to teach me 'triangle pose', but i did learn what it would be like to be brave.
i learned that even the beautiful and talented can find a place for me.
i learned that not everything with fur has a heart of gold.
i learned what love looks like...
what it shouldn't look like...
... and that even a demon looks angelic when it sleeps.
ill always think fondly back to these memories--and when asked if i could be anywhere... this is where i will answer. if possible, i found myself a second home, a place where part of my heart will stay hidden and safe... somewhere ill always be able to run to when i need to feel less alone.
i dont think i could live here--the country is where i belong--but youll never hear me say that i didnt love what it was like to always be under the sun.
before we left, our bags packed and tickets ready, we stopped along the beach.
just as fern said to do, i wet my feet and dipped them in the sand, caking them in a layer of golden dust. she says its tradition for anyone leaving the bay to do so, but especially so for those that call it "home".
it washed off eventually, as all good things must end. but just as fern said, until it did, i never truly left barnacle bay: for every step i took was on part of its shore.
Labels: family