Emerald Beach

It was a last-minute vacation, barely planned.  My dad and his friends texted around midnight, probably a bit drunk, and thought it would be fun to rent an RV and go camping at Emerald Beach.  The next day, we departed abruptly, only having the previous day to pack (much to Mom's frustration).

I love the beach, it’s always so picturesque and relaxing. But, as much as I like the place, I don’t particularly like the ocean and my dislike for it grew after watching Soul Surfer, and so did my fear of sharks.  Plus, I don’t love the fact that the sand clings onto every part of your body after stepping out of the water, and how it seems to fall out of your clothes for days on end.  But, if I bite my tongue and ignore all the inconveniences, it's fun to lay on the sand all day, going in and out of the water, cold but warmed by the sun.  And besides, Emerald Beach was the prettiest and safest beach in all of Southern California.

The past five days at the campgrounds were relaxing, yet at the same time, exhausting.  The majority of the day was spent at the beach, whether it be making sand castles or body-surfing, or getting surfing lessons from Uncle H.  Back in San Diego, he surfed nearly every weekend as, I suppose, stress relief from the mental strain of being an anesthesiologist.  At night, delicious meat was grilled for the adults, and pizza was bought for the kids.  Most of the time, they ate at the beach and sand got all over their food, but I sat next to my Mom to steal some lamb and galbi from her plate.  We went over to the shops and bought boba on the first day for everyone, and I’ve gone with my dad twice more since I’m practically an addict.  Tonight’s the last night of this whole “last vacation of summer” and we’re planning to have a grand party.

I was dry within a matter of minutes due to the strong sun and excessive heat.  I stood to brush the sand off my legs and watched Conner start paddling for a wave.  He had gotten pretty good at surfing, now able to stand without much hesitation.  I watched him catch a small wave then left to go help with party decorations.  Aunt Cher wanted to go all out for this party tonight and even brought some decorations, like lights and lanterns for the RV.  I hung my towel on the drying rack and walked over to Aunt Cher’s RV.

I clip back my hair with a claw clip, “Should I get the chairs?”

“Um, yeah,” Aunt pointed over to the tape.  “Can you cut me a few pieces first?”

Soon, everyone was partly dry with some clothes thrown on and ready to feast.  We were handed pieces of tinfoil, and in it, we placed vegetables and a potato sprinkled with cheese.  Uncle Richard took it to place on the fire.  The little ones ran off, talking about a sand castle contest, and Conner left with them, excited about a moat.  I sat next to my mom, who sat with Aunt Cherry and Aunt Tiff, and listened to their conversation about their husbands.  When the tinfoil meals were ready, the little ones were called back.  We all ate a bit less to save room for a selection of desserts.  Uncle Richard and Dad had gone to the bakery and brought back chocolate pastries.  Plus, we were going to make s’mores at the beach while watching the sunset.

Conner’s marshmallow caught on fire, but he didn’t let Mom remove the burnt layer, insisting that he had intended for it to turn crispy black.  Aunt Cherry sandwiched my s’mores together, and I climbed to the top of the sand dune where people sat to watch the sunset, joining my brother and Uncle Mark.  Soon, the others joined and we all chattered, waiting for the sky to turn shades of red and orange.  

“It’s so sad,” Conner put his head on my shoulder.

“What is?”

“It’s the last day.”

He gave me a hug, which quickly turned into a tight squeeze like that of a cobra, “Stop it!”

“Fine,” he let go slightly.  “I wish we could go back in time.  To the first day.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“It’s setting!” Mom said.  “Conner, stop looking at it.  Look through your sister's phone.”

Just as the sun was about to slip beneath the horizon, it went back up.  Higher and higher until it stopped where the afternoon sun was.  

Conner jumped up and pulled at my arm, “Did you see that?!”

I looked down at my phone and replayed the time-lapse that I had taken.  Conner bent over my shoulder to look at my screen, and we both groaned when we realized that the video had ended right when a sliver of sun remained.

“I don’t remember ending the video,” I muttered.  But then again, I don’t remember a lot of things.

“What are you guys doing up here?”  I turned to see Uncle Mark making his way up the dune.

“I don’t know,” I shrug and look up at the sun, squinting my eyes from its harsh rays of light.

Uncle raised up his hands, “You guys aren’t happy to see me?!”

“Huh?” Conner spoke, looking over at me.  

“C’mon, I just got here!”

Now, I looked back at Conner and we shared the same confused look, “You just got here?”

“Layla!!” Anne ran up the dune, giving me a quick hug, followed by her quiet younger brother, Ben.  “When did you guys get here?”

“Um, some time ago," I stand and brush off the sand.  

Uncle Mark looks at his phone, “Mom wants you guys back.”

“Okay,” Anne and Ben run back down the hill.

“You guys gonna stay up here?” Uncle asks.

“Yeah,” I nod.  “We’ll be down soon.”

Once he left, I turned back to the horizon.  Emerald Beach got its name from the color of its ocean.  The water was a beautiful emerald green near shore, and I had taken dozens of photos from the pier and stared at it time and time again.  It looked a bit different right now.  A bit brighter, maybe.  Then again, I’m not very observant and could be remembering wrong.

“We turned back time!” Conner smiled, realization hitting him.  “You know how I said I wished that it wouldn’t end?”

“What wouldn’t end?”

“The vacation, duh,” he rolled his eyes and continued.  “My wish came true!”

Conner danced in circles celebrating, “I don’t have to go to school!”

“You still have school, it’s just a week later.”

“Should we make a sandcastle?”

I understood his excitement, but I had a weird feeling.  It’s hard to explain, but I can feel it, the uneasiness swirling around in my stomach.  I force a smile.

“A sandcastle?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty much an expert now.  I’ll get the stuff!” Conner ran off.

“Slow down!” I started after him.

Having another week of vacation didn’t seem so bad.  I wasn’t exactly looking forward to sophomore year.  I brushed off the lingering feelings of doubt and broke into a smile.  How could a repeated week be harmful?