Coral woke up. Her eyes snapped open in the darkness and she sat up, trying to work out where she was. She’d just had the same dream again. The one where she was with her parents and felt so close to them. They had all been back together, on a happy holiday, swimming in the sunshine, as if nothing had happened.
It was a shock to wake up back in her room. To remember again that her parents were gone. In the inky blackness of her bedroom, Coral had never felt more alone.
She was trying so hard to be brave for everyone. Her Aunt Trish and Uncle Jeff had moved in and were doing their best to look after her, and friends from school visited to try to cheer her up. But nothing could fill the huge hole in her heart. It didn’t even seem worth coming out of her room when she didn’t have to.
Coral had not let herself cry, not since the accident. She fought hard to keep her tears back, worried that if they began, they would never stop. But in the dark dead of night, after the hopeful bright island of her dream, she felt the grief surge inside her.
She gulped and gasped for air, almost drowning. Her heart was pounding. A sound like the ocean rushed and swirled in her head. Finally wave after wave of tears rolled down her cheeks, a sea of sorrow.
Coral couldn’t hold back any more. She lay back down on her bed, allowed her tears to flow free, and let herself be swept away.
Just before she cried herself to sleep, she closed her eyes and wished something would change. That something good would happen.