The Lost Letter

[TelephotoMarigold]

Nicole and Geoff sat quietly in the car together. Geoff was driving but they were still more than four hours away from Summer Bay. When she had received Miles' text message to say her Dad was ill she felt first, upset that her time with Geoff was over and then really concerned about her Dad. Now she was guilty that she'd had felt upset for the wrong reasons.

Geoff reached over and caught hold of her hand.

"It's ok." he told her. "Roman is going to be ok."

She sighed.

"It's not that, its... " She trailed off uncertain how to phrase it. "I felt sad that our time together was over before I felt upset about my Dad!" she finally confessed.

Geoff smiled, firstly because she had called Roman 'Dad', something she rarely did; and secondly because she was letting her feelings out and not hiding behind her persona. Their eyes met in the rear view mirror.

"Nic, that’s perfectly understandable," he told her.

He gave her hand an extra squeeze.

"Is it?" she screwed up her nose in that cute way she did when she was thinking about something.

"Yes, of course. It's been so special, us being able to spend this time together. I feel disappointed too that it has ended like this. But we will have the rest of our lives together Nic."

"Oh Geoff." She sighed again. This time it was at the thought of the rest of her life, spent with Geoff, being with Geoff, being Geoff's wife. She looked down at their entwined hands. This was just the start of a long time together.

He lifted their combined hands so he could place a kiss on hers.

Miles surfed through all the channels before finding an old black and white horror film he had only seen a handful of times, he pulled the blanket higher around him and settled back to watch the film. Somehow he had managed to get Roman to stay in bed all day and not only that but also take his tablets on time, although it was more the threat of saying that he would get Irene to come and look after him than good judgement on Roman's part. The stubborn man would not concede that it was anything more serious than a cold.

Deeply engrossed in the movie he did not hear the silent tread of footsteps behind him. He continued to watch the movie as the vampire circled around one of his victims. Miles loved these types of movies but he could never understand how a person could not know the serial killer was behind them or the vampire. Surely there would be something that gave them away. Miles flinched as the victim was grabbed.

"Mate, surely you knew that was going to happen!" Roman said from behind him.

Miles let out a girly screech.

Roman laughed, his voice still rusty.

"What the heck are you doing out of bed?" he asked, all his years of teacher training automatically amending the curse word to a mild one.

"I needed a drink and I didn't want to disturb you if you were asleep!" he confessed.

"Sit down." Miles ordered.

He went into the kitchen and put the light on quickly, trying not to let on he was subconsciously checking there were no vampires in the room. He poured two glasses of orange juice and took them back into the living room.

Roman was collapsed in a chair. He gratefully accepted the drink and took a long thirsty swallow.

"It's still on your mind isn't it?" Miles asked.

"The letter?" Roman responded truthfully. "Yes, it is. I keep trying to work out why she would write to me after the way I left things!"

"You could always track her down and ask her?" Miles suggested.

"And say what?" Roman looked at his friend for a long moment. "Sorry I left without telling you I was going, sorry I didn't tell you where I was going, sorry I didn't tell you about my daughter, sorry I never got in touch. Sorry I had the chance to find out what was in the letter you sent to me, but I was too much of a coward to open it?"

"Well I would start by saying 'Hello'!" Miles said softly.

After a long moment Roman laughed.

"That might be a better opening. I'll think about it." he promised, before making his slow way back upstairs to bed.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Chapter 9

Miles was in the kitchen at Roman's house. He had an oversized apron wrapped around his waist and was trying to cook bacon, eggs and toast all in one go. The first lot of toast had already been tossed into the bin, luckily he had managed to grab it before the smoke alarm had gone off, which no doubt would have woken Roman. He turned the bacon in the grill, noting that it was just on the unburnt side of crispy and ensured that the grill was turned down to a lower setting. Or at least he hoped it was a lower setting. The toast was done, and this time with no obvious black bits. All it needed now was the eggs to cook and breakfast would be ready.

He managed to get it served up on the two plates with no further drama and turned slowly around. Roman had once again crept downstairs silently and had been watching him.

"How long?" Miles asked in shorthand fashion, with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Long enough never to ask you to work in the dinner!" Roman laughed, gasping as the laugh became a harsh cough. He winced as pain from his ribs shook through his frame. His shoulder felt sore too but he had put it down to being in bad shape for the past few days, now though he raised his t shirt and looked down.

