For You & I: Part 2
February 2rd 2023
One evening, as the sun slowly sank in the sky, I hugged my knees to my chest and closed my eyes. The glowing rays brought warmth to my skin, and eventually, to my bones. I rocked slowly to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Palama pono kou kino. For a moment, his voice and the small waves breaking on the shoreline were the only noises that occupied my mind.
The shriek of a small child broke through the quiet air and I opened my eyes to a group of four young children running through the sand and into the water. One of them, a young girl who appeared to be five or six, lunged forward and disappeared beneath the waves. She came back up seconds later, erupting in laughter as she broke the surface. Her shirt clung to her arms and torso, and she brushed her black hair out of her face, where it hugged her eyebrows and lips and nose. The glowing atmosphere reflected in her eyes when she noticed where I sat and, after looking for a moment, her gaze quickly turned back to her friends. They danced for a while, waiting and watching as the sun reached for the earth. Subtle clouds spread across the sky and light poured through them in reds and yellows and purples.
Soon, it dipped below the waves, and we were met with a soft, gentle glow. The girl broke away from the others and meandered along the shore, stopping periodically to crouch down and pick up a stone, examine it in her small hands, and toss it back into the lake. She pocketed one or two.
A woman’s presence was felt on the beach, not far from where I sat. She held a young child tight to her chest and her long grey dress floated in the breeze that came off of the water. The waves began to lay flat, and merely lapped the sand. She spoke quietly to the three children, and soon they emerged from the water and retreated, stepping cautiously through the dune grass and disappearing from sight.
“Maddie!" the woman called, “time to go in, baby.” The girl’s small head turned and she stood to her feet. Her silhouette sauntered toward the sound of her mother’s voice, and soon only her footprints were left in the sand. A darkness came over me, and the warmth that once embraced me was met with a chill.
