Sounds of waves

She loved the sea! She loved how powerful it was, magnificent and dangerous at the same time. There surely is something captivating about it, once you conquer its’ waves, once you go swimming, there is no turning back, cause you become a part of it, you are connected to it by thin, little, invisible threads and it can not be split, you two are simply inseparable. And it’s been that way for 14 heavenly years.

It’s early in the morning, everyone’s in a deep sleep, sun is just rising with all it’s glory and grace. And then, there she is! On the coast, barefoot, hair tied in a messy bun, headphones on, moving slowly and lazily. You can easily tell that she just woke up. Her mind is filled with thousands of things, it’s hard to focus, she can not focus! She can not do anything!

“What on earth is that?” Aeliana whispered to herself as she saw a silhouette on the horizon. As it got closer she realized:

“Hunter” she smirked and increased the pace.

“Aeliana? Is that you?” he seemed little confused, which was unlikely of him.

“One and only!”

They stare at each other for a while. He is observing her, trying to make a conclusion of his own. Aeliana is just smiling, but anyone who knows her would catch the glimpse of sadness in her eyes. After a long pause he finally manages to say “What’s on your mind?”

“What’s the point of asking when you already know?”

“Woah, sasssy!” he tries to joke around, but he realizes that he could not make her smile. So he comes to a conclusion: things are more serious than he thought. He can not find a solution, it’s hard for him, maybe as hard as it is for her. Another minute of silence goes by, but they don’t seem like they care, they are thinking about something, something that is way important than this.

Then there is the touch and the warmth it brings, beautiful sensation from someone that cares about you. Hunter takes her hand unexpectedly, with just a pure instinct. It’s only thing that he could do, only solution he could think of, cause no words could deal with the pain she was going through at that moment. They walk by the beach silently. You can hear their rhythmic breath and the waves crashing. It’s the sound that’s so dear, so familiar, it’s the sound of home.

They’ve lived on the island since they remember, every little memory of them is here, in the corners of small beautiful piece of land that’s surrounded by water from each side. For most of the people it’s this glamorous place you go to when you need a getaway, somewhere to hide, relax, bur for them… It was their life, their home and they loved every bit of it, not as a visitor nor as a tourist, but as a child, native child. Yes! It was their motherland, something that you love unconditionally, like a mother.

They walked by plenty of new faces, the ones they have never seen before and will never see again. That’s  one of the many exceptional things that’s part of their island. It’s something they are used to and something they enjoy. But what about the faces, the ones that are special, so special it’s almost like they are part of you? What about them? What happens when you realize you are going to be leaving them for the rest of your life, that they will become one of those faces that you’ve seen and will never see again!

They are sitting on the sand now, looking at the sun rising and it’s beautiful and precious and everything they need at such an age of fourteen. He’s scared to break the silence, he does not want to ruin this precious moment, but something bothers him he needs to get it out of him “Aeliana?” he asks so quietly she can barely hear him.

“What?” By this simple, short word you realise that she does not want to talk much, she just needs the silence. No! She needs only the sound of the waves, it will calm her down, it always does.

“How does it feel?” he asks quietly again, doubting if he should be asking that, but she already heard it and that surely caught her attention.

There are numerous emotions reflecting on her face. First it’s the anger: How dare he asks that question, when he knows how much it hurts?! What is wrong with him? Then it slowly changes into sadness, all the pain she was trying to hold back is slowly turning into numbness now and the single tear drops on her face, realizing that now she gets ahold of herself. She is more calm now and is able to think straight.

“It hurts, but now that I… I think now that I know I will be leaving, I love it more…” another tear drops as she continues “Have you ever thought about it?”

“What do you mean?”

“How much you love it, have you thought about it?”

Hunter does a little bit of thinking and he says confidently “I have. Yes I have… here and there, you know?”

“I know” she smiles. “I’ve been thinking about that constantly these days”

“And?”

“And I know I would never… If I would not be leaving it… It’s so simple and stupid: you just get to appreciate more when you know you lost it”

Silence again…

“I”ve always appreciated you, it didn’t take for me you leaving to realise that, I always knew!” He says confused, with a little bit of anger in his words. “It’s just stupid! I don’t want you to leave!” Now there is an anger and there is a rain, right from his eyes and soon from her eyes too.

On the coast two young person sitting by the ocean, crying loudly! In pain, in love, still so young, inexperienced and with future filled with adventures.

Mira closes the book, sobbing silently. She does not want to bother the passengers, so she goes to the restroom. Now she allows herself to cry, cry for Aeliana, cry for Hunter, cry for herself and Barbuda. Dear Barbuda, she will miss her island, she will miss it so hard. She sniffs looking down at the book.

“I knew you would choose the right book” she whispers to herself thinking of her mother. “dramatic”, she then rolls her eyes, smiles and leaves the restroom.

Sitting on an airplane her mind is filled with thousand things, it’s hard to focus, she can not focus! She can not do anything! But she knows that she loves the sea! She loves how powerful it is, magnificent and dangerous at the same time. There surely is something captivating about it, once you conquer its’ waves, once you go swimming in it, there is no turning back, cause you become a part of it, you are connected to it by thin, little, invisible threads and it can not be split, you two are simply inseparable.