"Oh my god!" Miles exclaimed.

The left side of his body all along his ribs was covered in bruises, shading from yellow to livid purple.

"Funny, I can't remember doing anything!" Roman exclaimed in shock.

"That looks so bad." came a new voice from the doorway.

Roman and Miles turned in unison.

"Dad!" Nicole exclaimed.

Roman walked slowly to the table and sat down. He reached for a slice of toast absentmindedly, turning his sapphire blue eyed gaze on his daughter he took a slow steady breath in.

"I don't think I want to know what happened!" he said softly, remembering the mad swim and lying on the beach until it grew dark. Being cold tired and hungry had led to the Chest Infection. Obviously, the bruises had not been showing when Rachel had examined him.

Nic sat opposite her father just as Geoff walked through the door carrying the luggage.

"Miles told me you were ill but I think Rachel needs to take a look at you." Nicole said softly. She unthinkingly placed her hand on top of his. Her left hand.

Roman silently debated the wisdom of her words and looked down at the table. He did a double take after he glanced at thier hands.

"Oh my god Nic!" Roman exclaimed.

She smiled.

"Congratulations!" Roman exclaimed again, dropping the toast onto the plate.

Nicole and Geoff looked at each other in that special way they had.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Belle drove slowly, Aden was asleep in the passenger seat. They had picked up the rental at the airport after flying in from the depths of the outback. Aden was now a typical bush doctor, his days on a fishing trawler long behind him, and she, well she was a mummy first and a photographer second. She looked briefly into the rear-view mirror to look at the two little darlings also fast asleep in the back seat. The reason for returning to the Bay was simple, Nicole had texted Aden to say Roman was unwell, although serious it was expected that he would make a full recovery, and Aden being Aden wanted to see the man he described as his dad if anyone asked him about family. Although the text message had reached them yesterday morning it had taken them over twenty-six hours to even reach any place close to the bay, down to a combination of finding cover for Aden and the travel. She had to admit that she was looking forward to seeing everyone again, but mostly she was looking forward to sitting on the beach and looking out to sea.

Watching the way the sun had risen over the approaching town seeming to highlight the place that they had once called home was seemingly magical. She pulled the car up to a small rest stop and took out her camera to get a picture or two, needing also to stretch her legs. She walked a little way up the hill, noting the addition of a couple of picnic tables and seats that had not been there before from when they lived here. Walking past these she continued on the path worn smooth by multitudes of walkers. She raised her camera and snapped a couple of shots quickly as seagulls rose up into the air.

"Not bad!" exclaimed a voice from behind her.

Belle spun round and almost dropped her camera.

"Oh my god!" she shrieked.

The newcomer laughed.

"Not quite."

Belle had immediately recognised the woman from an article she had just seen in Australian Geographic magazine. She was renowned for her photography all across Australia. Although the copy of the magazine had been a few months old by the time it had reached them.

"May I?" the other woman asked, indicating her desire to look at the photos Belle had just taken.

Belle handed over her camera and watched as the woman went though the snaps. She still couldn't seem to form a sentence to say to the other woman.

"These are good. Are you a professional?" the dark haired woman commented.

At last Belle found her voice.

"I have worked for a couple of newspapers." she said.

"That’s great. I'd like to take a look at your portfolio sometime." the woman said handing over first the camera then a business card. "Give me a call sometime and we can arrange it."

Belle held her camera with shaking hands as she watched the woman walk away. She couldn't believe just whom she had bumped into. She turned and made her way back to the car and its sleeping occupants. She had the urge to shake Aden awake and tell him but it wouldn't have been fair he needed his sleep.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Miles sat at the kitchen table, the remains of their breakfast had long since been cleared away and Roman had been despatched to the hospital for an x-ray on his ribs. Rachel had been so insistent that there was no way he could get out of it, although Roman still had no idea how he'd done the damage. Geoff had gone home to speak to Irene and Annie, and Nicole was upstairs in the shower. He'd decided that there was only one thing to do to put his friends mind at ease over this situation so he'd taken the time to go online surfing for any mention of a photographer named Ella. He'd called Jai moments ago to ask for help and he was coming over to help.

He went through several newspaper websites looking for any mention of the photographer, getting frustrated by his lack of success more than anything. A figure appeared in the doorway and he looked up to see Jai there.

"Hello Jai." he called, "Come in!"

