Summer Pastime

From Blushes Supplement 11 with Lucie Martin Uncle Robert always came to visit during the first or second week of school holidays. Janet hoped it would be the first week since, as the days of the second week passed, the tension within her mounted unbearably. Silly, though, to say that she hoped. She feared. What she really hoped was that he would never come at all. He wasn’t actually her uncle, she knew. No more than Aunt Esther was a real aunt. Ever since the age of 10, Janet knew she had been fostered out and the terms Uncle and Aunt were merely used as a matter of convenience. Not truly belonging, gave the girl a sense of isolation and loneliness. Through her early teens, she turned in upon herself; became secretive and shy and found it difficult to make friends. Now that she was 17, things had not improved. If anything, they were worse. Janet became more secretive, too. She would never have dreamed of telling anyone about th...