The Past Recedes

Chapter 20

"What do you mean, you don't know what to do? You climb up the ladder and go down the slide", said Clara in disbelief.

"I've never been to a playground before, I don't like the noise and Mom said running around was for stupid kids", said Nika.

"Wow, that's crazy. Your Mom was weird, is that a British thing?", asked Clara.

"I don't know, my cousins in England seem normal. But I just never went to a playground before", said Nika.

"It's a lot of fun, but you should try to go down the smaller slide first to see if you like it", said Clara.

Nika smiled shyly at the red-haired girl. The girls were at a local playground being watched over by Loesha, Clara's mother, since her grandparents had decided to go antique shopping in Hollywood. The playground equipment and the masses of children frightened her at first as she had never seen so many children in one place before being so loud. What astonished her about the children was that they were loud and casually dressed in shorts and t-shirts, as she wore a navy blue dress with white polka dots and matching bows in her curly dark hair. She had never been allowed to wear jeans or shorts and the noise was not tolerated by her mother.

Nika observed the children with the intensity of an anthropologist studying some primitive jungle tribe. She watched as Clara climbed the ladder to the top of the slide and then slid down the incline. Nika took a deep breath as she carefully climbed the ladder and sat down before sliding down the metal slide. She felt an odd fluttery sensation in the pit of her stomach as she went down the slide, carefully getting off and rearranging her skirt. "Did you like it?", asked Clara.

"It felt rough, like when I was on the plane to England and it's descending", she replied.

"Yeah, I know that feeling. Dad and fly to Australia to visit Grandma, Dad's family is Australian, from Melbourne", said Clara.

"Great-Uncle jack went to Australia many times for his book tours, he's a novelist. Him and Great-Aunt Tessa live in Japan", said Nika.

"Cool, Dad says Japan is awesome. Maybe when I get older, I want to join the band on tour", said Clara.

Nika and Clara went down the slide a few more times before moving onto the jungle gym. "The jungle gym is for really little kids except for the monkey bars, those are cool. The swings are fun, but it's even better when someone pushes you. Dad used to push me on the swing when I was little", said Clara.

Nika watched the girls on the swings and dismissed it as repetitive. While the slide was sort of fun, the repetitive nature of the activity soon bored her. "It's getting hot, maybe Mom can take us home and get us lunch", suggested Clara.

Nika let out a smile of relief. "Didn't you like the playground?", asked Clara as Loesha led them back towards the car.

"It was different, but it got boring. I'm not used to being around crowds of people and noise", said Nika.

"Wow, because you lived with your grandparents?", asked Clara.

"Yeah, I'm not used to noise and crowds. I prefer quiet", she replied.

"Sometimes I like quiet, like when I'm reading or working on my art. Dad likes peace and quiet when he comes home from touring, after he comes home he needs a couple of days to relax before we can go out. I guess touring in a rock band sounds like fun until you get older", said Clara thoughtfully.

Nika nodded in agreement as the red-haired girl made a lot of sense. Her Dad seemed tired when he got home from touring and reluctant to leave the house, as though he considered touring a chore. "Does your dad like playing live?", she asked.