Apr 2012
It was summer in California and life was perfect.
“I’m starting to understand what it means to really live,” he said, breaking the noon silence.
She stirred against the rough wood of the dock.
“I mean…” he cleared his throat. “I don’t know. I feel alive right now like I haven’t in ages.”
Her clear blue eyes stared up at his tanned face.
He hugged his legs to his chest, resting his chin on his scarred knees. “I love this place so much.”
Sighing, she pulled herself up to stare out across the water with him.
“Look at all that ocean,” he said. “You could just sail forever across all that ocean.”
She looked away and rolled her eyes.
“I want to someday, you know,” he continued. “Take a boat out there and just sail…” his voice trailed off, heavy with longing.
She sighed again. The sun was too warm on her skin. The sea was too much salt and water for her. He was too much of a dreamer. But all of the west coast was like that. Too many dreams, not enough reality. After summer break was over she’d go back east and finish school and get a real job as a lawyer and win her cases.
“I don’t even know if I’d ever come back.”
Picking up her shoes, she stood and started walking towards the car.
He turned slightly when he heard the engine rev and pull up the street, away from the dock.
“No,” he said, after some time. “I wouldn’t come back.”
He stood. Then he began to run. In his t shirt and board shorts, he plunged head first into the sunlit sea. The wet cotton clung to him as he swam. He kept going until he couldn’t go anymore, far away from the shores of Coronado and its people.
The sun was high, and finally he realized that he could not go back if he wanted to. He hadn’t been paying attention and didn’t really know which way the beach was. He drifted with the Pacific tide, treading water gently. He realized it could never have been any other way but this - there was nothing left for him back on shore. His parents were both dead, his sister moved far away long ago. Everyone he knew wouldn't really miss him. And living on the beach for the rest of his life, no one wanted that. Even taking a boat out there like he had said was impossible, as he had no money and was too lazy to pursue any of his dreams. No. This was the way it had to be.
Eventually he passed out with the simple exhaustion of staying alive and the water closed over his head.
It was summer in California and life was perfect.
“I’m starting to understand what it means to really live,” he said, breaking the noon silence.
She stirred against the rough wood of the dock.
“I mean…” he cleared his throat. “I don’t know. I feel alive right now like I haven’t in ages.”
Her clear blue eyes stared up at his tanned face.
He hugged his legs to his chest, resting his chin on his scarred knees. “I love this place so much.”
Sighing, she pulled herself up to stare out across the water with him.
“Look at all that ocean,” he said. “You could just sail forever across all that ocean.”
She looked away and rolled her eyes.
“I want to someday, you know,” he continued. “Take a boat out there and just sail…” his voice trailed off, heavy with longing.
She sighed again. The sun was too warm on her skin. The sea was too much salt and water for her. He was too much of a dreamer. But all of the west coast was like that. Too many dreams, not enough reality. After summer break was over she’d go back east and finish school and get a real job as a lawyer and win her cases.
“I don’t even know if I’d ever come back.”
Picking up her shoes, she stood and started walking towards the car.
He turned slightly when he heard the engine rev and pull up the street, away from the dock.
“No,” he said, after some time. “I wouldn’t come back.”
He stood. Then he began to run. In his t shirt and board shorts, he plunged head first into the sunlit sea. The wet cotton clung to him as he swam. He kept going until he couldn’t go anymore, far away from the shores of Coronado and its people.
The sun was high, and finally he realized that he could not go back if he wanted to. He hadn’t been paying attention and didn’t really know which way the beach was. He drifted with the Pacific tide, treading water gently. He realized it could never have been any other way but this - there was nothing left for him back on shore. His parents were both dead, his sister moved far away long ago. Everyone he knew wouldn't really miss him. And living on the beach for the rest of his life, no one wanted that. Even taking a boat out there like he had said was impossible, as he had no money and was too lazy to pursue any of his dreams. No. This was the way it had to be.
Eventually he passed out with the simple exhaustion of staying alive and the water closed over his head.
It was summer in California and life was perfect.
