When she got up from the jetty, she found her way home. She could have gone the way she'd come, but she decided to stay within the boundaries she knew, to familiarise herself with the terrain. She followed the narrow, winding coastal path under the rustling trees, over the little bridges and past the little houses until she arrived at her front door.
Dizzy and exhausted, she headed straight to bed, but she couldn't sleep. The world vanished, the room vanished, the bed vanished, and she was left in a space as dark, empty and unlimited as the night sky.
A smile flashed through the darkness. She'd forgotten to turn off her phone. There were eleven missed calls.
She pressed the button on the side, rubbed her eye and yawned. The clock showed 03:29.
The first missed call was from her husband. He was probably so worried about her that he'd been calling for two hours on end. She couldn't bear to listen to his voice. She pressed the button to save the message, dropped the phone on the floor beside the bed and dozed off.
A moment later the phone rang again. The screen lit up and her husband's anxious face stared back at her. She hesitated for a moment and then pressed the button to save the message.
He rang again: I'm so worried about you, darling. Please call me when you get this. Please, please.
She lost count of the times he rang before she finally decided to answer the call.
'It's me,' she said.
'Thank God!' her husband said. He hadn't slept a wink all night.
'Don't worry,' she said.
'Where are you?'
'I'm sleeping.'
'What?'
'I thought I'd sleep here. You can wake me up, if you want.'
'But, darling, you're...'
She pressed the button to save the message, turned off her phone and closed her eyes.
She woke up the next afternoon from a dream, to the sound of her granddaughter singing the 'wedding song'. She'd come with the other two kids. She took them through to where she'd slept and commented on how ironic it was that her granddaughter should sing her wedding song, when she was now a bride.
'Teddy's got a new girl,' her husband told her.
'A new what?'
'A new girl,' he said, his lips twitching.
'What?'
'He's got a new girl.'
'A new girl?'
'She's young.'
'What?'
'She's very young.'
'What?'
'She's lovely, in fact.'
'What?'
'You don't understand. He's found someone else.'
'What does that mean?'
'She's lovely. You've got nothing to worry about.'
'Something must have happened.'
'Why do you think that?' he laughed.
'People get divorced, when something happens,' she said.
'Well, there's no need to worry anyway. He's broken up with her. It was silly. It was just a bit of fun.'
'What is "fun"? What is "just a bit of fun"? What is "silly"? Why are people "silly"? Why is it "fun" to break someone's heart? Why do people get divorced? Why did you wait so long to tell me anything? Why does Teddy get divorced? Why does he get married? Why is he all so silly? Why, why, why? Why are you being silly? Why are you being silly? You should have said "no ceremony". You should have said "no". You should have listened to me. I'd have told you. I was right. I knew exactly what was going to happen. I told you. I told you. He should have listened to me. Why didn't you make him listen? And now where have you been?'
'They had their first dance yesterday.'
'What?'
'Your Teddy had his first dance yesterday.'
'And?'
'He's had a few drinks.'
'What?'
'But he's had his first dance with his new girl.'
'And a few drinks?'
'Sorted.'
'I hope you haven't been...'
'No.
