Once in the city Rachel found the library, she needed to make some phone calls and didn’t want to leave her bags out in the open too long. She took out her list of possible places to stay and started dialling. The first two places were full, the third place wanted identification. Rachel hung-up, she hadn’t contemplated the possibility she would need anything like that just to stay somewhere. She had no idea what she was going to do. She hadn’t thought is would be so difficult to find a place to stay.
Rachel left the library and went back to the station. She was feeling hungry and had seen a bakery there. She bought herself a pie and walked over to a little grassed area where people were smoking. She sat down to eat and think. She finished the pie and looked through her purse hoping for an answer to slap her in the face. There it was, her mother’s credit card. The card only had her mother’s first names initialled on it, and they happened to be the same initials as Rachel’s own. The first names weren’t the same, her mum was Renae Leanne, but maybe it would be enough.
Rachel went back to the phones. She put her name down at the first place with a vacancy and asked directions. It was a bit risky but she was hoping that when she turned up they’d be unwilling to refuse her. She had to wait twenty minutes for the right bus but in less than an hour she was checking in to the Sunshine Coast Backpackers.
When they asked for ID she said she didn’t have a passport and had been waiting for her new licence to arrive back home but she had a credit card and hoped that would be alright. There was a slight hesitation by the young man behind the counter so she added that she was planing on paying in cash for two weeks up front if they would take it. The guy smiled and handed over the forms. She signed but added a couple of years to her age, and didn’t hesitate to leave her home number, she knew no-one would pick it up. No-one was home and her parents had given her a private line when she turned fourteen, and they never answered that, plus before she’d left she’d disconnected her answering machine. Rachel was starting to feel as though she may have pulled off her big escape.
The place wasn’t very fancy but she wasn’t paying for fancy, she was paying for a place to stay and be dry, or more importantly somewhere to keep cool, rain in January was unlikely to be an issue. The backpackers was two stories comprising of a communal kitchen and two living areas one with a television and one without, the second had a pool table. They were both downstairs along with the office and a toilet. Upstairs were two rooms containing ten beds and four bathrooms. There was a garden out the back with some chairs, a table, a hammock and a washing line. There was no laundry, Rachel had been told the nearest laundromat was two streets away, and she supposed she could wash her clothes in the sink or shower.
Rachel carted her gear into the girl’s dorm. She unpacked her beach towel and hung it over the end of her bed like a couple of other people had done. She figured at least that way they would know the bed was now someone’s. Looking around she realised it may take a while to get used to these living arrangements. As an only child she had never had to share her room with anyone before, so sharing with nine other people was going to be a big change.
As she took in her surroundings she noticed clothes hanging over bed ends and on window ledges, Rachel wasn’t sure if they were there to dry out or just air out. There were a couple of closed backpacks pushed neatly under beds, most though seemed open and half under the beds, as if their owners had kicked them out of the way as they left. Rachel suddenly felt a little self conscious about having a suitcase rather than a backpack but the guy at reception hadn’t commented so maybe she wasn’t too out of place.
The whole place seemed to have an air of freedom about it and it suddenly hit her that she no longer had to think about having parents looking over her shoulder. Her parents were now officially no longer part of her life.
Her bed had a pillow and a thin blanket but no sheets. Rachel had another look around the room, every bed but hers had a sleeping bag on it. She didn’t have one and to be honest it wasn’t something she’d even thought about. With no idea where to get a sleeping bag from she looked at her watch and thought if she was lucky she would be able to get something to sleep on from the supermarket near where the bus had dropped her off. She quickly got some money out of one of her socks, closed and locked her case, pushed it under the bed and headed off for the shops.
Rachel smiled to herself as she walked. She had done it. She was away from abusive and non-caring relatives and unbelieving parents. It was summer time and she was staying about one and a half kilometres away from the beach. No-one had called her bluff or even asked awkward questions. Things were definitely looking up.
She got to the shops just before they closed but that was fine she wasn’t planning on being long. She bought a cheap set of sheets figuring they would do until she got around to buying a sleeping bag. Anything else could wait for another day or so, she had shelter, all the clothes she would need for a while and access to food. The guy at the hostel’s front desk, Tony she thought his name was, had told her breakfast was included in the price but it was nothing fancy; cereal, toast, tea or coffee, so she figured she had until lunch time tomorrow to work out what she was going to do about the rest of her meals. It was tempting to think it wouldn’t be an issue because she had plenty of money but she wasn’t going to allow herself that luxury. Having no idea how long her money would have to last she was determined to use it wisely.
