Patong Beach, Thailand
26th December 2014
‘Looking at your watch won’t make them get here any sooner,’ Charlie said.
Stella stuck her tongue out at him. ‘It’s almost time.’
‘I know. They’re here, we know that. Luca said he and George checked into the hotel an hour ago.’
‘What would I do without you to keep me in check?’ Stella asked.
‘Best day of your life the day you came into my salon,’ Charlie said, then smiled as he saw their friends walking towards them. He nodded over Stella’s shoulder and she jumped up, screaming with delight.
‘Rea! You’re here!’ She couldn’t believe it. Rea had point blank refused to come to the anniversary ceremony. Yet here she was, standing in front of them.
Rea smiled beatifically at them all. ‘Of course I came. With a little help from a large gin and tonic, there wasn’t a bother on me.’
‘She snored loudly for the whole flight,’ Luca said, taking Stella into his arms. ‘Hello you. I like the hair.’
‘Hello.’ She smiled up at him, touching her new cropped hair-do. ‘I’ve been threatening to do it for a long time. Charlie obliged this morning.’
‘It suits you,’ Luca said.
‘Yes, I rather like it too,’ Stella replied. And even though it had been months since they’d seen each other, it felt like only yesterday.
‘Have you managed to track down your friends yet?’ Rea asked, taking her turn to hug Stella.
‘I found Alice. She’s here. She remarried a few years ago. That’s why I couldn’t find her when I looked. But she’d been looking for me too, for years! But of course, I’d changed my name too, so we were both coming up blanks.’
‘Wait till you meet her. She’s a feisty one,’ Charlie said. ‘She doesn’t let the fact that she’s only one leg stop her for a second.’
When she got home to the UK, despite everyone’s best efforts, the infection she’d suffered during the tsunami had done too much damage. The surgeon had no choice but to remove her leg from just below the knee.
‘You’ll meet her on the beach shortly. Anna and Corey didn’t come, they have two children now. She seems so happy, the doting grandmother! It was incredible seeing her again. And even more wonderful, I’ve found Maria Nolan too! She’s here with Kevin, Daisy and Alfie. Daisy saw me first of all. I didn’t recognise her when she ran up to me. But when she launched herself at me, hugging me tight, it was like the years just fell away and she was that little girl again, clinging onto me in the water.’
‘That must have been quite a reunion,’ Luca said.
‘We all had dinner together last night. It was really good to catch up on what happened after we left here. I’ve thought of them so much over the years.’
‘I’m so happy for you,’ Luca said. ‘You’ve worked hard trying to find them these past few months.’
‘It was another piece of the jigsaw …’ Stella said. ‘And while it was emotional seeing them, the memories, most of them harrowing, kind of helped too. They know what I went through back then. They are part of it. They understand.’
‘I’m happy for you. Here, let me get a good look at you.’ Rea looked at Stella with approval. ‘You’ve put some weight on. Much better. Don’t ever go back that thin again.’
‘It’s all that French food my Aunty Paula has been force-feeding me. She was determined to fatten me up.’
‘Are you happy living in France?’ Luca asked.
‘Happy enough. But it doesn’t feel like home. As it happens, I’ve decided to go back to Ireland when I leave here.’
‘Best news ever, as far as I’m concerned,’ Charlie said.
‘Well, speaking of news, I have something to share too,’ Luca said. ‘These past few months, I’ve learned how important and precious family is. So I’m moving home too.’
Rea’s face beamed with joy. George patted his son on the shoulder affectionately.
‘The family who moved into number 70, they’re a great lot. They have three kids, full of mischief. It’s good to hear giggles over that wall,’ George said.
Stella and Matt sold their house within a month of it going on the market. Matt was found guilty and sentenced to one year in prison, with a restraining order in place on his release.Their solicitors sorted out their separation agreement fairly quickly, mainly because Stella wanted so little. She simply wanted to keep her parents’ house. She’d had enough.
‘I think it’s time to go down,’ Charlie said. He was wearing a full-length emerald-green kaftan dress, with a turban over his hair, large gold earrings dangled against his cheek. He reached down and took his heels off, then held his hand out to Stella.
Since her move to France, he’d been a regular visitor, taking advantage of cheap flights whenever he could. They’d grown so close and once she accepted his invitation to be his little sister, their bond deepened. They spoke to each other every day, whether on email, text or on Facebook. She’d met his family and they were as wonderful as him. And, somehow or other, she knew Eli would approve.
When she told Charlie that she planned to return to Patong Beach for the ten-year anniversary, he didn’t wait to be asked, he just told her to book two tickets.
‘Ready?’ Luca asked.
She didn’t think she was, but she also couldn’t avoid the beach any longer. Watching it from her hotel bedroom, she fought to slay demons that danced around her. But perhaps the only way she could truly do that was when she placed her feet on the white sands of Patong Beach.
As the sand tickled her toes, the years stripped away and she was seventeen again. The sun set, casting golden shadows on the serene waters.
