Joy and Sorrow Chapter three (Sandcastles)

Celeste felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle, when she heard Karen's shrieky voice fill the beach air. Her sister - in - law had one of those voices that could split atoms. It was unnerving that she had tailed them nine hours away, when they had went to such lengths to keep the family getaway a secret.  

Celeste needed to move Sebastian away lickety - split from the foul mouthed exchange about to take place between her husband and his sister. She had told her son, a short walk down the beach was a better spot for building his sand castle, and she led him away from the coming storm.

They had agreed after a night of sleepless rumination that Karen was a junkie and they weren't going to enable her anymore. Karen had begun popping pills four years ago, when she lost her job as a talk show host. It was the bright spot in Karen's life but they had found someone younger and saner to take her place. Karen had been to rehab three times; she would do fine in rehab, come out and start the sick cycle over again.

The whole family was exhausted from the daily grind of homework, endless meetings and angry phone calls. It was a grand thing to relax among strangers, and not have to impress anybody.

They had been in Florida three days. The first day, it rained nonstop, which was okay. Celeste had gotten a massage and the guys had taken turns napping and playing video games.

Yesterday, they visited Gatorland Park. Both Joel and Celeste had howled out loud when they had heard the Park's answering machine message. Whoever did the message sounded like a character out of Jeff Foxworthy's standup comedy. The whole family had a blast walking on a guided tour through the marshes learning all about the complexities of the gator world.

Celeste watched, a beach security guard asked Karen to leave, or he would call for backup. She stomped off, beet-red. Joel had vanished, hopefully taking a walk and not drinking himself into oblivion. He had been doing so good lately, only drinking on weekends. She looked down at Sebastian, who was too engrossed with whatever he was listening to on his Walk Man to notice the chaos swirling around him.

She remembered the sweet girl Karen used to be. Karen was the first acquaintance Celeste had made in California , and they'd gone on to be roommates, like Laverne and Shirley. It was Karen who had convinced Celeste to audition for "Mermaid Country". New Years Eve that year, they had mixed up killer margaritas and spent the night propped up against the fridge singing ABBA tunes.

Karen had been the one to introduce Celeste and Joel,initially. They had met in a first rate Italian bistro with dirty floors. Neither had cared for the other, and they'd spent the night watching Karen's then-husband, Everett slop pesto all over his shirt.

Father Time gets bored and shakes up the canister of life,that was the most logical explanation of life's blows she could come up with.

Celeste peered down at the sandcastle she and Sebastian had crafted together. It was a doozy, complete with a moat and Power Ranger guards. All it needed was a few feathers on top.