Tamah

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I wasn't sure I understood what Mirai and her dad talked about. Or at least not completely. The only thing that I got from it was that I would have more time every day to spend with Mirai and that felt all good.

"Maybe we should go to the beach now?" Mirai asked when they were done talking.

The beach. Ocean.

I nodded.

She smiled and got some directions from her dad before we set off.

When we got outside, the sun shone down on us. Bright and warm.

I turned my head up to it. Closed my eyes. Felt my lips turn up.

I stood still like that for a while. Until I felt Mirai squeeze the hand she held.

I looked back at her. She smiled.

"Let's get going," she said and we began walking.

Neither of us wore shoes, but the grass was soft and comfortable. I imagined lying down in it, using it as a bed. It would be a lovely bed. One that would smell of life.

But mixed with the salty smell of the ocean.

We walked to the edge. To where the grass ended. To the cliff.

We stopped for a bit. Looked out over the water. It was a clear blue and glittered in the sun. I had seen water like that before, but I didn't know when.

At the base of the cliff, there was a strip of sand. A beach that looked completely untouched. Not a normal type of untouched, one that meant that the waves had washed away all signs of past disturbance, but one that said no person had ever been on it before.

A stair had been carved out from the stone of the cliff. A wooden railing was built along it. And it was wide enough for us to walk hand in hand.

I walked close to the stonewall. It had been the natural way for us to walk, considering our interlocked hands, but something told me that Mirai would have insisted on walking like that had that not been the case. She would have insisted on being the one walking closest to the edge.

Down and down we went.

No wind, so no waves, but a low clucking sound came from the water. The saltwater smell grew stronger.

It reminded me of a long-forgotten place.

The sand was warm under my feet and I dug my toes into it. Covered them in that warmth and felt the sand give way for my action.

"It's beautiful here," Mirai said and I looked out over the water.

Still as blue. Still glittering. I couldn't see the end of it. Just a vast ocean. One to get lost in. One to hug and warm you. Rock you to peace.

"Do you want to go into the water?" Mirai asked next and I moved forward as an answer.

We got to the edge and then I dipped a toe in.

The water was as warm as it looked. Comfortable against my skin.

We walked further out. The water danced around our legs.

I wanted to go out until the water covered me. But Mirai stopped when the water reached the edge of the dress I wore, her pants were getting wet. She moved her hair, so it was all to the front on one side. She looked uncertain.

"Probably best if we stop here."

A little part of me wanted to protest, keep moving forward. But it wasn't far from the house to here. We could go here again and then we could swim.

We stayed in the water a bit longer. Walked in it along the beach. Like she had walked closest to the edge down the stairs, she now walked on the outside towards the vast ocean.

Some fishes came that swam by our feet. They were in bright colors and I stopped to look at them.

So beautiful. So colorful.

When they swam away, we went back to the beach.

We sat down. I positioned myself to look out over the water. But Mirai moved at my side.

I turned my head to her. Watched as she used her hands to form shapes in the sand. Build it up.

She got water to wet it, to make it stick more together. Kept building.

Made it stand tall and then she started removing sand.

Slowly, it turned from sand to something else. Shapes that looked to be windows and doors. What might have been a stair.

I wanted to try.

I began building, but it didn't work. It all collapsed over and over.

"The sand is easier to shape when it's slightly wet," Mirai told me while not looking away from her own building.

I tried and soon I had a tower built. Then I did another.

Mirai had stopped building herself and looked at me.

"You're really good at this," she smiled.

Then she moved closer to the water. To the edge of it.

"This is also fun doing," she said and stuck her hand into the water, into the sand underneath. She took out some sand that was mixed with the water to the point that it was close to liquid. Then she let it drop out of her hand onto the dry sand. Made a tower out of it.

I immediately tried. It was easy enough, but the shapes became beautiful. Complex. They stood tall and proud, though there was a sadness to their graying color.

I wanted to stay and play more, but my body had other plans.

It growled with hunger and Mirai's smile from the playing disappeared instantly.

I wanted it back. Wanted it always there.

"You should have told me if you were getting hungry," she mumbled. Her eyebrows were lowered and there was a wrinkle between them.

I felt like shrinking back, disappearing. Was she mad? I never wanted to make her mad or hurt her.

Before I had time to shrink away, she spoke again.

"Or were you having enough fun to not notice?" she smiled and stood up. Brushed off some sand, though much remained on her legs, and extended her hand to me. I took it and let her pull me towards her.