A Rock and Family Vacation

[19]

To Blair’s expectation but also relief, her sisters were exactly where she left them, with Clare starting to produce the rudimentary foundation of a sand castle and Lacy squinting at her phone. She wasn’t quite sure what to do with the paper. Just folding it up and tucking it away somewhere risked smearing what she had into illegibility. Fortunately, there was a zipper pouch on the side of the tote that appeared large enough to store it without folding.

Sneaking up and stashing the note wasn’t particularly necessary, same as the rest of the recent sneaking, but Blair felt like she had to commit to the effort. She was going to clue in her sisters and the rest of her family, but she still needed to think about it and process the details. Fortunately, Clare was thoroughly consumed by castle building and Lacy was in the middle of covering a long yawn with a hand while she languidly gave several long blinks. She still had on that bathrobe, compared with Blair in her black-with-white-trim number and some flip-flops, and Clare in a very basic, kids' yellow swimsuit that mom and she must have gotten on their excursion.

Blair had just enough time to quietly unzip the side pocket, slip the paper inside, and make herself known by setting down the water and releasing a quick sigh. “Nothing weird happen while I was gone?”

“Everything is weird right now. Which weird do you want to know about?” Lacy roused herself and stretched her legs in the air slightly. Clare looked up casually as she shaped a thick, damp bulk of sand using pieces of a twig. Blair passed around the bottled water and each sister drank eagerly. Things felt remarkably calm and quiet. The regular rush of the ocean and the matching retreat of each wave was audio clockwork that anchored all the chaos. Blair did her best to keep the shifting afternoon breeze from tussling her hair back and forth. She had once again neglected to ask for ties at several convenient moments.

Clare had a couple just to keep her hair back, which remained since her clothing trip and Lacy had that bun at the back of her head. Some of the strands looked like rope twisted and stretched too many times, but it was still holding up. Blair could see nothing had broached their quiet time on the beach, but she still inquired and made sure that no strangers walked by, and they hadn’t heard any loud noises. The only thing close was a few moments of gulls angrily fighting over some unknown food remnant, which Clare specifically recounted, and Lacy barely noticed. Lacy persisted in her languid, drowsy mood as strands of sunlight slipped around the umbrella. She had a couple of dabs of sunscreen along her exposed arms and even more glossiness to her face. Blair applied a coat to her skin and made sure that Clare was also covered. Before she forgot, she passed along the message from mom that they were looking out for her, they were sorry if she was uncomfortable earlier, and she could talk to their parents anytime about whatever bothered her. Lacy sighed and gave this only the barest acknowledgment.

Soon, serene quiet with regular crashing filled the air as the need for conversation drifted away. Actual vacation without any need to fill the span with worries or work. It was kind of boring to Blair, especially in contrast to all the thoughts and possibilities rushing through her head. A few random songs had transitory residence inside her. She dashed through the possibilities contained in the strange note preserved beside her.

First of all, it was not outside the realm of reasonable logic to assume their host had merely composed a greeting or possibly several versions of his or her greeting and touched on several random, quick, and courteous thoughts. In that context, perhaps it was distinct and noticeable to find rocks all across the property. Plausibly, their host could’ve simply asked for a few vague details from their grandfather or recalled them from chats or texts. Blair understood that adults sometimes used note writing in the same way as texting and might meander from one thought to the next without any consideration for data limitations. Prying into any level of the psychology of their host seemed fruitless.

If only she had some preternatural awareness to interpret handwriting style or some further physical evidence. The rock references were certainly eye-opening and heavily suspicious, in the same sense as someone who may have murdered their spouse and happened to have a massive gator as a pet. When asked about it, they shrug off the scraps of clothing found around their ‘pet’ and beg everyone not to search the animal’s stomach.

Circumstantial, as they would say in films, but definitely adding up to suspicion. Nothing she could do about it at the moment though, so she helped Clare look for little decorative seashells to adorn her developing castle. Spectator critters pranced by curiously before rushing away.

Between careful construction efforts, Clare posed quick questions about how each of them felt. Nothing too distinct until she asked, “You both have the front pee butt, right?” Lacy opened her eyes and peered at Clare with an annoyed squint. Debate soon flashed between them as to what constituted a “butt”. Clare had some notion that the differences meant they could be mommies now, but Lacy waved all that away like it was a horde of buzzing insects.

Blair did her best to resolve things by confirming, yes, they were the same. Clare didn’t like the idea of hair showing up in all sorts of places (like she glimpsed with mom), but Blair reassured her it was normal. With the baby thing, Clare seemed currently satisfied with the notion that babies came from mommies and daddies loving each other very much, along with some hospital assistance, and some special interaction. Blair found herself slightly stressed that Clare had all the pieces from being a boy and a girl but felt relieved that her little sister didn’t connect the pieces. Instead, the topic pivoted to growing up.

Clare deduced, despite assurances that she didn’t have to worry about it for a long time, that she was going to kinda look like mom when she grew up. Or maybe their one aunt. Lacy involuntarily shuddered at this mention. It was rather obvious from the progression she could see with her older siblings.

She had to inquire whether it was terrifying, hurt, or felt weird to have boobies. Lacy immediately shifted, as though sand were getting under her skin. Blair took a breath and did her best to address their sibling’s question. “It’s different and weird for me, because it’s just a few hours. You’ll have years to deal with how things change for you. I envy that, because life gets way more complicated at our ages.” Clare tried to assert that her life was already complicated, but Blair just calmly smiled as Lacy looked away.

