Willow wandered down the hotel hall towards the suite that the three for them had been calling \u2018home\u2019 for a couple of weeks now. It was already 11:15am and she\u2019d just managed to catch the very end of the buffet breakfast, the staff leaving it on a bit longer for her, still grateful for the multitude of pastries and cakes that had been left for them by this rather lovely guest.<\/p>\n
She inserted her card into the door of the hotel room and pushed it open. Ana was draped over the couch, wrapped in a bath robe, and Mia was sitting cross legged on a chair, staring absently into space, still in her pyjamas.<\/p>\n
Willow gritted her teeth. It had been the same every day since they\u2019d arrived back in London: Killing time until Ana and Mia felt better, stronger, ready to make important decisions about their lives. Willow was beginning to feel like she was in limbo, waiting for her fate to be determined by her two friends who were – currently – incapable of making a decision harder than which crappy movie to watch next. She had tried to talking to them about going somewhere new – just like they had planned – and starting fresh, but they hadn\u2019t wanted to do that just yet and Willow had indulged them, not wanting to push them into something they weren\u2019t ready for. The three of them had even talked about the possibility of going back to Melbourne, starting over there. At least there everything was familiar. Mia could give it a real shot with Johnny and Ana could try to work things out with Tom.<\/p>\n
But even that was a choice they apparently weren\u2019t ready to make.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you want to do today?\u201d Willow asked in a faux cheerful voice.<\/p>\n
Mia looked blankly at Willow. \u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToday,\u201d Willow repeated. \u201cWhat do you want to do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUmmm\u2026\u201d Mia shrugged. \u201cNothing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did nothing yesterday,\u201d Willow said, trying to keep her voice calm. \u201cAnd the day before that, and the day before that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m bored,\u201d she said, her irritation showing through. \u201cWe\u2019re in London. For goodness sake. There are a million fun things we could be doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel like doing anything fun,\u201d Mia said in a petulant voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh for god\u2019s sake!\u201d Willow exclaimed. \u201cSnap out of it!\u201d<\/p>\n
Mia looked at her, eyes wide, before promptly bursting into tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh no\u2026 don\u2019t cry,\u201d Willow said, immediately regretting sniping at her friend when she was in such a fragile state. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. I didn\u2019t mean to be cranky.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not you,\u201d Mia said, trying her best to sniff back the tears. \u201cIt\u2019s just\u2026 I miss Johnny.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know you do,\u201d Willow said, stroking her hair. \u201cBut don\u2019t you think\u2026\u201d she trailed off.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, don\u2019t you think that maybe if we went out and did something then you might feel better? It might take your mind off it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really feel like doing anything either,\u201d Ana chimed in. \u201cYou go out, Willow. We\u2019ll stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s more fun if we do something together,\u201d Willow said. \u201cPlease? Just for a few hours?\u201d<\/p>\n
Ana sighed reluctantly and looked at Mia. \u201cWhat do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mia shrugged. \u201cOh, all right then. But only for a few hours. I don\u2019t really feel like being around people at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
It was a crisp, sunny day and there were people everywhere, smiling and happy. Tourists posed to have their photos taken and kids ran around, laughing and eating ice-cream. But even wandering along the Thames, going to the Tate Modern and devouring a delicious Greek feast (well, Willow devoured. Ana and Mia picked) didn\u2019t manage to bring so much as a smile to Ana or Mia\u2019s lips.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we go back to the hotel yet?\u201d Ana said yawning, as they stood taking in the vista of London bridge.<\/p>\n
That was the last straw. Willow snapped. \u201cI can\u2019t do this anymore!\u201d<\/p>\n
Mia and Ana looked at her, puzzled.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo what?\u201d said Mia.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeal with you two! You do nothing but sit around the hotel and mope all day. I thought that we were meant to be embarking on a new better<\/em> life? Quite frankly, at the moment it\u2019s a bit crap.\u201d Willow sighed. \u201cWe may as well just go back to Melbourne if this is what we\u2019re going to do here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWillow, I think that\u2019s a bit unfair,\u201d Ana said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been through a lot and\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Willow cut her off. \u201cWe\u2019ve all<\/em> been through a lot. No more excuses. We either do this properly or we don\u2019t do it at all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you saying?\u201d Mia asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m saying that we need to decide. Either we pack it in an go back to our old home in Melbourne or we do what originally planned and move to our new<\/em> home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t we just stay here for another week or so,\u201d said Ana. \u201cSee how we feel then?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Willow said adamantly. \u201cIt\u2019s time to choose.\u201d<\/p>\n Ana and Mia looked at each other and nodded slowly.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s go home,\u201d Mia said.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n There was a slight bump as they touched down. Ana lent over and squeezed Willow and Mia\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n \u201cWelcome home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The pilot\u2019s voice came over the loud speaker. \u201cLadies and Gentleman, welcome to San Francisco where the local time is ten-fifteen am and the weather\u2026 well, lets just say it will change about fifteen times over the course of the day.\u201d The pilot paused, giving time for the chuckled laughter of his captive audience. \u201cIf you\u2019re visiting this lovely city, then have a fantastic time, and if you\u2019re returning, then welcome home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHome,\u201d Willow repeated softly, letting the word linger on her tongue. It felt good. Right. A new start with new people to meet and adventures to be had. Her stomach rumbled loudly. Adventures will come<\/em>, she thought. First things first<\/em>. At this juncture, the most important thing was discovering some new food to be eaten! Even in business class, plane food was still plane food.<\/p>\n They collected their bags and walked slowly towards the big shiny doors that stood between them and their new lives.<\/p>\n \u201cReady?\u201d Ana said.<\/p>\n \u201cYep,\u201d said Willow.<\/p>\n Mia nodded and took a deep breath. \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n Together, they stepped through the doors. They were home.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n This is the final episode of Season 6. Stay tuned for Season 7, when Ravenous returns in a couple of weeks. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks for reading.<\/em> xxx<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Willow wandered down the hotel hall towards the suite that the three for them had been calling \u2018home\u2019 for a couple of weeks now. It was already 11:15am and she\u2019d just managed to catch the very end of the buffet breakfast, the staff leaving it on a bit longer for her, still grateful for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[218],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1027"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1028,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1027\/revisions\/1028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ravenoustales.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}