It was about midday when we pulled up to the holiday house after a very long drive. We had set off a good three hours beforehand and had only just arrived. We being myself, both parents and my younger brother. Following Finch, my dad’s friend, our cars rolled carefully down the dirt path and curved at the bottom around the side of the huge building that was going to be our home for the next couple of days. My dad parked u...

A glossy black coating mirrored my face and reflected my disinterested expression back to me. I clasped the phone between my shoulder and chin as I continued to carefully paint my toenails. My boyfriend is on the other end and he’d been talking intermittently for several minutes, in that time my attention had drifted so far that I was now paying more attention to the pedicure I was giving to myself. He’s telling me what a...