However the planning and being careful could wait until tomorrow because dinner on the beach was looking like a mighty fine idea as she walked back to the hostel. It was easy to convince herself that she deserved at least one celebratory meal. First though she took her sheets upstairs and made the bed. Still no-one else was in the dorm but a few things looked different so she assumed someone had been there. She grabbed a lightweight jacket and left again, this time heading towards the ocean.
The sun was still fairly high over the horizon when Rachel reached the beach and not being really hungry she decided to take her shoes off and go for a walk along the shore. The sun was warm, the breeze brisk and the water felt great as it lapped at her feet when the waves washed up onto the sand. Breathing in the salty sea air Rachel felt things were getting better by the minute, for the first time in years she wasn’t feeling dread on her first night away.
She briefly wondered if her parents even knew she hadn’t turned up at the farm. Then decided she didn’t actually care. If they had have cared the way they should’ve they wouldn’t have continued to send her back to the one place that gave her nightmares. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have them very often anymore, it mattered that she had them at all. Then of course there were the inerasable memories. In one of her more imaginative moments Rachel wondered if there was a way to selectively erase someone’s memories like they did in the movies.
Rachel, starting to feel hungry walked away from the water’s edge, found herself a seafood takeaway place. She bought some fish and chips, a coke and went and sat on the beach to eat her dinner as the sun set.
‘This is perhaps,’ Rachel thought, ‘the most perfect moment I have ever experienced in my life.’
It was well after the last of the sun’s rays had left the sky when Rachel started back to the hostel. Things felt so good. She didn’t have to be afraid of the night anymore. She didn’t have to crawl into bed wondering if Trevor was going to come into her room or if he was going to draw it out in anticipation. He was the nastiest person she had ever met, yet the people closest to him thought he could do no wrong.
Even her own mother hadn’t believed what she had said about him. Not that she had been completely surprised by that. Trevor had told her people wouldn’t believe her but she guessed deep down she felt her mother should have believed her above other family members. To the best of her knowledge her mother had dismissed what she had said outright, never even giving it a second thought. Not for a minute giving her daughter the benefit of the doubt.
That had been Trevor’s ace, and probably the thing that hurt many rape victims. People simply didn’t want to believe someone they knew would be capable of something like that.
Rachel left the library and went back to the station. She was feeling hungry and had seen a bakery there. She bought herself a pie and walked over to a little grassed area where people were smoking. She sat down to eat and think. She finished the pie and looked through her purse hoping for an answer to slap her in the face. There it was, her mother’s credit card. The card only had her mother’s first names initialled on it, and they happened to be the same initials as Rachel’s own. The first names weren’t the same, her mum was Renae Leanne, but maybe it would be enough.
Rachel went back to the phones. She put her name down at the first place with a vacancy and asked directions. It was a bit risky but she was hoping that when she turned up they’d be unwilling to refuse her. She had to wait twenty minutes for the right bus but in less than an hour she was checking in to the Sunshine Coast Backpackers.
When they asked for ID she said she didn’t have a passport and had been waiting for her new licence to arrive back home but she had a credit card and hoped that would be alright. There was a slight hesitation by the young man behind the counter so she added that she was planing on paying in cash for two weeks up front if they would take it. The guy smiled and handed over the forms. She signed but added a couple of years to her age, and didn’t hesitate to leave her home number, she knew no-one would pick it up. No-one was home and her parents had given her a private line when she turned fourteen, and they never answered that, plus before she’d left she’d disconnected her answering machine. Rachel was starting to feel as though she may have pulled off her big escape.
The place wasn’t very fancy but she wasn’t paying for fancy, she was paying for a place to stay and be dry, or more importantly somewhere to keep cool, rain in January was unlikely to be an issue. The backpackers was two stories comprising of a communal kitchen and two living areas one with a television and one without, the second had a pool table. They were both downstairs along with the office and a toilet. Upstairs were two rooms containing ten beds and four bathrooms. There was a garden out the back with some chairs, a table, a hammock and a washing line. There was no laundry, Rachel had been told the nearest laundromat was two streets away, and she supposed she could wash her clothes in the sink or shower.
