An Unexpected Destiny

By laure doucet

It is the story of a little girl who will have extraordinary adventures after her parents divorced. In her eyes, in her childhood heart, she does not admit to seeing her parents separate. She doesn't understand. Without really thinking about it, she prefers to turn her back on her mother. Years go by, and she travels alongside her father. She learns to live in her way, unique. She builds herself without a mother by her side. Will she end up regretting the experience?

 

 

 

My Name is Océane, and like any child, I love adventure. I am dreamy and very emotional. I wouldn't say I like school. I prefer to escape elsewhere and have fun.

I'm 11; my parents want a divorce; they don't love each other anymore; they tear each other apart.

It's a nightmare. Our family is going to be divided into two.

My little sister and I suffer every moment; it's hellish.

Why? Why come here? How is this possible? An unexpected destiny.

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: laure doucet
• Release date: Dec 9, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393279624

Book preview

{We don't choose our parents; we don't choose our family. You don't even choose yourself.} Philippe Geluck

It is the story of a little girl who will have extraordinary adventures after her parents divorced. In her eyes, in her childhood heart, she does not admit to seeing her parents separate. She doesn't understand. Without really thinking about it, she prefers to turn her back on her mother. Years go by, and she travels alongside her father. She learns to live in her way, unique. She builds herself without a mother by her side. Will she end up regretting the experience?

My Name is Océane, and like any child, I love adventure. I am dreamy and very emotional. I wouldn't say I like school. I prefer to escape elsewhere and have fun.

I'm 11; my parents want a divorce; they don't love each other anymore; they tear each other apart.

It's a nightmare. Our family is going to be divided into two.

My little sister and I suffer every moment; it's hellish.

Why? Why come here? How is this possible? An unexpected destiny.

Chapter 1

I was born in February, in the sunny city of Marseille. Until I was five, I grew up in our house on the ledge. I keep very few memories of it, only a few stealthy images that scroll in my head: stickers in The Shape of child's feet glued to the bathtub of our bathroom, a terrace with a magnificent view of Marseille and the sea, a neighbor who offered me peanuts every time she saw me. I remember that she smoked a lot. When I went to her house, it always smelled of cigarettes, even if I did not stay there for long. I also remember breaking a window with one of my shoes because I was scared of the storm. It was a day when my parents had gone; I don't know where they left, maybe to the neighbor's house. I can't remember if they were gone long, but I know I was alone.

We would love to have more memories; unfortunately, we forget quickly when we are a child. I was so small! I had this image of my mother, pregnant when I was three years old. She couldn't carry me because she was afraid to hurt my sister with my weight. I remember her round belly like a balloon amused me: she was soon going to give birth.

And then, as expected, in June, my little sister arrived, and my world was turned upside down. The attention was no longer directed to me, but this brand-new baby. On top of that, I had to leave my bedroom because there was no room for two upstairs. I had to put myself somewhere else, and my parents had set me up in a small place that I hated. It was a small independent room at the very bottom of the house. To get there, you had to go through the kitchen, the living room, and down a staircase. It wasn't a bedroom; instead, it was a basement that they had converted into a bedroom, even if there was a small window. I felt punished. I had always had a habit of sleeping near my parents, and now I was all alone downstairs. Despite all my parents' efforts to decorate my new room, I was continually having nightmares in which I was burned alive by strange and scary beings. This place was terrifying. I was too far away from my family and felt so lonely there!

I clung to my cuddly toy that I loved and helped me a little, but I was still terrified of my new room despite that. I didn't feel safe there, and almost every night, the nightmares came back. But fortunately, this situation did not last long; I was lucky. My parents then decided to move to the town of Ollioules, where we lived until I was eight years old. The nightmares gradually stopped, and I felt better and reassured, but I was angry despite that. I felt sad and aloof in this new family where my little sister was taking all the space. Of course, I was older, when she was still tiny, but I felt like I felt unloved, rejected by my parents, but mostly by my mother. She devoted a lot of attention to the new baby, and I was jealous. The experience I had in the basement had upset me a lot. I wondered if my parents really loved me. I felt a void that I couldn't explain. It is like a gap of absence of parental love non-existent in my eyes.

I was so jealous that I remember throwing her plush toy over the veranda one day, causing it to fall near the trash cans on the street. Fortunately, dad had gone to get her and found her. I was so sad that I felt so alone, convinced that I was being rejected, but I still felt guilty for doing this. I realized I wasn't supposed to act the way I did, but I couldn't do it any other way: I felt like I wasn't being cared for. I needed to pour my anger and resentment on another person; since my sister was still there now, it was easy for me to put everything on her.  We argued a lot. My father was away most of the time; absorbed in his work, he was never at home. My mother was overwhelmed and did not understand my behavior so extreme, punished me, and I ended in tears.

