Considering the jumbled-up state of my emotions, I slept more soundly than I could have hoped and dreamt of my last adventure down at the beach huts. Waking to the sound of gulls and feeling refreshed and revived as opposed to slightly panicked as my phone alarm blared out was a wonderful feeling. It was still an early start, but then I’d already fathomed that some old habits were going to be hard to break.

I took a moment to stretch out in the bed, tried to dismiss how alien it felt not to already be scanning through my inbox, and wondered if any of the local kids I used to hang around with still lived in the village. We had only ever been on first-name terms and I probably wouldn’t be able to recognize them now, but I would keep my eyes peeled for familiar faces, nonetheless. Surely, there was one I would recognize should I happen to bump into him.

When I eventually opened the curtains, I was delighted to see that there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and in stark contrast to when I arrived the air felt warm. I wouldn’t be needing an umbrella today or an extra layer. While waiting for the kettle to boil I opened the back door which led out into a tiny walled courtyard. It was too damp to sit out, but I would certainly be making use of the bistro set as soon as the sun had dried everything enough.

‘Good morning!’ called a smartly dressed elderly gentleman with a Jack Russell terrier on a lead when I set off to explore a short while later.

I hadn’t been planning to head out quite so soon, but after my first caffeine hit of the day, my brain had been determined to lead my body to the drawer where I’d stashed my phone and so I was sensibly putting temptation firmly out of reach. I’d also added Mum’s diary to the drawer and even though I wanted to read more, I thought I would benefit from winding down a bit before I picked it up again.

It was a novelty to be heading out so soon after I had decided to go though. With no work to go to, I had realized there was no need to straighten my hair into submission, or waste time on flawless make-up. It was all very liberating, although I had still mascaraed my lashes and applied a slick of lip gloss.

‘Morning,’ I smiled back, before jumping out of the way to let the beach tractor by.

The driver stared down at me and carried on, and then nodded to the old man as the machine trundled slowly and noisily by.

‘Are you heading down to the beach, my dear?’ the man asked as I looked up and down the lane, checking for more vehicles.

‘If I don’t get run over first,’ I told him.