"Miles," Jai said in greeting, "How is Roman?" he asked.

"You’ll see him soon he should be back from the hospital shortly." Miles said and filled Jai in on the rest of what had been happening. Soon Jai was on the computer whilst Miles made himself busy making coffee.

He'd had to admit he always wondered what a chef's kitchen was like and now standing in Roman's he'd had the chance to look around, not being nosy though, he'd needed to find plates and cups and other things. He was slightly surprised when he'd remembered which cupboard the cups went in on only the second try.

Jai suddenly pushed his chair back and stood up.

"It's no good I can't find any mention of any photographer." he confessed reluctantly.

"What?!" exclaimed a voice from the doorway. Jai and Miles turned guiltily at the sound of Roman's voice. Roman held up a pacifying hand before saying, "Rachel just dropped me off in case you were wondering." he explained before Miles could say anything.

"Well I thought if we knew where she was it might make it easier for you to say 'Hello'."

Roman laughed at the reminder of a previous conversation. He sat down at the table and typed a name into the search engine.

"Perhaps it might help if you actually knew her name." he said.

Miles read the screen over Roman's shoulder and was surprised by what came up on the screen.

"How did you get on at the hospital anyway?" Miles asked going back to his task of pouring the coffee.

"Yes Dad, what did Rachel say?" Nicole added, coming through the lounge to join them in the kitchen. "Hi Jai!" she said.

"I have a couple of cracked ribs and I still don't know what I did." he said with a laugh.

Nic laughed.

"Sorry!" she said to the three shocked faces. "I went down to the beach to drag you back after Miles told me you drinking and" she paused. Roman had stood up and folded his arms across his chest. The action caused a coughing fit.

Miles reached for a glass and filled it with water. He handed it to Roman and watched in concern as the other man took a drink.

"I'm all right!" Roman said after a minute. "Carry on Nic." he instructed.

"You were on the beach completely drunk, I took the bottle off you and emptied what was left in it." She smiled. "not that there was a lot left."

Miles laughed, remembering the state his friend had been in when he'd seen him.

"I tried to get you home, but you didn't want to leave the beach and you ended up falling over a bin. Then you refused to get up. I had to leave you on the beach to sleep it off." Nicole finished the story.

The story has brought back some memory of that night. He suddenly had this image of sitting next to the bin clutching the empty bottle and telling Nic that he'd messed his life up and that she should take a chance on love when it came along because she would never know what would come next. Obviously she had taken him on his word.

She smiled at her father and said softly. "You did actually make sense."

Another coughing fit was brought on by his laughter.

"Right that's it you're going to bed." Miles instructed.

Roman nodded, unable to speak for a moment. He looked at his daughter and smiled at her. She had never seemed so happy. He gave her hand a squeeze on the way past as he made his way to his bedroom.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Miles looked at the screen and smiled, it was no wonder that there were no search results for a photographer with the first name of Ella. He scrolled down the page and clicked on the biography. The woman had a list of credits longer than the phone book. He began reading quietly to himself, moments later he was joined by Nicole and Jai as they walked back into the kitchen to refill their drinks.

"Is that her?" Jai asked looking over Miles' shoulder.

Nicole sat down beside him and all three of them were then engrossed with reading the biography.

Miles clicked on the next page and lifted his cup up to take a drink. As he read the paragraph at the end of the page he froze, the cup halfway between table top and his mouth. Turning his head slightly he looked at Nicole's face and waited. The expression of shock mirrored his own.

"That does say what I think it says doesn't it?" he asked her. He felt his hand shake slightly and lowered the cup.

"Elizabeth Addison is the proud mother of one son, 11 year old Roman Addison." Jai read aloud.

"Roman?" Nicole questioned, her lips continued to move as she tried to form a sentence.

"Is there a picture of them?" she eventually asked.

"No, look it says that she doesn't allow them to take photographs of her son." Jai murmured, "Hey! That's cool!"

"Well..." Miles began.

He took a long swig of coffee, followed swiftly by another one, the words to finish the sentence he had just begun were in his brain somewhere, he just didn't know where.

"Jai, can't you do something? Find a snapshot or something? You know, work your magic!" Nicole pleaded in a husky voice.

"Hang on!" Jai murmured taking control of the laptop.

It took about half an hour before Jai called them both back into the kitchen to see the results. Neither Nic or Miles had thought it prudent to say anything to Roman until he was back to normal.

