Panorama of Life
By Jaye Reid.
Written: 27/11/1999
Disclaimer: Does anyone have Hal.'s phone number or that of the Southern Star offices? I'm planning on ringing them to see what we have to do about buying the Water Rat's dolls that he doesn't want to play with anymore.
Authors notes: Sitting on St. Kilda main beach (Melbourne) last weekend, I let the whole atmosphere of the ocean take over my senses. It is amazing what you notice when you really let yourself escape. Anyway… I remember Esme once saying how she loves to write with the water in view and I grabbed my notebook and wrote most of this while I was there.
So this is dedicated to Esme for planting the thought in my head to write Ratfic by the sea.
~*~*~*~
Rachel sat out-stretched on the beach. Shoes by her side, sand between her toes. There weren't too many others down there she thought. A few kids playing on the edge of the surf, under the watchful eye of a few parents. A couple of serious swimmers tackling the waves. Seagulls diving and darting above the water.
It was peaceful.
The dark and the light of the white topped waves, gently rolled into the shoreline.
She looked across the waves to the horizon, like she had so many times since he had left. A solid line where the sea met the sky. I would be easy to imagine the world ending at that point.
But the world *didn't* end there. Night became day, and then day became night again; the earth continued to circle the sun.
Life just continued.
And each day seemed a little less lonely. She even caught herself laughing. Laughing?
She didn't expect to feel like laughing.
And each day she felt a little less angry.
Angry at exactly what she didn't know. Frank for wanting to go? Herself for wanting to stay? Jack for being so damn… persistent?
Persistent, she actually liked that word.
Routine was also good.
She threw herself into routine. It was comfortable, safe and non-confronting. In a job where everyday held a new problem or danger, she wanted the rest to be consonant. Why couldn't things stay the same?
Well the good things anyway.
But that wasn't how life went, she was a realist.
Hell *she* was a Detective, she dealt with facts.
Since when did she have the luxury to think about her feelings?
If she had her *choice* she'd be tucking David in every night and running around with Frank chasing crooks everyday.
Back the way it was… once.
She looked out across the waves.
Neither of those scenarios were part of her life these days.
And perhaps never would be again.
The waves tickled her toes. The coldness of the surf running a shiver through her body. She realised that she must have been sitting there for quite sometime. The light was fading and the tide rapidly approaching.
She glanced around. The children were gone. The swimmers were making their way back along the beach.
She noticed Jack standing on a grassy patch higher on the beach. Waiting for her perhaps?
The surf made the sand stick to her toes. She stood, grabbed her sensible shoes and attempted to brush a few grains of sand from her clothes as she made her way up the beach.
"Hey there," he called.
"Hey there yourself," she called back.
"I was wondering where you were," he said smiling.
"Well you don't have to wonder anymore," Rachel replied with a grin. She put her arms around his neck, located his mouth, and kissed him shamelessly.
"I'm right here."
The End.