Her Unforeseen Destiny

A New Home

"And I said, OOOOOOOOOH, I'm blinded by the liiiiiiiights," Emmeline and Laura sang at the top of their lungs as the chorus came on. Laura was incredibly out of tune and Emmeline wasn't making much of an attempt at sounding great either, so it was somewhat of a cacophony of discord. Neither of them minded in the slightest. The only people who probably minded were the pedestrians they passed as they drove along the seafront, singing their hearts out with the windows wide open. 

Laura had made the executive decision that they would take the scenic route, so the 20-minute drive was now a 40-minute meander along the prettiest routes possible. Emmeline rarely came to the seafront as Alice's house was further inland and wasn't within walking distance from the coast. 

As the song came to an end, she looked out of the window and smiled. Where she was moving to didn't have a sea view but knowing that in only 15 minutes she could be on the beach, with the wind in her hair and the weird smell of seaweed in her nose, made her unbelievably happy. 

Tourists flocked to the seaside town in the summer, enjoying the British sun and sand. Sure, it wasn't quite like the beaches in Spain or Portugal, but it was a beautiful part of the British coastline. Plus, Emmeline thought to herself, it was her part of the coastline. She had never been anywhere else, or at least not particularly far away. 

Growing up, she had mostly lived in the orphanage in Bristol, which was less than an hour away. Now that she was free from angry Alice, she finally let herself entertain thoughts of seeing more of England. Maybe even Wales. Scotland seemed awfully far away, though, so she ignored the idea of that for now. 

When she was in school, she would hear other kids talking about their holidays. About trips down to Cornwall or Dorset, city breaks in Edinburgh, half-term holiday in the Lake District. For other families, it was trips abroad to France or Spain, the wealthier ones to further-flung destinations like the USA, the Caribbean or even to Australia. When she was asked about what she did in the school holidays, she would just shrug. Sometimes she would lie, rather than deal with their questions about why she didn't do anything. 'We went to London,' she fibbed once, trying to remember some of the touristy things to do there, 'We went to the palace, on the London Eye and everything.' 

In reality, her school holidays had been spent at home, mostly losing herself in a new novel that she had taken out at the library. Sometimes she would just stay in the library, reading for hours. Losing herself in a work of fiction freed her from the limits of being stuck with annoying Alice and gave her an outlet for a few hours.

"Earth to Emmie?" Emmeline was brought back to the present by Laura's voice. She hadn't even noticed that Laura had pulled the car over. Laura grinned at her brightly, "We're here!"

Emmeline looked out of the open car window, spotting her new home. Number 18, Milton Road. The dark red brick exterior contrasted with the whitewashed bay windows of the ground floor flat. She wished she could afford the rent for somewhere like that, but maybe that was a 'someday' dream. 

Her gaze shifted upwards to the small windows at the top of the house. The attic rooms, previously known as the servants' quarters. It was common in houses like this. You would see much smaller windows, either at the top or the bottom of the house. In some larger homes, it could be both. 

In the 17th- and 18th-centuries, this was where the servants would sleep. Many of the townhouses had now been converted, so the 'servants' quarters' now functioned as an attic, or they were converted into smaller flats. They usually cost much less than their downstairs neighbours, particularly since the ceilings were usually sloping and it could be a complete pain to find furniture that would fit in the space. If they were incorporated with the rest of the house, families would often use them as kids' rooms. 

Emmeline wasn't bothered by the sloping ceilings and didn't really mind that her windows were much smaller than the rest of the house. When she had seen the photos of the flat, she loved it immediately. She knew that she could make it cosy and homely, and the smaller space just meant that she would have to be more organised and not make a mess with her things. The kitchen and living space was small, but with just one person living there, it wouldn't pose a problem. More than anything, she was just exhilarated to finally have a place to call her own.

Opening the car door, she stood up and stretched. The road was quiet, but you could hear some cars travelling on the larger roads nearby. Seagulls squawked and swooped in the distance and she could hear someone hoovering their floor not too far away. If she listened carefully, she was convinced she could hear the sea and the chatter of tourists enjoying their summer visit to the seaside. Don't be silly, she admonished herself. You're just imagining things, the promenade and the sea are 15 minutes away, there's no way you'd hear that from here.

Maybe she was just imagining the sound since she knew that it would be there. She shook her head slightly and half jogged to the boot of the car. 

"Shall we get you all moved in, birthday girl?" Laura opened the boot of her hatchback and grabbed one of the bags that Emmeline had packed. "I'm still amazed at how little STUFF you have. You clearly aren't a hoarder or impulse shopper like me!"

Grabbing the other bag and shutting the boot, Emmeline grinned at her. She knew that she didn't have many belongings compared to most people, but she had everything that was the most important to her.

"All the more space to fill with new things!"