Should I Forget?

The sun was setting beautifully on the Spanish shore and there was only one more boat left on the sea: a small party boat just closing in on the harbour. The boat’s size was small but the atmosphere was incredible. The host, Jane, was always followed by lots of followers and her singing was incredible. As she started to stand up and sing,everyone would stop what they were doing and start to listen. After she finished, everyone would stand up and clap. As she descended the stairs out of the boat and started to walk out of the harbour followed by an army of new friends she remembered how weeks ago she was living off loans from her friends and she had seriously thought of suicide. “I’m so glad I went to Spain,”she thought.

“Jane?JANE?JANE!” Jane startled awake and found herself in a crumbling office block. Her boss was at the door. “Jane, get back to work.”her boss said. “Yes sir” she mumbled, getting back to work into an insanely boring money transaction. Her boss was already paying her less money than any other employee no matter if he mopped the bathroom floor or was voted ‘Most valuable employee’ for 6 years in a row. Her situation was already very bad and she didn’t want to make it worse.

As Jane went home, she opened the door and started doing some unpaid work that, in her words, if she didn’t do, her boss would “Completely shatter her with one of his fury-filled rants”. As she logged on her computer, she heard a knock on the door. Before she could answer, the door flung open and her son John ran in. “Mum, Joseph stole my toys!” Jane sighed and went off to scold the older brother, Joseph, on stealing John’s toys. As she opened the door back to her work area, she sighed and opened her laptop to find a ticket to Barcelona. 

 The sun was rising and on the horizon you could see a speedboat speeding through the sea followed by a laughing women water-skiing. Her friends were on the speedboat and they were encouraging her. Her smile was wider than a thousand well-dressed rubber duckies stacked on top of each other.

“Ring Ring! Ring Ring!” Jane sleepily turned off the alarm slowly sat up, processing the inviting dream she had last night. As she opened her eyes she was in a 2-bedroom apartment flat.  As she waited for the bus to arrive so she could go to work she thought, ” You know, maybe it won’t be so bad in Spain, I could rent a seaside apartment there,” And just like that- she had missed her bus to her office.

Jane rushed into the office at lightning speed and she found an old man with a disapproving glare. “30 minutes late,” he said. “This is unacceptable. You are a disgrace to the company.” 

“But, sir, I had missed the bus-” she started.Before she could finish, her boss interrupted.”I don’t care, late is late. Now get to work or you’ll find a little money off your pay check.”

As she logged on to her computer, she couldn’t help but go back to that odd little dream she had last night. As she went on with work, she spotted an ad with the Spanish Embassy. She tried to ignore it but soon she gave in. She clicked the ad she found that her dreams might not be so far away as immigration laws were cooling down. It was not going to last long but she knew this was a golden opportunity.

When she looked at the passport to Spain you could immediately buy online, she knew this was golden. She was a few seconds from getting her ticket to Barcelona. She moved the cursor to the ‘buy’ button and she was ready to click. “Jane?Jane!” “Not again” she thought. As he approached her computer, he said: “Jane, you have been working for longer than you have been usually, what are you up to?” “Er nothing boss, I just wanted to make up those 30 minutes that I was late.” she said, beads of sweat dripping down her face.

she said, beads of sweat dripping down her face. The boss slowly circled his prey. She quickly saved her work and logged out. As she did this he went for the kill but found nothing but a blank screen. One second Jane was there and the next no one was there and all you could see was the door slowly shutting. Once she left her office the relief fell out of her. 

At home, once she logged in to her computer she checked her Email and found a urgent message from her sister. As she read the message her eyes widened to the size of a pickup truck’s wheel. “What? No! Mother’s caught cancer!” Her eyes scanned her desk until they laid on a picture of her and her mother. It was old, chipped and grainy yet oddly brilliant. It all came back-how she longed for spring to play with her mother and she just couldn’t believe that lively woman could catch cancer.

 As she started to brush her teeth, she thought of her mother. But soon she dismissed the thought. “Don’t let this hold you back. You’re so close to Barcelona and paradise.” 

 In a small English cottage’s garden there were two girls out there playing. As they pretended to be explorers on an adventure, one of them said: ”I wonder where mummy is right now, June.(June was the older sister.)  we ought to tell her about our new adventure.” Just as they were going back inside to tell their mum about their new adventure their dad came in. “ Jane, June- your mummy is at the hospital with cancer!” At the hospital 3 pairs of eyes laid on Jane and June’s mum. The woman lay on her bed, looking like she’d just completed a 134 mile sprint.