From Alba's diary
Time passes, but the routine is always the same. I wake up early to tend the garden while Rowan is still asleep and before work. It's spring now, and both plants and bees require a lot of attention.
Alba: Hello little ones, have you made a lot of honey?
Alba: Hey, there's no need to sting me, hey!
At certain times the bees seem so friendly, but in the end they almost always decide to sting me to send me away. I still have to learn to understand their little insect brain...
My life would be very full even by just taking care of my family and my home, but also at work there is still a lot to do. No matter how much we work the amount of waste on the islands never seems to decrease.
Today we plan to clean up the beaches and the sea, so I decided to take Rowan with me. Now that the days are getting warmer he always wants to play by the sea, so it was a good way to optimise my time.
Alba: Are you having fun, Rowan?
Rowan: Yes! Pretty sand!
We stayed there until the late afternoon, so that Olivier could join us after his office work.
Olivier: This beach is huge, it took a while to find you!
Alba: It's a little corner that I recently discovered, but I like it a lot.
Olivier: I agree, it's really beautiful. Especially at sunset.
Rowan: Dad!
Olivier: Hi honey!
Olivier: Wow!
Alba: It's getting late, would you like to go and eat something?
Rowan: Yes, food!
Olivier: Oh, so isn't the garbage decreasing?
Alba: Sometimes we have the impression that whether we work or not, the result is exactly the same, it's quite frustrating...
Olivier: It's probably just a bad period, I'm sure everything will be resolved soon.
Alba: Uhm...
It seemed a strange response from Olivier, I would have expected some advice from him on how to reorganize the team to try to tackle the problem instead.
I was about to ask him for clarification, when Rowan interrupted us by saying:
Rowan: Music, music!
Among other things, Rowan also seems to have a keen ear, because he had noticed the party that was being held in the square just ahead even if the music was barely audible. At that point the little one seemed quite tired, but we knew that he wouldn't be happy without spending at least five minutes at the party, and so we decided to stop there on our way home.
We got home really late this evening, it had been another very long day and we just wanted to go straight to bed. But someone seemed to have different plans for us instead.
Kate: Good evening! I hope we're not bothering you, but we would actually have a few questions for you.
Drew had warned us about this, Kate was slowly approaching us and we had to be prepared for her questions. If I had to make a guess, I would say this is the very reason why Drew gave us these watches. He probably wanted to be sure that she couldn't get any clue from us other than the words we decided to say out loud.
Helios: Pay attention, there are two bees following you!
Alba: They're from the hive over there, don't worry. Usually, they don't sting anyone.
We talked for about an hour. I remember for sure that Kate asked us a lot of questions, but I don't clearly recall what has been said exactly. When she and Helios left, both I and Olivier immediately fell asleep, and upon waking up the next morning I didn't remember much more than the final exchange we had:
Kate: By now you will have noticed that this almost seemed like an interrogation, and in fact that is exactly what it was. I can't exclude any option, you know, not even that people so close to Helios as you are may be involved in his accident.
Alba: Oh. And do you think you've discovered anything so far?
Kate: Who knows…
I honestly don't know what to think about that conversation. Has Kate really found the right path to the solution? And what does this mean for us? If she found out about Drew's plan, there would be any repercussions for us? Or should we perhaps hope that she succeeds in her task, and that this scenario would lead to the end of this absurd situation? I don't know what to think either, also because the more I try to focus the worse my headache becomes.
Maybe I should just give up, and let the events unfold without my interference. Yes, this actually doesn't sound like such a bad idea...
The images of the family enjoying the beach during the day/sunset are beautiful. <3
ReplyDeleteI have just as many questions as Alba about what Kate may have discovered. But it seems like the watch or something else may be causing side effects. It’s interesting that Alba doesn’t remember the details of her conversation with Kate when it was important and probably a really stressful conversation to have given Rowan’s existence.