Wild Thing

-52-

The next morning Kasey is awoken from her sleep by the sound of glass shattering. She immediately thinks of Kylie and runs toward the kitchen. She finds her daughter standing over the remnants of what used to be a drinking glass on the floor. 

"Sorry Mom, I just wanted a drink." 

Kasey smiles and hugs her daughter, "It's okay. Step back and let me get this cleaned up before either of us gets cut." Kylie does as asked and watches on as Kasey picks up the big pieces of glass and puts them straight into the garbage can before using the broom and dustpan to clean up the rest. She gives the area a quick once over and is satisfied that she took care of all of the glass.  

"So, what can I get you to drink, Ky?" 

"Can I have some milk, Mom?" 

Kasey opens the fridge and brings out the container holding a small bit of milk in the bottom of the bag. "Can I interest you in some juice instead? There's only a little bit of milk left and I'd really like it for my coffee." 

"Apple juice?" 

"That I can do, kiddo." 

Kasey gets Kylie some juice and then they both settle on having some toaster waffles for breakfast along with finishing off a couple of slightly brown bananas. 

"Mom, what are we supposed to while we wait?" 

Kasey smiles, "Well, we just had breakfast, so how about you head in grab a shower and get dressed and I'll follow suit. That way I can finish packing up what we need to go away." 

"Okay, Mom. Do you know where my pink hoodie is? You know the one with the butterfly on it." 

"I already packed it, can you find something else to wear instead?" 

Kylie nods and heads into the bathroom to get cleaned up.

Kasey debates about what to do while she waits and returns to her bedroom to collect her phone before sitting down at the table. 

New Message

Wild Thing: Going to assume you aren't awake yet. I just wanted to tell you to have a safe trip home and wish you an early Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you for being an amazing friend and support to Kylie and me. Love you. 

Jen: I am surprisingly awake and hitting the road home very soon. I hope that you and Kylie have an awesome time in Florida and Georgia; wish I could join. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Kase. All my love to you and Little Wild. 

Once Kasey hears the water turn off in the shower, she heads back towards her bedroom to get some clothes set out to wear for travelling and then grabs a shower of her own. 

With both of them now clean, dressed and ready to go it's a matter of killing time before departure time. Kasey double-checks their luggage and then carries the suitcases out to the apartment door, setting them down for a quick exit. 

As Kylie sits down and watches some television, Kasey decides that she's going to try and do a bit of sketching to try and calm her nerves. She puts her earbuds in and puts on a playlist, soon images begin to circle around in her head and as she looks at the blank page in front of her, she smiles as an idea forms and her pencil slides across the page making it come to life. Having been blocked for so long, it feels incredible to be able to draw once more and she allows herself to become immersed in the process. 

Thinking about Ashlyn and her friend's love of surfing and sharks, she begins to sketch out some waves and then adds a surfer who looks a little bit like Ash. In front of the surfer, she draws a rather large, intimidating-looking shark and then begins to add more detail, taking some references from some pictures she finds on Google. She smiles when she looks at the completed piece and then signs her name in the bottom corner of the drawing.