There is nothing more exciting in life than starting again. A whole new adventure, something that would take her from her dreary life in her rundown little town, to a life of glitz and glamour out in the big wide world.  She had spent her whole life here, this little town by the sea.  It was freezing and damp in the winter and hot and humid in the summer. Thankfully the breeze from the sea would freshen the air, but her house was in the valley and usually just got stinking hot.

She sat on the side of the wall outside of the coffee shop looking out onto the beach.  There were couples playing together, chasing each other and bumping into each other throwing their arms around the other’s neck and smooching in broad daylight. She frowned as she watched them, their joy and reckless abandon clear to all around. How disgraceful to behave that way in public , she thought. When people like me are sitting here missing out. Are they trying to make me jealous? Grrrrrr. “   She swung her feet and kicked her heels against the wall petulantly.  She looked at the gorgeous bikini clad women on the beach, their svelte lean bodies, perky breasts and long long tanned legs.  “Oh to look like that” she pondered.  She took another glance at her own outfit. White sneakers that were scuffed and turning grey from use. Faded old jeans that clung to her body as if it were a second skin.  A big black baggy sweatshirt over top of a paint streaked grey singlet and lanky brown hair swept back into a pony tail. Not an overly glamorous look at all.  This look was one that made her feel safe though. She could hide the muffin top and the buttons that were threatening to burst on her jeans, her sweatshirt was so big that it hung past her bottom and hid the seams which were starting to fray and betray the weight she had gained in recent months.

Oh well, we can’t all be glamorous. She thought. “some of us are adventurers instead! I don’t need to be glamorous where I am going. I just need to be fit and full of energy. I can’t wait to be gone from here!”

She gazed out at the sea, trying to memorise its deep cool blue waters. It would be a long time before she came back here. She was going to be gone for a long time. It had taken years for her to finally decide to leave. She had stalled for so long that now she had almost run out of time. At thirty one years old time was no longer on her side. Far from becoming the woman she had always thought she would be, she was almost past her prime, fat, frumpy, unattractive and single. She still hadn’t met anyone lovely enough to be someone she could live with for more than a day or two.  She was pretty good at picking up the dregs of society. The drinkers and druggies. The thieves or manipulators. She had started to think that perhaps that’s all that was left. There was no one left in this world who she could rely on, count on to do the right thing. Was she the only one left who had a smidge of integrity? Was loyalty a thing of the past?  Ugh it made her sick. She must have a sign on her forehead saying ‘losers welcome here’.

Oh well! That was the past and this is now. Moving onwards and upwards to a brighter future. She squinted through her sunglasses as the sweat started to bead on her forehead. It was getting really hot now, this jumper wasn’t  helping but there was no way she was going to take it off! Seeing all those beautiful people looking down on her fat rolls was just far too much to bear. She swung her legs back over the wall and stepped into the cool shade of the umbrellas outside of the café.