Ten years ago, she swore she would never come back. But she’d found the strength, with a little help from her friends.
Since she and Charlie had arrived this morning, every corner she turned she expected to see her mam, dad and Eli. The sounds and the smells that were unique to this paradise evoked fresh memories.
And it was once more a paradise. The devastation of that time had been replaced with an idyll once again.
So many ghosts floated around her, caressing her cheeks as they spun, whispering her name. For many years, Stella had felt guilt that she’d survived. Why her? But now she knew better. As Rea said, why not her? She had as much right as anyone else had to be here. She was alive and she owed it to everyone who died on this beach, before their time, to live a full life.
Alice was there already, standing strong, using her husband to support her. Then she saw Maria and her family a little bit to the left, embracing each other. Maria smiled sadly when she caught her eye. They had experienced something on this beach that would connect them forever.
‘Well, I never. If it isn’t the fighting Irish. I heard you’d made it.’ Stella turned and laughed out loud at the Scottish lilt. Standing there was the woman from the rock, holding hands with her husband.
‘Nice to see you wore clothes today,’ Stella joked.
‘You too, Irish. You doing okay?’ Jill asked.
‘Getting there.’
They looked at each other, as they had ten years ago, and walked towards one another to embrace.
‘I’m so glad you made it,’ Stella said. ‘You saved my life.’
‘You can buy me a drink later,’ Jill replied. Then she moved back to her husband.
‘Have you found everyone you wanted to see?’ Luca asked.
‘No. I wanted to find some of the Thai hotel staff who helped me. And Sven and Dil. They were the two brothers who helped me a lot back then. But I don’t think they’re here either. I never knew their surname. Makes it tricky to search.’
She thought about the last time she saw them. Aunty Paula and she had come to the difficult decision that it was time to leave. Without Eli. So they went to the beach, one last time, to look for a miracle that never came. And then Sven and Dil appeared, as they always did, out of nowhere.
‘Thank you,’ she had whispered to Dil and he whispered something in Norwegian that she didn’t understand.
Then she turned to Sven and he said, ‘I wanted to do this, from the very first time I saw you on the beach. When I took that photograph of you.’ He leaned in and kissed her gently on her lips.
Her first kiss.
She reached up and touched her lips and silently gave thanks for those two brothers and all they did to help her and many others.
‘Here, Miss,’ a Thai woman called Chaulai, said to Stella. ‘We light lanterns for those that die.’ She looked around her and saw hundreds all beginning to light their Chinese lanterns. Rea, George, Luca and Charlie all had one each in their hands.
She looked down at hers, remembering another time, ten years ago, when she released a lantern into this clear night sky. Mam, Dad and Eli were standing by her side and they all watched as their lanterns floated up in the air. The sounds of Silent Night, sung by the Thai staff, made a beautiful moment magical.
‘Wish upon a star, my little Skye,’ Mam’s voice whispered to her.
Okay Mam. I’ll try.
Charlie nudged her gently, then handed her a marker. ‘Why don’t you write a message on it, before you let it go? Look, others are doing the same.’
Rea wept softly, saying to George, ‘I’ve written her name a million times, but this … I can’t bear it.’
‘We’ll do it together,’ George said and Rea nodded.
Stella sank to the ground, her hands shaking as she looked at her lantern. What should she say? It was time to say goodbye, she knew that much. Time to move on.
So she wrote on the lantern three names, saying her goodbye to each of them as she did so.
Mam
Dad
Eli
Then she added one more name.
Stella
It was time to say goodbye to her too. And time to say hello to her new life.
Luca walked over and lit her lantern for her, then lit his own. ‘We’ll let them go at the same time, okay?’
She nodded and looked around her, as dozens of lanterns began their ascent up to the dark sky. With tears blurring her vision, she held her arms up high into the dark night and she let go.
With the release, she fell to the sand and watched the lantern move across the black sky and with every inch away from her it floated, the lighter she felt.
They were all mesmerised at the spectacular sight. Illuminated lanterns suspended against the starry sky. Stella reached out for Charlie’s hand and then Luca took her other one. She focused on the beauty of the sky, lit up with messages to lost loved ones.
Stella whispered into the night air, ‘Goodbye Eli, I’ll never forget you. Thank you for taking such good care of me. You were the best brother I could ever have had. And don’t worry, your little sis isn’t scared any more. I’m going to live, really live, I promise you. I’m going to live for all of us. I’m going to find love, I’m going to have a family, just like you did, Mam and Dad, and I’m going to make a difference in their lives. I promise you. I’m going to live a good life, I’ll make you all so proud.’
And when finally the lantern disappeared from her sightline, so did her ghosts. She turned her back to the water and started to make her way back to the hotel.
‘Hey, Irish!’ Jill shouted at her as she walked away. ‘You never told me your name.’
She smiled, then shouted back, ‘My name is Skye Madden.’