What the Tide Brings

Chapter 3 - Liam - A Fish Story

Liam held tight to Kaelin's hand, leading her through the tall grass, around to the front yard. She had a good handle on using her legs. She moved with swiftness and grace despite her injury.

At the edge of the house, Liam paused, to make sure the coast was clear. Grandfather's car was in the driveway which meant Liam's mother had returned from the market. He peeked back at Kaelin and pointed to the detached garage. "We're going there."

Kaelin nodded. She had no problem keeping up with his sprint across the lawn, into the alley between the house and the garage. Her nose wrinkled at the stench wafting from the trash bins awaiting trash day. She slapped a hand over her mouth and nose.

Liam reached up to search the ledge above the side door of the garage. His fingertips brushed the metal key and pulled it into his hand. He unlocked the door and stepped aside to allow Kaelin to enter first. Once inside, he secured the door behind them.

These days, Grandfather mostly used the garage for storage. Boxes, trunks, and plastic bins lined the walls. A wood-paneled station wagon—a relic from the fifties that no longer ran properly, if at all—occupied the center of the room. Liam's mother tried for ages to get rid of it, but Grandfather wouldn't budge.

Liam spotted a box marked clothing. He removed everything on top of it to dig through the box's contents. The clothes belonged to his mom, from her teenage years. He doubted even a charity would accept the disastrous fashions inside. That's no doubt why they collected dust out here. That and the fact that his whole family were packrats. He found a floral dress that would fit Kaelin. "This'll be better." He offered her the dress.

She shrugged and pulled at the towel. He turned away before it fell, staring at a pile of boxes marked "Cindy's Room."

"How's it going?" Liam asked.

"I am clothed. If that is what you are wondering." Her slender fingers slipped around his bicep. His eyes traveled up her long, pale white arm until he met her sapphire eyes. She looked cute.

Liam returned to the same box to retrieve a pair of purple Chucks. He knelt down, lifting her feet in turn to put the shoes on. The final scene of Cinderella flashed through his mind as he tied the laces, so she wouldn't trip.

"This feels strange." She wiggled her feet around, twisting them from one side to the other. "I do not understand the urge to be so confined."

He was about to respond, but he became distracted when his mother yelled his name. "I gotta go talk to her." Liam said, looking her over. "Will you be okay?"

Kaelin shrugged sifting strands of her platinum hair through her fingers. "I believe I can be alone without assistance."

He chuckled at her bravado, backing away toward the door. "I'll be right back."

Liam hurried to the house. His mother stood in the front hall, at the foot of the staircase, still calling his name.

"I'm right here." he said.

Cynthia Bainbridge turned to smile at her son. "Hi, sweetheart." She was fully into vacation mode, wearing the jeans she cut off at the knee herself, a sleeveless button down, tied into a knot at the bottom, and clunky neon green gardening clogs, with her brown hair tied back into a messy bun, stuck through with chopsticks. The bridge of her nose and her cheeks were red from being in the sun at the fish market for so long. She left before Liam woke a few hours ago. She often lost time perusing the stalls.

"What's up?" he asked, so focused on his mom—and trying to conceal his panic—he didn't notice the cloth shopping bags inside the door. He yelped when he tripped over one of them and stumbled head-over-heels onto the floor.