Finding Love

2

The Fuckening:

When your day is going too well and, you don’t trust it, and some s**t finally goes down.

"Hello everyone and welcome in California. The local time is 18:15 and the temperature is 28°C. Enjoy your holiday and have a merry Christmas," says the pilot. Glad the flight is finally over, I jump straight out of my seat and ready to leave this death machine. I have a panic fear of planes and sharks. And now that I think about it, also of people, but that is more because I am very shy.

The crowd of people following, I get out of the plane straight into the warm air. I soon feel my leggings sticking to my legs and drops of sweat sliding down my neck. Angry that I hadn't thought of the fact that it is much warmer in California than in Belgium, I look around to see if I find the rest of my family.

‘Sis, here' I hear Coll shout when he tries to attract my attention with big hand gestures. Shaking my head I walk up to Coll and the rest of my family, who have already collected our suitcases. ‘Let's first go to the hotel to drop off our suitcases and then find a nice little restaurant to eat something' Daddy tells us. A yawn escapes my mouth when I get into the rental car. "Tired sister?" asks Justin when he takes a seat next to me. I nod and put my head on his shoulder. I feel the car start, but soon my senses fall out and I end up in a dreamless sleep.

‘Lily, wake up' I hear a woman's voice say while I am gently shaken. Mumbling somthing about the fact that it's not time for school yet, I turn around as best I can. ‘Lily wakes up' I hear the voice say again, but this time a little less friendly. Fighting against sleep I slowly open my eyes, to come to the conclusion that I am in a car. Slowly the events come back and all the sleep is gone. ‘Yes, mama, why didn't you wake me up sooner' I say when I see that I am  the only one in the car. With a thud I jump out of the car and look around me in admire.

Large palm trees decorate the streets as different people in bikinis pass by. With my nose raised I wonder why people would walk half-n***d in the streets, maybe that's something typical for America, my subconscious answers. But my question is quickly answered when I let my eyes wander further and my gaze falls on a beach.

The beach is beautiful. The sand is white, without pebbles mixed in, something you can't say about the beaches in Belgium. I can already see from here how clear the sea is and how beautiful the waves fall as surfers move along with it. I keep on looking around, hoping to find something, but I don’t encounter it, too my sadness, there are no Christmas decorations.

Let me remind you of the American dream. The dream with the boys and the football and all that stuff. Well, one of those dots on the list is that America celebrates Christmas and all the other parties pretty big. If you remember that, hopefully you'll also remember that the dream isn't always right. Unfortunately for this case, there are no Christmas decorations to be found, even though it will be Christmas in a few days.

Sad that my books don't add up, I get into the hotel. The first thing that strikes me is that Dad is distributing the keys of the rooms. The second, is the little Christmas tree pushed into the far left corner. Quietly stepping to the pathetic plastic tree, I squat down in front of it. ‘Everything's going to be all right, little tree. You may not be very big, or really, but you're the first thing that makes me feel like Christmas,' I whisper.

"Lily, come get your key. We're going to find something to eat in 30 minutes' Daddy says when I say goodbye to the pathetic tree and take my key. We take the elevator to the 15th floor. Arriving on the right floor, I look for room 12. I see Coll and Justin disappearing in room 13 just like mum and dad in room 11. Curious about my room, I put the key in the lock and open the door.

My eyes grow big and my mouth falls open, ready to catch some flies. The room is beautiful. The colors offered in the room are gold and black. The queen-size bed is in the middle against the left wall. Opposite of it is a door that leads to a nice bathroom. But the most spectacular thing  is the view. I open the sliding doors and step onto the balcony, looking at the movements of the sea, sniffing the air.

After 30 minutes mommy comes to pick me up and we leave for the beach. There we find a small cozy restaurant. Looking at the menu I see a lot of fast food dishes. Everybody chooses a hamburger with fries while we chat together about how cool this holiday is going to be. After dinner we go back to our hotel and I crawl into my bed exhausted, wishing that this holiday will be great and will not turn into a nightmare.