The Day You Left
Part One
Brendan
Seventeen-year-old Brendan Collins leaned over impatiently, and blew the car horn three times as he sat in his car, parked outside the house of his best friend, Conor.
"How long does it take that boy to get ready?" he asked Malachy, who was sitting in the back seat laughing at him.
"Sure, Brendan, you know he has to find his bra and his make up and all."
"Well, I guess that much is true." Brendan laughed. "Oh! Finally!"
Conor came hurrying out of the house and jumped in the front passenger seat beside his best friend.
"What are you getting so impatient about?" he asked light-heartedly.
"Just you taking ages to put on your foundation."
"You should know. You gave it to me."
"Sure I did, Conor." Brendan laughed. "Oh, for God's sake!"
"What?"
"One of those Army checkpoints up ahead. I don't know why we even bother driving. It takes so long getting past them all, what with them asking you what coloured underwear you have on." Conor and Malachy laughed.
"May as well get it over with. They'll probably not keep us long. They're used to us taking this route."
Fionnuala
"No, Eamon! That's not fair!" At the same time, Brendan's thirteen-year-old sister, Fionnuala Collins, was sitting in her bedroom with her sister Niamh and her boyfriend of a few months, Eamon Murphy, a younger brother of Conor.
"It is too," Eamon said. "You said truth so I'm allowed to ask you anything I like, and you have to answer it."
"I'm not telling you that!" Fionnuala shrieked playfully, as Niamh rolled her eyes.
"Do you mind? I'm trying to revise here."
"No one's making you stay in here, Niamh." Fionnuala said cheekily.
"Yes they are."
'"Who?"
"Our mother, the delightful Brede "I'm So Sympathetic" Collins." Niamh rolled her eyes, her voice sarcastic, before turning back to her revision book for Physics.
"So what's Conor up to today?" Fionnuala asked Eamon. Like herself and Brendan, Eamon and Conor were very close.
"He's messing about with your mad brother and Malachy." Eamon said. "He was getting ready when I came over. No doubt Brendan still managed to find an excuse to honk the horn at him."
Fionnuala laughed. That sounded like her brother. Always up for a laugh.
Seventeen-year-old Brendan Collins leaned over impatiently, and blew the car horn three times as he sat in his car, parked outside the house of his best friend, Conor.
"How long does it take that boy to get ready?" he asked Malachy, who was sitting in the back seat laughing at him.
"Sure, Brendan, you know he has to find his bra and his make up and all."
"Well, I guess that much is true." Brendan laughed. "Oh! Finally!"
Conor came hurrying out of the house and jumped in the front passenger seat beside his best friend.
"What are you getting so impatient about?" he asked light-heartedly.
"Just you taking ages to put on your foundation."
"You should know. You gave it to me."
"Sure I did, Conor." Brendan laughed. "Oh, for God's sake!"
"What?"
"One of those Army checkpoints up ahead. I don't know why we even bother driving. It takes so long getting past them all, what with them asking you what coloured underwear you have on." Conor and Malachy laughed.
"May as well get it over with. They'll probably not keep us long. They're used to us taking this route."
Fionnuala
"No, Eamon! That's not fair!" At the same time, Brendan's thirteen-year-old sister, Fionnuala Collins, was sitting in her bedroom with her sister Niamh and her boyfriend of a few months, Eamon Murphy, a younger brother of Conor.
"It is too," Eamon said. "You said truth so I'm allowed to ask you anything I like, and you have to answer it."
"I'm not telling you that!" Fionnuala shrieked playfully, as Niamh rolled her eyes.
"Do you mind? I'm trying to revise here."
"No one's making you stay in here, Niamh." Fionnuala said cheekily.
"Yes they are."
'"Who?"
"Our mother, the delightful Brede "I'm So Sympathetic" Collins." Niamh rolled her eyes, her voice sarcastic, before turning back to her revision book for Physics.
"So what's Conor up to today?" Fionnuala asked Eamon. Like herself and Brendan, Eamon and Conor were very close.
"He's messing about with your mad brother and Malachy." Eamon said. "He was getting ready when I came over. No doubt Brendan still managed to find an excuse to honk the horn at him."
Fionnuala laughed. That sounded like her brother. Always up for a laugh.