Harry and I strolled along the sand. Our feet sinking into it's coolness and kicking it back into the wind with each step. Pass the dunes and the oil barrel waste receptacles with crabs, sea shells, and doplhins painted on them and on to the beach below. The last remnants of the days activities were a young mother laden with toys and a large towel corraling her two smal children who weren't ready to go back home just yet. She saw us and rolled her eyes and blew the bangs from her face and then smiled, Harry and I both laughed and waved back.
"Ah, to be that young again," Harry mused half to himself.
"Oh yeah, but that was at least centuries ago, dear boy, long before we found each other."
"Yes, thank you, I know how old I am, please don't ruin what's left of the day for me with your teasing, alright?"
"Okay, I'm sorry. I know you miss your friends and especially your family, I'll be kind to you."
Harry turned his head ever so slowly and gave me his trademark wise, yet somehow distant look "Yes, I do. My family was very large you rememeber. We came to this beach when I and my siblings were so young indeed. We rode in on the waves and ran about the shore. We got separated and never saw each other again, I can only imagine where in the world they could be." Harry rested himself on the sand, curling his small legs and arms into his shell, the last breaths of the sun glistened off his back before disappearing under the the dark, green canopy of the Atlantic.
"Well, it's time. I'll miss you, ya' lil' whipper snapper! Thanks for not making me into a soup." Harry rose and slowly entered the water letting it pick him up and carry him out.
"Oh, don't think I wasn't tempted you crotchety, old coot! And thanks for never biting my fingers whenever I picked you up. Harry gently smiled, "Well, I was afraid if I did, you wouldn't feed me," and then he winked. Farther and farther out he went guided by a bright, full moon that reflected brilliantly off the water below. Harry and I were never into that mushy, emotional crap, we knew how each other felt and that was that, and move along we did. I stood on the shore, hugging my chest to keep warm in the cold wind as I watched my good friend make one final trip home, there was something in my eye and I brushed it way in vain ...
"Ah, to be that young again," Harry mused half to himself.
"Oh yeah, but that was at least centuries ago, dear boy, long before we found each other."
"Yes, thank you, I know how old I am, please don't ruin what's left of the day for me with your teasing, alright?"
"Okay, I'm sorry. I know you miss your friends and especially your family, I'll be kind to you."
Harry turned his head ever so slowly and gave me his trademark wise, yet somehow distant look "Yes, I do. My family was very large you rememeber. We came to this beach when I and my siblings were so young indeed. We rode in on the waves and ran about the shore. We got separated and never saw each other again, I can only imagine where in the world they could be." Harry rested himself on the sand, curling his small legs and arms into his shell, the last breaths of the sun glistened off his back before disappearing under the the dark, green canopy of the Atlantic.
"Well, it's time. I'll miss you, ya' lil' whipper snapper! Thanks for not making me into a soup." Harry rose and slowly entered the water letting it pick him up and carry him out.
"Oh, don't think I wasn't tempted you crotchety, old coot! And thanks for never biting my fingers whenever I picked you up. Harry gently smiled, "Well, I was afraid if I did, you wouldn't feed me," and then he winked. Farther and farther out he went guided by a bright, full moon that reflected brilliantly off the water below. Harry and I were never into that mushy, emotional crap, we knew how each other felt and that was that, and move along we did. I stood on the shore, hugging my chest to keep warm in the cold wind as I watched my good friend make one final trip home, there was something in my eye and I brushed it way in vain ...