At the Beach

[jayphailey]

At the Beach

The edge of the breaker rolled over my toes and I felt something deep and primal inside. It said “Aaaahhhhh.”

The sand was warm, and the sunshine warmed my bones. Wind played across my head and body. When I was a kid, it would have tousled my hair. Now, I didn’t have that much hair.

I breathed deeply. The smell of the ocean, the sand, and skin with sunscreen on. Part of me was home.

I felt her near my right shoulder. I looked at her and smiled. Of course, she filled out a swimsuit perfectly. Something about her face. I couldn’t describe it. There’d never be another face like that in all creation. She had time cloned sisters, and even the odd natural physical duplicate. But none of them were HER and the her-ness made her face ever so slightly different. Special. More her.

The wind was having fun with her hair, pushing it in all directions.

She said, “Being here does something to you.”

I looked out at the ocean. The Pacific Ocean is terribly large. It has depths few have ever visited. The waves rolled in implacably as they’ve done for ages and would do for ages more. The ocean has moods. Sometimes things were calm, the waves were smaller, more regular. Sometimes they were large and came from the sides. A storm elsewhere caused effects for us. Sometimes when the storms raged, so did the ocean, and the waves became dangerously large and powerful.

“In some ways…” I struggled to organize my thoughts “In some ways the ocean is the mother to us all.”

She squinted at me, unsure of where I was going.

“The first life forms on Earth were born in the ocean and lived there for a billion years. To this day the ocean flavors us all. Our blood is very close to being seawater, chemically. When my ancestors crawled onto the land, they evolved to bring the ocean with us and keep us in a balance that mimics the ocean in some ways. I always feel kind of connected to the ocean when I’m here.”

“How did you feel about the oceans on other worlds we visited?”

“I loved them. But they weren’t…. This one.”

“I associate the smells and the sounds with Starfleet,” She said, “The Academy.”

I nodded. Part of the Academy was right on the water, near the Golden Gate Bridge. The bay tamed the water too much. Not enough waves. The water tended to grow a little stagnant without weather to move it around. Sometimes I’d walk over to Tenessee Beach to just stand in the waves a little.

“Didn’t you play tourist?” I asked.

“Some. Flagg didn’t leave me a lot of time. We visited different places on training missions.”

“We’ll have to fix that while we’re here,” I said.

I tilted my head back, closed my eyes, and let the sunshine hit my face. “If the ocean is our mother, metaphorically, then the sun is our father - lending us the energy to survive and grow.”

“I didn’t think you were a spiritual type,” She said.

“Usually, I’m not… Until I’m here.”

“Are you going to swim?” She asked.

“In a bit,” I said.

I remember wrestling the waves as a small child. Getting thrown around, happily. Salt water and sand everywhere. I recalled once when I went to go bob on the waves before they broke and got caught in a rip tide. I was out past the pier before I knew what was going on.

My Mom told me to swim sideways out of the rip tide. I did and it worked… eventually.

The ocean is never entirely safe, but that makes it more fun. Swimming pools are okay, and I enjoy swimming. But tame water doesn’t touch me like wild and free water does.

-*-

I flopped on the beach towel. Mine was dark blue with stars and the cochrane delta on it. Hers was pink with balloons and rainbows.

My limbs were rubbery, my lungs hurt. Once again, I had sand in all the places.

She stood over me. I couldn’t see her expression. She’d swum some, gliding through the water with seemingly effortless grace. I could catch her, but I had to fight hard to do it.

After she got out, I dared the waves by trying to body surf. The waves won the wrestling match, and I enjoyed every minute.

I grinned up at her, “I know. I look like a giant dork. I don’t care.”

“Not what I was going to say,” She said, “But your dignity does turn out to be water soluble. What are we doing for dinner?”

“Ah hahah,” I laughed. I’d have to look up someplace nice along the beach with big windows and very nice food. And I had to hope she didn’t mind feeding me, because my arms were not going to be joining us.

[jayphailey]

I am seeing H3 and L3 here, I guess some time after their adventures in the Western Region, at Earth.

But I kept it vague. It's just talking about how I feel when I rarely get to visit the beach

[Innkeeper]

I am seeing H3 and L3 here, I guess some time after their adventures in the Western Region, at Earth.

But I kept it vague. It's just talking about how I feel when I rarely get to visit the beach

I get the vibe, home ground. I feel the same way about the ebb and flow of Michigan weather, the smell of the lakes. This place is home in a very visceral way.

[jayphailey]

I am seeing H3 and L3 here, I guess some time after their adventures in the Western Region, at Earth.

But I kept it vague. It's just talking about how I feel when I rarely get to visit the beach

I get the vibe, home ground. I feel the same way about the ebb and flow of Michigan weather, the smell of the lakes. This place is home in a very visceral way.

I am glad you liked it. Yes, I did enjoy standing in Lake Huron. She was alien to me, but I could tell there was a lot more for me to really get it.