"Ok, are you ready for this?" Jai asked them.

"I found an old school photo of the boy and used some digital software to enhance the age. This is what he should look like now.!" Jai pulled up a photo and showed them.

Nicole gasped and found herself leaning on the back of a chair for support.

"Then I took a photo of her and one of your dad and used some tacky picture software to see what a child of theirs would look like. Merging the faces etc."

At this point Nicole wanted to scream at him to get on with it.

Or scream at him to stop.

She didn't know which.

"Well this is what it would look like. "

Nicole sighed and closed her eyes briefly before looking at the screen.

"Oh! My! God!" she exclaimed.

"Here are the two photos together." Jai explained. "as you can see there are distinct similarities!"

Miles looked at the screen and uttered a curse, unable to stop himself.

Nicole looked at the both of them and at the screen before shakily pulling out a chair and sitting.

"And she called him Roman!" she said in shock, falling off the chair and to the floor.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Chapter 10:

Belle pulled up the car outside the Diner and climbed out of the car. She inhaled deeply, loving the scent of Salt Ocean in the air. It was clean and damp at the same time and such a nice change from the oppressive dust of the bush. Not that for one second did she regret her life, she thought, glancing in the back of the car.

At that moment, Aden awoke. He climbed out of the car and stretched.

"We're home." he said softly.

They looked at each other for a long moment before going into the car and waking thier children. They carried one each and walked into the diner, answering excited but sleepy questions.

"Oh my god! Darls!" Irene exclaimed when she saw them.

"Hello Irene." Aden said. He placed his son Jack in a chair and reached out to take Charlotte, his daughter, from Belle.

Now her arms were free Belle gave Irene a long hug. Both women had suspiciously bright eyes.

"What in the blazes are you doing here?" Irene asked, "Not that I'm not pleased to seeya, you understand!"

"Well, we heard about Roman and Aden wanted to see him. And we thought the kids should see where we grew up!" Belle explained.

She glanced over at Aden and the two exchanged a look.

"Come and say hello!" Belle instructed.

Irene nervously smoothed down her hair and began to walk over to the table where Aden had settled the two kids. They looked the spit of Aden, all blond hair and gorgeous blue eyes. And that smile.

"Yeah I know." Belle said softly, sliding her arm through Irene's as she led her to the table "Not a bit like me!"

"The pics haven't done them justice darl!" Irene exclaimed.

"Irene this is Brett and this one is Amy-belle." Aden introduced them, placing a hand on Amy-belle's shoulder. "Kids this is your Nanna-Rene."

Irene blushed at the complement.

"Hello kids." she eventually said when she found her voice.

" 'Lo." Brett said

"I want mine chocolate." Amy-belle lisped. "plleesesse"

Aden and Belle laughed.

Aden continued smiling when he explained.

"We talk about this place so much that they know the menu!"

Irene laughed.

"well that will be one chocolate milk coming up!"

They all gave orders for both food and drinks and persuaded Irene to join them for a bit while they caught up.

Aden looked at Belle and smiled at his wife.

[TelephotoMarigold]

It was Aden who first noticed the arrival of the boy. He looked to be around 10 or so, slim build with fair hair, and it was only when he turned that he saw the boy had bright clear blue eyes.

"Irene, I think you have a customer!" he murmured softly.

Irene turned to look at the kid standing at the counter. She had never seen him around before. She stood up from the tale she was sharing with Belle and Aden and walked to the kitchen.

"What can I get you Darl?" she asked softly.

The boy turned and looked at her.

"A black coffee please and a chocolate milkshake." He gave his order and watched silently as she prepared the two drinks.

"You got family in the bay?" Irene asked, gently.

"No." the boy answered in a flat tone of voice.

"Are these to drink in or takeaway?" Irene eventually asked, to try and draw the kid into conversation.

"Drink in." he replied.

"Why don't you take a seat then Darl, and I'll being them over." she suggested.

He walked over to a far table and sat with his back to the room and facing the door. Irene followed him with a tray and placed the drinks in front of him. He fished in his pocket and handed over a bank note to pay for the drinks. A length of string, a penknife and a packet of bubblegum fell out onto the floor. He bent down quickly to pick them up, looking around to see if anyone noticed. Irene handed over his change which he placed next to the coffee cup.

