A Ship in Harbor is Safe

Alone in her room, Athena sits on her bed with the cardboard box in front of her. She stares at it, hoping whatever is in it will just jump out, and reveal itself. But she has no such luck. “Like a Band-Aid,” she shrugs, “just get it over with…”

For another moment, she stares at the box before reaching in and pulling out the large, manila envelope. Not only is it thick, but it counts for a majority of the weight that the box possesses. She sets it on her lap, carefully untying the red string holding it closed.

Athena reaches a hand into the envelope, pulling out a few thick, folded papers. She sets the packet back down, looking at the items in her hands. A chuckle escapes her lips as she reads the decorative, but legible, print on the first one: ‘Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia’.

“Oh my God,” she smiles, filing through every single brochure stuffed into the envelope. Most of them have the most beautiful photographs on them, portraying Nova Scotia as a hot vacation destination. A few of them were even for small, low key resorts there. Others were for different destinations and activities.

Quickly, Athena reaches back into the box and pulls out the regular envelope. There is no writing on the outside of it, but she quickly opens it and pulls out a single piece of paper. She quietly reads the handwritten letter to herself, “you seem pretty unhappy lately. I don’t know if it’s just Thunder Bay, or what happened with Jordan. I just thought that maybe you’d want to get away for a while. As you saw in the brochures, Nova Scotia’s not all that bad. So, what do you say?”



“What’s up, kid? You’ve been on cloud nine since last night,” her father does not stop working on the engine in front of him.

Athena keeps her hands in her back pockets, trying not to bounce on the balls of her feet. “Well, um… I think I’m gonna take a vacation.”

He stops working, stepping away from the exposed mechanism. “A vacation?”

She nods. “Yeah.”

“Where exactly do you plan on vacationing?”

Meekly, the young woman shrugs her shoulders. “Nova Scotia.”

“What?” Walt stops wiping his hands on the dirty rag, allowing his hands to fall to his sides. “What the hell’s in Nova Scotia, Athena?”

The young woman bites her lip, avoiding eye contact with her father. “Dad, it’s just a vacation.”

“But… Nova Scotia,” his shock is painfully obvious. “Are you just going to see the Atlantic or something?”

Athena shrugs and nods. “Yeah.”

“And just how you gonna get there?” He challenges, leaning up against the cabinet along the wall.

She crosses her arms, “a plane would be my first option, honestly.”

“What money you gonna use to get a ticket?” He laughs, looking up from continuing to wipe his hands on the dirty, blue rag.

The young woman runs a hand through her hair, shaking her head. “I have money, Dad. Not a lot, but I have some money.”

“So, you’re gonna use your last dollar to fly out to Nova Scotia to see the damn ocean? You’ve lost your damn mind, little girl.”

Throwing her head back, Athena raises her arms and lets them noisily hit her thighs. “Maybe I have, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m doing it.”

“And it doesn’t change the fact that I think, you’re making a big mistake.”

Athena shrugs, “that’s fine.”

Silence falls over the string of large garage bays.

Walt is the one to break it, “so, when you leavin’?”

Athena blinks, looking at her father. “I’m thinking sometime this week.”

He nods, “you wanna have dinner tonight?”

“Sure,” she shrugs.

Again, he nods, “cook some extra. We’ll have guests over.”

“Who?” The word leaves Athena’s lips before she can stop it.

Walt smirks and shrugs, “a friend of mine.”

Her arched, blonde eyebrows furrow. “A friend?”

“Am I not allowed to have friends?” The man grumbles, looking at his daughter.

Athena shrugs, at a loss for words whilst trying to figure out who her father’s ‘friend’ could be.

Walt smirks and speaks with a condescending tone, “I don’t know who your friend is, you don’t know who my friend is. We’ll both find out eventually, now won’t we?”

In an attempt to hide her shock, Athena nods. “So, uh… what should I cook for dinner, then?”