A Story of Now

“So, where to, Claire?” Pete stands on the edge of the rocks and runs his hands back and forth through his wet hair. “Pick a city.”

Claire spreads her towel across the rock and lies down on it. “Paris, definitely. A week in Paris. No, two weeks,” she corrects herself, already dreaming of that holiday she’ll probably never get around to taking this summer.

“Haven’t you already been there?” Mia asks.

“Yeah, but with my parents when I was eleven. It wasn’t exactly the trip dreams are made of. My mother planned every single second of every single day, and we weren’t allowed to do anything else. My brother refused to eat any French food, so they had to keep taking him to McDonald’s. Versailles was half closed for restoration work, and Mum made us do the Louvre in one hour so she could go shopping after.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a regular, old, family-hell holiday.” Pete laughs. “Only in Paris.”

Claire watches him scoop up a handful of small rocks at the water’s edge. “What about you? Where would you go?”

“New Zealand, for sure.” He tosses a rock and watches it skip once or twice across the surface of the lake before it sinks into the water. “Definitely New Zealand. I’ll be snowboarding every single snow-covered incline I can find.”

“I’ll be in Paris with Claire.” Eli sighs as he flops onto a rock and uses Robbie’s leg as his pillow. “Or maybe Berlin. What about you, Mia? Fantasy destination?”

She yawns into her hand. “Reykjavik.”

Nina screws up her face. “Where the hell is Rakyar-what?”

Claire smiles into her towel, glad that Nina asked before she had to.

“Iceland.”

“And where’s that?” Nina asks.

Robbie pokes Mia in the leg before she can answer. “You are such a weirdo. Why can’t you go somewhere normal, like Disney World, or Hawaii? The only thing I know about Iceland is that crazy singer who was in that super depressing movie.”

“That’s one more thing than I know,” Claire mutters as she pulls her wet hair from her face and ties it back.

Mia wraps her towel around her shoulders. “I just want to see that crazy-beautiful landscape. Volcanoes, glaciers, jet black rocks. And I want to see people who believe in elves and eat pickled sheep testicles and who have no last names.”

Claire shakes her head and smiles into her towel. Mia is such a geek.

“And these things are actual cultural drawcards for you?” Robbie asks slowly.

“Yup,” Mia tells him cheerfully. “And if I can’t go there, I’m going to Barcelona.”

“Oh, maybe I’m dumping you now, Claire, and going with Mia,” Eli says.

Claire shrugs. “Whatever, Eli. I didn’t say you could come anyway.”

He laughs.

Mia sighs. “Really, I’d go just about anywhere, though, if you gave me a ticket. I haven’t really been anywhere outside Australia except London to visit Dad’s relatives.”

Robbie stretches his arms above his head. “Well, I know it’s a total cliché, but I still haven’t been to New York. So that’s where I’d go. And just so you know, I’m probably never coming back.”

“Oh well, thanks.” Eli reaches up and swats at his face.

“What are you getting huffy about?” Robbie laughs and leans down and kisses him. “You just ran away with my best friend to Barcelona. What do you care?”

“I really want to go to Perth,” Nina suddenly offers.

“What?” Claire lifts her head from her arms and stares at Nina. “You can go anywhere in the world in this game and you choose Perth? You don’t even want to leave Australia?”

Nina shrugs. “I’ve never been there.”

Pete frowns. “But it’s like not going anywhere.”

“Um, it’s further than New Zealand,” Nina tells him. “And you want to go there.”

“Not much further.”

“It totally is.”

“No, it’s not.”

Eli pipes up. “It’s way further.”

“Oh God.” Claire buries her face in her arms. “Someone Google that, please, just to shut them up.”

Mia laughs and shakes her head. “I don’t need to. It takes six hours to fly to Perth, and it’s four to New Zealand. Have you looked at a map recently, Pete?”

“Yes, I have, thanks, Mia,” Pete sasses. “Anyway, at least New Zealand is a different country.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not going anywhere any time soon,” Nina says and sighs. “I’m too broke.”

“And lazy. It was hard enough to get you out of bed and up here,” Claire teases.

“Shut up.” Nina throws a twig at her. “I was hungover.”

“Doesn’t matter if you’re broke anyway,” Eli reminds her. “It’s a fantasy game, so you can go anywhere you want to go.”

Robbie sits up. “I must interrupt all this game with a very, very important question.”

“What?”

“What are we having for dinner?”

Claire smiles. No matter what time of day it is, it seems as if someone is talking about when they’ll be eating next.

“We have all that stuff we bought at the market today, remember?” Nina tells him.

“Oh yes!” Robbie rubs his hands together, gleeful.

“Um, by the way, is it weird that we are on a holiday and still fantasising about holidays?” Eli muses.

“Yes, actually, it kind of is,” Claire mumbles. She rolls over and stretches her arms above her head.

Robbie laughs and stands. “Yeah, it’s just plain greedy. We’re a bunch of spoilt brats, clearly. I’m going back to the house to forage. I’m hungry.”

Claire sits up slowly. “I’m going back too.” She’s tired even though it’s only late afternoon. All she has done all day is hang out by the lake, but she’s exhausted. She pulls her shirt over her head and yawns again. She is going to have an early night. And she is going to finally sleep, damn it.

Robbie steps over to her and holds out his hands. She lets him pull her up, grateful.

He squeezes her hands and then drops them. “You look weary.”

“Yeah, all this relaxing is clearly draining.” She hangs her towel around her neck and picks up her book.

And suddenly everyone starts to get up and gather their things, ready to go back to the cottage. They traipse up the path in the last of the afternoon sun and plan their meal.

“Hey!” Nina suddenly pipes up in the middle of the debate. “I know where I want to go that’s outside Australia. Dollywood!”

“As in that Dolly Parton theme park?” Robbie asks slowly.

“Yep,” Nina says. “I love her.”

Claire shakes her head and rolls her eyes. Of course Nina, adorable freak, loves Dolly Parton.

“Yeah, well, you’re going there all on your own, babe.” Robbie throws an arm around Nina’s shoulder. “And, Mia, I think Nina might have just pipped you at the post for weirdest holiday destination too.”