Rachel carted her gear into the girl’s dorm. She unpacked her beach towel and hung it over the end of her bed like a couple of other people had done. She figured at least that way they would know the bed was now someone’s. Looking around she realised it may take a while to get used to these living arrangements. As an only child she had never had to share her room with anyone before, so sharing with nine other people was going to be a big change.
As she took in her surroundings she noticed clothes hanging over bed ends and on window ledges, Rachel wasn’t sure if they were there to dry out or just air out. There were a couple of closed backpacks pushed neatly under beds, most though seemed open and half under the beds, as if their owners had kicked them out of the way as they left. Rachel suddenly felt a little self conscious about having a suitcase rather than a backpack but the guy at reception hadn’t commented so maybe she wasn’t too out of place.
The whole place seemed to have an air of freedom about it and it suddenly hit her that she no longer had to think about having parents looking over her shoulder. Her parents were now officially no longer part of her life.
Her bed had a pillow and a thin blanket but no sheets. Rachel had another look around the room, every bed but hers had a sleeping bag on it. She didn’t have one and to be honest it wasn’t something she’d even thought about. With no idea where to get a sleeping bag from she looked at her watch and thought if she was lucky she would be able to get something to sleep on from the supermarket near where the bus had dropped her off. She quickly got some money out of one of her socks, closed and locked her case, pushed it under the bed and headed off for the shops.
Rachel smiled to herself as she walked. She had done it. She was away from abusive and non-caring relatives and unbelieving parents. It was summer time and she was staying about one and a half kilometres away from the beach. No-one had called her bluff or even asked awkward questions. Things were definitely looking up.
She got to the shops just before they closed but that was fine she wasn’t planning on being long. She bought a cheap set of sheets figuring they would do until she got around to buying a sleeping bag. Anything else could wait for another day or so, she had shelter, all the clothes she would need for a while and access to food. The guy at the hostel’s front desk, Tony she thought his name was, had told her breakfast was included in the price but it was nothing fancy; cereal, toast, tea or coffee, so she figured she had until lunch time tomorrow to work out what she was going to do about the rest of her meals. It was tempting to think it wouldn’t be an issue because she had plenty of money but she wasn’t going to allow herself that luxury. Having no idea how long her money would have to last she was determined to use it wisely.
However the planning and being careful could wait until tomorrow because dinner on the beach was looking like a mighty fine idea as she walked back to the hostel. It was easy to convince herself that she deserved at least one celebratory meal. First though she took her sheets upstairs and made the bed. Still no-one else was in the dorm but a few things looked different so she assumed someone had been there. She grabbed a lightweight jacket and left again, this time heading towards the ocean.
The sun was still fairly high over the horizon when Rachel reached the beach and not being really hungry she decided to take her shoes off and go for a walk along the shore. The sun was warm, the breeze brisk and the water felt great as it lapped at her feet when the waves washed up onto the sand. Breathing in the salty sea air Rachel felt things were getting better by the minute, for the first time in years she wasn’t feeling dread on her first night away.
She briefly wondered if her parents even knew she hadn’t turned up at the farm. Then decided she didn’t actually care. If they had have cared the way they should’ve they wouldn’t have continued to send her back to the one place that gave her nightmares. It didn’t matter that she didn’t have them very often anymore, it mattered that she had them at all. Then of course there were the inerasable memories. In one of her more imaginative moments Rachel wondered if there was a way to selectively erase someone’s memories like they did in the movies.
Rachel, starting to feel hungry walked away from the water’s edge, found herself a seafood takeaway place. She bought some fish and chips, a coke and went and sat on the beach to eat her dinner as the sun set.
‘This is perhaps,’ Rachel thought, ‘the most perfect moment I have ever experienced in my life.’
It was well after the last of the sun’s rays had left the sky when Rachel started back to the hostel. Things felt so good. She didn’t have to be afraid of the night anymore. She didn’t have to crawl into bed wondering if Trevor was going to come into her room or if he was going to draw it out in anticipation. He was the nastiest person she had ever met, yet the people closest to him thought he could do no wrong.
Even her own mother hadn’t believed what she had said about him. Not that she had been completely surprised by that. Trevor had told her people wouldn’t believe her but she guessed deep down she felt her mother should have believed her above other family members. To the best of her knowledge her mother had dismissed what she had said outright, never even giving it a second thought. Not for a minute giving her daughter the benefit of the doubt.
That had been Trevor’s ace, and probably the thing that hurt many rape victims. People simply didn’t want to believe someone they knew would be capable of something like that.
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