Disclaimer: Did I own Pokemon when I wrote Cliff by the Sea? No. So why on
earth should I own it now?
HELLO
Playground, school bell rings
Again
Rain clouds come to play
Again
Klio hadn't come home that night.
Evangeline was worried. Yes, worried! She was appalled at herself for never
having cared before. Klio was sixteen years old - she had been alive for
sixteen years, and her mother had never said 'I love you' or helped her with
her homework.
Not once.
It was nine in the morning. Yesterday, Klio had gone...
Oh my god, thought Evangeline. I don't even know where she was. She
was out all day, and all night, and I don't know where she was!
Horrible pictures crept into Evangeline's mind, some involving night clubs,
most involving boys. Then she shook herself. Klio wasn't the type of girl to
do something like that! Or was she? Evangeline had never taken any notice.
Has no one told you
She's not breathing?
Evangeline was beside herself with anxiety. What could have happened? She
remembered one year ago, when Klio's little friend Matthew had been found dead
at the bottom of the cliff. It had never been discovered exactly how he died,
and depressingly, the boy's parents had never come forward. But Klio had been
depressed enough before then, and after her friend's death she became hollow
inside, like an empty shell.
And Evangeline had never given her a second thought.
It's all right, she told herself. Don't get paranoid. You don't know
where she is, but she's probably perfectly fine. But - Evangeline felt
herself becoming even more twitchy - but if it involves boys, then...
Then what? Evangeline wouldn't have cared, a while ago. To stop herself being
neurotic, she turned on TV in time to hear a serious, middle-aged man say,
"...another death by the Lavender Cliff. Since the death of an unidentified
boy, spoken of by his best friend as 'Matt', by the Cliff, it has become
feared by locals as extremely volatile and dangerous. The girl found dead will
be shown shortly. If you have any information, please call this number." The
phone number flashed on the screen. Then they showed the picture.
Evangeline gasped and rubbed her eyes. There were paramedics all around the
thin, scrawny figure sprawled on the ground. She had curly, long brown hair
with streaks of sun-bleached gold. Her eyes were closed peacefully. A trickle
of blood was running down her forehead and her neck was twisted just that bit
too unnaturally far. Her mouth was in a serene, sad smile. There was no
mistaking that smile, even if it now held no life.
Hello
I am your mind
Giving you someone to talk to
Hello
Evangeline bolted from her seat and dialled the number frantically, although
the man was now saying,
"It is unclear how the girl died, though there are signs of a struggle. She
may have been pushed off."
"You have reached Saturday's Good Morning Lavender. Please hold and one
of our staff will be with you shortly." There was a short pause filled by
ridiculously happy, upbeat music. Then: "Geraldine speaking. How can I help
you?"
Struggling to stay coherent, Evangeline said as levelly as she could, "I'm the
mother of the girl who died."
"Oh, fantastic!" Evangeline nearly dropped the reciever. "Oh, could you come
on for an interview please? Name? Address?"
"I'M NOT GOING TO BE EXPLOITED BY YOUR STUPID SHOW!" wailed Evangeline. "Just
tell me where I can find my daughter!"
"Of course, madam," said Geraldine lightly on the other end. "So sorry for my
insensitivity. But perhaps afterwards, we could have a word -"
"WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?"
"Look, madam, I can only make short calls. Give me your name and address and
I'll get back to you. Sorry."
Evangeline threw down the reciever disgustedly, then burst into tears.
If I smile and don't believe
Soon, I know I'll wake
From this dream
In hysterics, she got into her car and drove off to the Lavender Cliff. She
ran down to the bottom, where there were police and and ambulance. "Sorry,
ma'am, but only authorised personell past this point."
"I'm her mother!" screamed Evangeline, vision blurred by tears. "I'm
her mother!"
"Name?"
"Just let me see my daughter!" she sobbed, pushing past the police. One
grabbed her arm and held it behind her back.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we can't let you through."
"Fine! Fine then! My name is Evangeline Ward! Now let me through!" She glared
defiantly at the police, then her face crumpled and she let out a great howl
of despair. "Her name is Klio. Please. Please let me see her."
The policeman eyed her warily, unable to feel sympathy for her, half-insane
as, at that moment, she was. Finally he decided she was relatively harmless
and marched her to the ambulance.
"Darling!" howled Evangeline at her daughter's face. Her cut had been cleaned,
her neck straightened. What good would it do? Klio was gone! GONE! "Darling,
I'm so sorry, I never meant it, I was a terrible mother, oh, darling, Klio
darling..." She clutched at her daughter's shirt, stroked her limp hair.
Don't try to fix me
I'm not broken
She stared at the policeman, the same wild look in her eyes as her daughter's,
one year ago.
"It's a bad dream!" she had cried pleadingly to Evangeline. "I'll wake up any
minute. Won't I?"
Her eyes closed, hair wild and clothes wet and dirty, a tranquil smile upon
her lifeless face.
Won't I, Mum?
"Please tell me it's not true," Evangeline whispered to the policeman. "Please
tell me it's a prank. A gameshow. Where are the hidden cameras?"
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I think you'll find this is quite real," said the
policeman coldly. He wasn't in the mood to comfort weeping mothers. The girl
had probably commited suicide. Who'd want to live in a dump like this anyway?
Evangeline stared beseechingly at the policeman. He stared coldly back. "What
am I going to do, without her?" she whimpered. "My only daughter, and I never
even noticed her. It took me sixteen years to realise she was there..."
Evangeline collapsed to the ground, rocking back and forth in a ball, crying
to herself.
Hello
I am the lie
Living for you so you can hide
Don't cry
The policeman rolled his eyes irritably. This woman! No wonder her daughter
got fed up with her, the snivelling heap. Single as he was, and with a loving
family, he didn't understand what Evangeline was going through. He didn't
understand what it felt like to have no one.
Evangeline hadn't either, not until Klio got sick of it all and killed
herself.
"You never tried! You never loved me! You didn't even know I was there!
Don't pretend you tried!"
Klio had put up with it all, her whole, short life, because she had Matt to
lean on when it all got too much.
"I'll take you with me," said Matt, and grabbed her hand. "We're going to
go together, okay?"
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Klio smiled and looked back out to sea. "Don't forget me."
But then Matt had broken Klio's heart by leaving without her. Matt was a part
of Klio. And where he had been, there was a gaping hole, empty and hollow.
It was no wonder Klio had jumped off the cliff that last night.
But Evangeline would never know this.
Suddenly, I know
I'm not sleeping
Evangeline had missed out on her daughter's life. Not once had she given her a
birthday present, told her she loved her, put an arm around her and asked how
she was, looked at her drawings. She hadn't noticed, when Klio was thirteen
and got contacts, getting rid of her dorky glasses. She hadn't noticed, when
Klio had gotten straight 'A's in everything on her report card. She hadn't
noticed that Klio was there at all.
Hello
I'm still here
All that's left of yesterday