Happy days
Arising from my serene slumber, I pulled the duvet off, stretched my legs out onto the pristine white tiling and soaked up the rays. They were already coarsely penetrating the patio door and oozing into every pore at the early hour of 9am. However, I was not surprised. This was the land of dreams. The place I had longed to visit, since I could remember. “Happy days!” I exclaimed ebulliently.
“Hurry up and get ready for breakfast!” My younger sister Charlotte yelled caustically which she coupled with a peremptory grin. We hurried down to the hotel lobby in a wondrous anticipation for all of the foreign delicacies that awaited us laid out on tables and tables and tables. It never seemed to stop! Our mouths dropped open in awe at what we were about to indulge in. Our eyes diverting every millisecond as we took in the vast abundance and enormity of it all; there were cakes, chocolates, Ice cream, coffees, fried breakfast cornflakes, tarts, fruit, pancakes, waffles and so much more. The coffee aroma caressed my nostrils as it spread throughout the buffet, bitter and sweet.
After we had finished eating, until our bellies felt as tight as Ebenezer Scrooge, we staggered on down to the pool to set up our towels. The pool glistened euphorically in a recommending fashion and I jumped in without a moment’s hesitation.
After completing a fair few laps of the pool, I rested my on the side, ascending my gaze to observe Charlotte lying on a deck chair, eyes closed insouciantly as she lay still in the haze of heat. I loved to be by the sea, I would live here if I could. It was a bittersweet sensation, flying off to an amazing holiday resort every year for just a few short days before kissing it goodbye and leaving countless memories behind. I stared into the inexorable beauty of the horizon. It gleamed in glorious incandescence, like a blanket of sapphires.
Then I noticed something strange. It almost looked as if it began to grow. Maybe I was hallucinating or the heat had infiltrated my view. I shook my head and realigned my vision with the obscenity. A few seconds past and it was undeniable, this blue lump in the sea. Suddenly if got bigger and bigger and panic struck, hard. Hours felt like minutes and minutes like seconds as it transfigured into a great deep blue beast, hurtling towards the shore. It took the form of a whale, but it was of an even greater size. I threw myself onto the side of the pool and awoke my sister with a startling cry “There’s a tsunami!” I screamed in agonizing fear. We had to run! Suddenly it loomed, displacing the sunrays with a consuming darkness, snatching the joy out of us like and indignant toddler snatches his toys. Legs cramping, we ran; faster and faster until we could not run anymore. My sister cried and pushed on in a strain of exasperation. I looked behind me, there was nowhere left to go. A surge of water plummeted towards us as it crashed into buildings, shops and the hotel. I let out a cry of desperation as the wave, without remorse, swept everything into oblivion. There was nowhere to run and the wave was growing on us. Imminent and predatory, it swooped down on use and we screamed like helpless field mice. Clawing at everything I could to escape the cascading flow of water I inhaled possibly for the last time ever. I attempted another breath and a surge of water accosted my throat, coughing, spluttering and choking.
These were supposed to be the Happy Days ….