Our parents were always arguing, often in front of us, which did not fix anything. On the contrary, I became more and more unmanageable: I was getting noticed at school, and it was unbearable for my parents to see me. Consciously or not, I wanted to make my parents realize that I needed their attention and love.

I was doing more and more nonsense, sometimes silly and sometimes more severe, like drawing on walls or fighting with other students. I even ended up being kicked out of elementary school. Then, thanks to the move, I joined a new school, and I had the chance to meet a teacher who liked me, to believe that she understood me. She was lenient with me and took the time to listen to me. With her, I felt safe. After all, teachers should help students who are struggling more than just caring for those doing well, right? She had even offered me a soft toy to help me feel better despite all my problems; I had called her little heart. A sign. I will always remember her kindness, which meant a lot to me.

When I turned eight, we moved again. Dad had found another house not far away, in Six-Fours, where we stayed for good. It is a very peaceful place, barely big enough to be called a city, and whose atmosphere is more like a village. It is by the sea, and the sun shines almost all year round. The alleys are small, quiet, and the surroundings are beautiful. The VAR Coast is full of places to discover and explore, such as the Gaou, the islands of Porquerolles and Embiez, Port Cros... I remember the blue of the sea and the sky, the Green of the pines trees that line the limestone hills. I have a remarkable memory of this place, and I thought we would have a good time together. Maybe this new move would change their feelings towards me, that they would love me more, especially that with this beautiful house, we'll be in a better environment.

It has four bedrooms, a bathroom, a large living room, and a spacious kitchen. A large flower garden surrounds the building. Everything is bright. No more questions for me to sleep in the basement.

During our first year in the house, my father, Stéphane, tinkered. It improves the place for us: it builds a swimming pool and a beautiful terrace; it also beautifies the kitchen and bathroom. My father is a very manual person. He works in restoration. From as far away as I can remember, he always worked a lot. In the summer, I almost do not see him. He often comes home extremely late at night, and sometimes he comes to kiss me when I'm not sleeping yet. He often smells of frying or the smell of kitchens, and his chin stings a little. When he's there, I really like spending time with him. We both dream and listen to music. Unfortunately, this does not happen often, and the lack of a father often worsens everyday situations.

It has a restaurant on an island of Bendor, off Sanary and Bandol, called the Fun beach. My Little Sister Marine and I, now aged nine and Eleven, go there every summer during our holidays. We always argue a lot, but I'm also starting to understand what it means to have a little sister. Until then, my jealousy was making me blind. Little by little, I realize that we are sisters for life and that I must love and protect her with all my heart. We are so different! My sister is discreet; she likes to keep things to herself, keep her secrets or emotions, while I prefer to say everything without realizing that sometimes I hurt the people around me by my frankness, especially those who love me the most. Even today, I tend to say too much or do too much.

My dad's restaurant works really well. In fact, it is so good that almost every tourist on the island stops there. He is so perfect at what he does that he attracts most of the clientele, to the point that the owner of the island, Mr. Paul Ricard, asked him to leave. It sounds fantastic, but it's true!

Jealous, the other restaurateurs on the island were always complaining about him, and Mr. Ricard had chosen not to renew the lease of his restaurant. Since it is a private island, he could act as he wants.

But my father did not let himself be dismounted! The restoration was his passion, and there was no question of stopping. So, without waiting, he bought a new restaurant, The Banana Beach, at La Coudoulière, in the town of Six Fours. Of course, it was no longer Bendor, the island of my childhood, but it had the advantage of being closer to our home. And then the restaurant was right on the beach, which was pretty nice. Despite everything, I often hoped to return to my island that I loved and in which I had so many memories, especially summers. But I didn't know when we would go back. Since my dad bought his new restaurant, we hadn't been there.

With this new establishment, my father works more and more. In the summer, he is absent every day, from early morning to late evening, and we rarely see him. In winter, on the other hand, he spends more time with us. His new business works even better than the other one, the fun beach: during the tourist season, it serves about 600 seats every day, a little less if the weather is terrible. It allows my parents to make a decent living. At the end of each month, they withdraw the money from the balance sheet to put it on the joint account, and thanks to this, we can go on vacation several times a year. Even if he is often absent because of his work, I never say no to a holiday; it always makes you dream!

It's often skiing. I love skiing: the snow, the sunsets over the White Mountains, the fresh air