On Oceans of Blue

Jenny finished the rest of her shift quickly, brushing off a good deal of her side work. Crystal came home tonight and Jenny wanted the trailer clean when she arrived. Crys had only been gone for a few days, camping with some girl friends before summer ended and senior year began, but this felt like the beginning of the end to Jenny. For seventeen years Jenny and Chrys had formed an incredible bond. More than mother and daughter, they were friends. From shopping together and sharing clothes to staying up all night crying over boys. The two were next to inseparable and almost always peaceful. The only true conflict was Chuck. Chrys would just have to learn to deal with it one day. She would see eventually that despite the drunk fights and the desertions Chuck was the one. He loved her. He would always come home.

Jenny hummed absently as she cleaned their small single wide on the outskirts of town. There wasn’t much that could be done about the lighting. This place always looked dreary, but the floors were fit to eat off of, and the counters were sanitized to an extreme. Vacuum, sweep, mop, dust, hmmmm, what tune is this? Dust, dishes, vacuum, hmmmmm somewhere over the hmmmmm, laundry! Jenny forgot all about laundry. Chrys needed clothes for school tomorrow! Oh goodness. No wonder she wants to leave. Does she really need to be all the way in California to study art, though? Hmmmmmmm land that I heard of hmmmmmm

"Mom!!! I’m home! Stop rush cleaning and come hug your greatest daughter ever!"

She’s home! Halleluja! No Jason or Freddy horrors this time.

"I’m not rush cleaning Sweetie," Jenny hurried around the corner to see the mess. "Just thought I’d get a little laundry done for you."

"Mother, you never do laundry."

"With you gone, I had so much time on my hands, I just might have picked up a new hobby," Jenny grinned. This was the wonderful banter she would miss so much. How quiet this place will be. She shrugged it off. She still had one full year before the silence. "Tell me everything. The ride there, the ride back, the setting up the tents, the campfire stories. I need to be inside the loop, Missy."

"Oh loops! Sarah had no idea where we were! We must have looked crazy driving around in circles like…" Chrys stopped short. The distinct low rumble of Chuck’s old Harley shook the small trailer. Chrys caught her disappointment before Jenny could notice. Didn’t she get away so she would be able to better handle this sort of situation? Jenny wouldn’t accept anything but happiness from her gorgeous daughter, whether it was the truth or not.

to be continued…