A lull passed through the group after that, but with Lacy still moving about a lot. Eventually, she spoke, “This isn’t where things stop for me. Oh my gosh. Oh, freaking doom farts, I’m gonna be like you and mom. Everyone is going to see, no matter how much I try to hide. It’s just gonna keep fighting and spreading and going till there’s nothing of me left.” She whimpered without words.

Eagerly, Blair brought up the counterpoint of cousins and other relatives who were much different in their youth. That didn’t reassure Lacy, as she muttered, “If only I was more like my male relatives.” That wasn’t a position that Blair could fight with emotional appeals or any sort of logic. All she could do was focus positive thoughts on her sister and encourage her away from tossing another pity party.

Meanwhile, she helped Clare’s sand castle get bigger and bigger. She noticed that something was bothering Clare as well though. She would check around them often and especially glance towards the door they took from over by the Jacuzzi to here. Blair surmised that the preparedness against strangers had left her wary and fretful.

She couldn’t reliably tell her that no creepy people were going to bother her or point to the fact that she was a big bulky Iron Giant presence who could hold anyone back. Because that was no longer true, unless you counted the intimidation of different features.

“You don’t have to worry, squirt. You should only be concerned about sand consistency. We’re watching for bad guys. No matter what happens, we’re family and we’d die before anyone tries to hurt you.” Lacy raised a hand and clarified, “I’d actually rather rip and tear them a new one before dying. But, yeah, no one is messing with any of us, or they will see a fury I have never used before.” Lacy’s voice cracked and stuck high and squeaky, but the sentiment was understood.

“I know, I know,” Clare replied with a sigh. “Things are just so different now. From the way mom told me this morning, I thought it wasn’t such a big deal. New butt doesn’t hurt as much to jump around. And everything. But I feel like mom was just saying that to calm me. Because everything feels different. I dunno. I don’t feel scared, right here, right now, because I’m with you guys. But there’s so much I don’t know. So much none of us knows. We don’t know what the rock is going to do. I heard from dad that Lacy can’t cut her hair anymore. I’m stuck with my hair too probably. It’s like the dark man.”

Blair had to differ on that analogy. A mysterious rock was a long way away from Clare’s nightmare figure. She did her best to call attention to the differences. The dark man was certifiably conjured by Clare’s dreaming imagination as it happened to see contractors finishing up work in their old house after dark. The rock was a verifiable, physical object which hadn’t done anything to them really.

“Hasn’t done anything? Dude…” Lacy retorted and gestured to her body. Blair clarified that it hadn’t conducted any malicious harm against them. On this point, Lacy again seemed skeptical of Blair’s claims. She really didn’t need Lacy hopping on her to nitpick when she was just trying to reassure their younger sister.

The dark man first popped up four years ago. Clare had a series of nightmares that a creature with many arms grabbed him in the night and took him away. They eventually got a nanny cam and several alarms to reassure him but ran into so many false alerts because of the men working on that house.

When Blair was really young, he could remember the apartment. It was in the city close to the Muller Corporation and the offices of the Internet site that dad wrote for. Their parents were proud of it because it was rented with their own funds rather than anything from grandpa. But grandpa visited daily and took an early shine to Blair, who he often referred to as Blaine, like with his pet name of Clark for Clare. He never gave a pet name to Lacy though.

Dad eventually lost his day job and mom acquiesced to grandpa asking if they could move into a bigger place he would provide, with the addition of Lacy and her then pregnant with Clare. It was close to a redeveloped suburb of Detroit and mom liked it better than the big city. But work was still going on at the time and contractors were coming and going at all hours for literal years.

With the coming of the dark man nightmares, their parents had enough. They had set aside enough of a nest egg to finally acquire their own, current home. It was in a small town but within reach of a small copyediting business for dad and a reasonable commute for mom without either Lacy or Blair needing to change schools. When Clare started school, they were also perfectly positioned for his private boys' academy, which grandpa insisted on.

Rehashing history or providing trite reassurances felt woefully weak against Clare’s persistent fears. She couldn’t tell her that nothing was ever going to scare her. But she could remain right here next to her and make her laugh with stupid jokes and encouragement to build her sand castle higher and higher, despite the waves getting ever closer. Eventually, it was done.

Clare christened it the HQ of the family trio of superheroes: Ace, Big B, and Sea Note. Ace created a force field to block the brutal winds that threatened to topple the drying sand. Big B changed into a massive creature that stood against all forces which dared to strike the castle. And Sea Note whispered to the waves to hold back. But it was not enough.

The waves came and licked at the edges of the castle. The sturdy walls and rigid buttresses crumbled and fell to meet the watery embrace. Blair worried that Clare would be disconsolate and withdrawn from this loss. Instead, she fumed and raised a call to arms against the cruel waves. The team got up from the beach towels and launched their racing assault against the foaming waters. Blair noticed that Lacy shed her robe and dropped it against the blanket. She appeared surprisingly confident as she ambled to her feet. At first, she self-consciously checked her footfalls but worked her way up to a brisk sprint.

Blair thought that Lacy looked absolutely ridiculous (even though she was the one who picked it out) in that Jackson Pollock swimwear with those overzealous printed words. Fortunately, it didn’t matter. She could look as ridiculous as she wanted.

It was just them, together. 

[I have a question at the end of the chapter again to help with suggestions for where the story should go. I'm a couple chapters ahead but I love seeding ideas from people as much as possible. Feel free to add an idea which doesn't show up in the options. Thank you for reading!]

Poll below