From her point of view, life had become a dreadful mess.
Today she had skipped work, giving herself a day away from it all. A day by the sea was a way of clearing her mind, a way of summing it all up. The people she worked with were truly dreadful. Not one of them was worth knowing. They were just a bunch of lowlifes. She hated the place and would love to quit, but the employment opportunities were equally dreadful. As she slowly bobbed up and down on the gentle waves she thought about the stupid girl she shared a flat with; she was dreadful. As for boyfriends, she had been dating one waste of time after another. Not one of them you could call nice, in fact, they had all been dreadful.
She had been floating there for quite a while, looking up into a blue sky and thinking about how dreadful it all was, when something drifted passed, glinting in the sun. It was some sort of pot. She paddled towards it and got hold of it. It was a small clear plastic container, the sort of thing you get with a small amount of gravy in it when getting fast food. She was annoyed to think that someone would pollute the sea with it. She felt that some people’s lack of caring for the planet was dreadful. When she held it up looking for a brand name, she saw that it contained a tiny piece of folded paper. She was instantly aware of a thrill that rippled through her. This could be it! This could be a sign. She couldn’t let the note get wet, that would be dreadful. She couldn’t wait to swim back to the shore.
Once she was back to where she had piled her clothes, she dried off quickly and sat down with her find. She carefully snapped the lid off and removed the note. She opened it up and read, ‘I know the sea will bring us together, my love.’ This was followed by a mobile phone number.
She grabbed her phone and tapped in the number. A voice came on, ‘That number has been disconnected.’
The language she used, as she dropped and stamped on her phone, was indeed dreadful.