Moments later a tall dark haired woman rushed in. She was carrying a large holdall in one hand and a backpack in the other.

"Oi!" she said walking over to the kids table. "I believe you forgot this?" she handed him the backpack with a smile on her face.

He shrugged as he took it from her and placed it on one of the spare chairs.

"Thanks!" he said to her.

She sat opposite him and took a long swig of the coffee.

"Perfect." she announced.

Irene walked over to them and smiled.

"Everything ok?" she asked.

"Yes, thank-you." she was answered.

"Planning to stay around here are you?" Irene asked.

"Actually, yes, I am for a bit. My name is Liz and this is my son." She stood and held out her hand to Irene.

Irene shook her hand.

"Nice to meet ya!" she said.

Liz sat back down and took another long swallow of her coffee.

[TelephotoMarigold]

The boy looked at his mother and sighed.

"Alright Mister, whats the matter now?" she asked him.

"Nothing." he enunciated the word clearly, looking her in the eye.

"Of course not. Silly of me to ask isn't it?" she half smiled at him.

"Stop it!" he muttered angrily.

"Look kid, we are on holiday so that means I don't want your attitude to suck it up. So you can either talk to me about stuff or sit there and sulk but either way I'm going to have some fun." Liz explained clearly.

She finished her coffee and pocketed the change. Toting the holdall over one shoulder she stood up and walked to the door. He sullenly followed her, dragging his backpack along the tiled floor.

Once outside she placed sunglasses over her eyes and stuck her hand in her back pocket and waited for him to catch up.

"Ready?" she asked, and without waiting for a response she walked over to the car. It was a black top of the line jeep. She opened the car door and shoved her bag on the back seat, then stood tp one side to let him do likewise with his backpack.

Walking around the front of the car she climbed into the drivers seat and started the car. They set off as soon as he was safely buckled into the passenger seat.

"Do we really have to stay in a caravan?" he asked eventually.

"Is that what has been bugging you?" she murmured.

"No!" he exclaimed, the tone of his voice rising.

Liz sighed.

"The caravan is in walking distance of the beach and from there the Diner and also the school. It is perfect as a base until we, as in the pair of us, decide what we are going to do next."

He grumbled under his breath as she drove. She was tempted to put on the radio to fill the silence but decided against it. He would come around sooner or later. She clung to the thought.

She slowed the car as she negiotated the turning into the caravan park. She continued up the drive slowly until they pulled up in the caravan park itself and she stopped the car.

She turned towards him.

"Are we sorted?" she asked.

"S'pose so." he muttered.

"Great, you can go knock on that door over there and get the key." she pointed out the green door of the house.

She got out of the car and stretched and watched as he walked over to the house. The slump of his shoulders highlighted that he was still upset with her. She knew logically that there was nothing she could do about that until such time as he decided to start talking to her.

She stood lost in thought until her phone beeped. Opening the phone she read the message and grimaced.

"Mum I've got the keys and this lady is Kirsty, she's going to show us the van." her son explained, breaking into her thoughts.

"Hi." she said. "I'm Liz." she introduced herself.

"Hey there, I'm Kirsty and the boy over there is my son Ollie." Kirsty smiled.

"Nice to meet you. I hope the boy introduced himself?" Liz said softly as they walked to the caravan.

"Actually he didn't give his name."

Liz laughed.

"Why am I not surprised by that one!?" she muttered to herself.

"Long Story?" Kirtsy asked. "If you need a chat just come over to the house." she offered.

Kirsty opened the door and handed over the key.

"I've put in fresh towels and bedding. The shower blocks are over there. Enjoy your stay."

Liz thanked her and went into the van. She looked pensive as she watched Kirsty walk away.

"Com'on Boy, get your bed made!" she instructed. It was turning into a long day.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Chapter 11

Nicole walked into the Diner. She saw Aden at once. She squealed as the years disappeared and she was enfolded in the embrace of her self-adopted Brother.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "When did you get in?"

"Just an hour ago. We've just had breakfast. " he indicated his family sitting at the table behind him. "You look exactly the same!"

"I doubt it Aden Jefferies its been like forever!" she shook her head.

"Only 3 and a half years!" he murmured.

"And lets see what have I done in that time.. " she began.

"Well lets see... you did your HSC, although that took two attempts,"

He was interrupted by Nicole thumping him playfully on the arm.

