On the Sand- Short story

I was standing on the beach when I heard the sound of someone walking towards me.

You could hear the sand gently crushing under their feet

“I thought you’d be here”

“You know me well then”

“I know this must be tough for you, I’m sorry”

’Why are you apologizing?”

“Because I know you must be hurting right now and I don’t know what else to say”

“Then say nothing, do nothing. Just stand here with me and look at the ocean. It looks pretty when the suns setting”

“It is pretty isn’t it”

“Yeah it is”

They sat there in silence for a minute or two, basking in the bright sunlight meeting with the blue waves of the ocean and listening to the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore

“Why’d you come here, really? Just tell me”

“I was-I am afraid that you aren’t taking all of this well, I mean how could you?”

“Well, what do you want me to tell you?”

“Are you ok?”

“No”

“What’s going through your mind right now?”

“You really want to know?”

“Yes”

“I’m thinking of everything. Everything I must have done or said to him, every laugh, comment, touch. It all. I’m wondering what I could’ve done better, what I could’ve done to save him.”

“That’s what I was worried about- that you’d be feeling that way. You know this isn’t your fault right?”

“What do you know, you haven’t seen him in months, you haven’t seen how he acted, how he acts. You don’t know what you’re talking about”

“That’s not true”

The sun was almost done setting now and the beach was getting dark and cold.

“I love him so much, I just don’t want him to think that way. Does he not know that? Does he not care?!? Why is this happening?!”

“And you were worried about me”

“Shut up”

They both let out a short quick silent chuckle

“To be honest I’m just wondering if anything will be the same after this”

“Me too. It probably won’t. But that’s ok in a way”

“Is it?”

“Yes”

“How?”

“You can show someone you love them in many ways but you can never tell someone you love them too much”

“Won’t he be different though? Will he be scared?”

“I don’t know. We don’t know anything really, and that’s just how life is sometimes”

“I hate life then”

“Don’t we all”

“No we don’t”

The beach was now cold and dark and the stars were burning bright in the sky. Somehow we both happened to look up at the same time and see a shooting star flash through the sky.

“Did you see that?”

“I did”

“Did you make a wish?”

“I did, did you?”

“Yeah, I think I did”

“What was it”

“I wished that he would also experience how beautiful life can be”

“I wished that he would know that I wish he was here right now”

“That’s kind”

“We should probably head back now”

“You go ahead, I just want to lay here and look at the sky for a minute”

“Well then I’m staying with you then”

“Ok”

We sat down on the cold sand and lay down facing the sky, flinching when our dry skin hit the sand.

All was silent for a little while and we both started to cry.