Little Shadow

[Lea Mauven]

Lea was always the earliest to rise, even whilst on holiday. Sitting up in her bed and pulling at the covers she felt for her sneakers and listened for the sound of her family. But Frances, Tamas and her three infant sisters were still fast asleep. It was the sixteen year old's first summer in France and she had already fallen in love with her adoptive family's holiday home. The elegant woodwork and rustic charm had caught her by surprise, but perhaps the thing that the young girl loved the most about it was it's proximity to a small beach which she had visited every day since the family had arrived without fail. Before moving to New Zealand Lea had grown up in Tahiti and the beaches of France seemed nostalgic to her, she was forever thankful to her father and his line of work as an international chef as it meant that she could spend time in this beautiful country away from the chill of New Zealand's winter. Lea had fallen asleep the previous night still in her summer dress and pilled cardigan so all she had to do that morning was pull her faded sneakers onto her bare feet and replace her underwear with a clean pair, the way her mother had always taught her as a small child before she had passed away. Now her new mother Frances had began to try to care for her, and many a time had her new mother's poor home making skills come into play. Opening her case Lea unfolded her day's pair of underwear and pulled them on, turning to look in the mirror, the poorly sewn patchwork "Wednesday" along with a rainbow stared back at her from beneath her dress. However, Lea was grateful so with a poke of her tongue at her reflection the blonde girl bounded out of her bedroom and left a note for her parents explaining she was picnicking at the beach once more.

With her curled blonde locks tied in two loose ribboned pigtails Lea Mauven carried a bag packed with one of her father's gourmet sandwiches and a box of lemon drops. As soon as her feet touched the sand she dropped her bag to the ground and bounded towards the water, stopping to perform a handstand, not noticing her skirt testing gravity and her panties decorated with 'WEDNESDAY' in plain sight. She hadn't counted on anybody else being at the secluded beach so early in the morning, but with her legs in the air and her pigtails hanging down Lea blinked at the face staring back at her before falling to the ground in an embarrassed heap. "Oh! I," she blinked again, pulling down her dress completely lost for words.

 

[Merrick Reynolds]

Being accustomed to rising before the sun for all one's life was not easily shaken off which was why Merrick Reynolds sat up in his bed when he was on vacation. His eyes were foggy from just awakening but as he rubbed them with his pale, calloused hands he saw through the window across from him that it was to be another beautiful day in France. The farm boy relished in the warmth of his bed for a second longer before standing up to his entire length, planning his day as he changed into swim trunks and grabbed a pair of sun glasses that he slid on as he was out of the door. He was eager to reach the beach even if he knew he wouldn't meet anyone there which wasn't something he could say often. Merrick liked to be around people even if he really didn't know how to be. He was just a little naive when it came to social interactions because of the small life he lived.

Once he reached the beach there was a bright smile on the young man's pale face but it only grew when he saw another person awake and as eager as he was about the wonderful day ahead of them. The blonde was running towards the water and he watched her in amusement for a brief moment before he saw her do a handstand. Quite quickly Merrick found himself uncomfortable as he noticed that her skirt was revealing her so he thought he should let her know it wasn't in her best intentions to do handstands as she was he walked over to her, keeping his head down awkwardly. Just as he reached her and was about to say something the blonde noticed what he had and his cheeks became red from discomfort in the situation so he thought he would try to make light of the situation with a joke, "I label mine too. Otherwise I'm totally lost." He chuckled nervously, realizing how spectacularly bad his humor would seem and that he might have just frightened this poor girl. "I just came over to let you know what was happening but you ahh seemed to catch that on your own so I guess I better leave you to it," Merrick said as he attempted to tone down his Scottish accent so the girl could understand before he realized she could very well only speak French. They were in France after all... His languages were rather shaky at best and that was just English but he thought he ought to gage her reaction before he broke out the messy French.
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