"The short Diploma Course in Fashion, the design course. You took six months off with Geoff to do that Aid work. I'd say you've been pretty busy!" Aden smiled as he listed some of Nic's accomplishments.

She blushed.

"Dad has kept you informed hasn't he?" she said without malice. "And shall we talk about you Mr. Jefferies? A Fast Track Medical degree in three years without a break. One years residency and the position as a Bush Doctor in the space of how many years."

Aden chuckled.

"I think you forgot to mention husband and devoted Father too!" Belle inserted, placing a possessive hand on Adens' shoulder.

Although she smiled at Nicole there was still an element of mistrust between the two women. It dated back to that time, the dark period when Belle had been in a drug induced stupor and Nicole and Aden had dated for a time. She still didn't like to think about that time, not only because of having to go through Rehab alone, but also losing Aden due to lying about the Drugs.

"So come on Nic, what’s the gos?" Aden asked.

"Miles and Kirsty are back together. Hugo tried to appeal his Jail sentence. Martha is pregnant. Jai is starting his second degree. Annie got married last year. Ruby and Xavier got divorced. Rachel gave birth to twins." she paused to take a breath. "Angelo moved to the city after it was revealed he was adopted. He's been tracing his birth parents. Melody came back to the bay not so long ago; would you believe the mother of twins. Oh and Charlie and Joey adopted a baby last year. Did I miss anyone out?"

Aden and Belle laughed.

"I think that was just about everyone!" Belle said softly. "Come and meet the kids and tell me about that rock you are wearing on your finger! You know the one that my husband hasn't even noticed!"

Aden automatically looked down at Nicole's left hand.

"Did I miss anything?" Colleen asked appearing beside them out of nowhere.

Aden steered Colleen away and let Belle and Nicole move to the table to have a girly gossip. He still wondered how Colleen managed to hear things from miles away and turn up just as something was about to be said. It was downright spooky. As he was distracting her, he heard his wife exclaim the phrase 'Oh my god. He didn't! That's so Geoff!' and he smiled, so the bible boy had done the right thing in the end, he thought.

[TelephotoMarigold]

Roman woke slowly, the dream fading from his consciousness. It was exactly the same one he had had for years, although less and less frequent. In it he stood, the gun poised but he doesn’t shoot. He stands there, his finger on the trigger wanting to press down, but unable. They are calling to him, nameless and sometimes faceless men begging him to fire the gun, but he still stands there. He shook his head to clear the images from his mind and eased himself to a sitting position. Turning slowly, mindful of his slow healing injury he stood and walked to the bathroom. He turned the shower on and eased himself under the hot spray. A glance at his alarm clock had confirmed it was morning meaning he had slept the clock round and not for the first time.

He hoped that Miles and Jai had gone home, although Miles' cooking was a definite improvement on anything Nicole could produce in the kitchen. With thought of food now uppermost in his head he stepped out of the shower and towelled himself dry.

He dressed slowly in shorts and a T-shirt and walked silently downstairs. Padding into the kitchen he was relieved to see that Miles had cleaned the tops and the dishwasher had been loaded. The fridge had been stocked. He took out ingredients and began preparing a meal. this is what soothed him, cutting the vegetables, cooking them, adding herbs and spices and creating something that could be enjoyed.

He focused on the task of cooking only pausing long enough to brew a pot of coffee. He let the food cook while he took a cup of coffee out to the back, sitting at the table and looking out into his small patch of garden whilst he drank the potent brew. He didn't know why that dream had surfaced because he hadn't dreamt it for a long time. Perhaps it was dragging up the past that caused it or maybe the loss of the letter. He'd had counselling of course, there wasn't a man in his unit that hadn't had PTSD in some form or another over the years but he refused to give into it. Maybe that was wrong but then again maybe that was his way of coping with his past. He thought he was doing ok. He drained his coffee and went to get a refill, checking on his meal at the same time. He felt the need to listen to some music and dragged out his Ipod. Sitting back outside feeling the sun against his skin and breathing in the fresh air he felt better than he had for a long time, the coffee was potent its caffeine content high and he felt it boost his system.

The next song to come on his Ipod was the classic by the Rolling Stones, 'Paint it Black'. He and his team used to have this song playing all the time, it had been popular in the era of the Vietnam war and then in Iraq and Afghanistan. Any soldier could identify with the lyrics. Suddenly, he felt very depressed.