I found a spot to sit in the sand where I could watch the seagulls and the occasional fish breaking through the surface of the water. The sun began to burn brighter as it made it’s way higher into the sky and it warmed me through and through. When I was out here like this it was easy to forget the stresses of my day, whatever was happening at the moment. Unfortunately I was horrible about making enough time to have this moments to myself.
Sometimes Evan would come with me down here and walk alongside me down the shoreline. We would watch the jumping fish, the early morning surfers and water skiers, the fishermen who were looking for a good catch in the early morning. It was strange not having him here with me this morning. It had become something of our morning routine to spend these moments together. I wondered what he was up to and thought about texting him but realized I had left my cellphone back at the house. The scenery and the temperature was too nice right now though for me to want to leave so I sat.
I thought about when Evan and I had first met some ten years ago back when we were barely old enough to have our own things like bank accounts and bills to worry about. Before we had car payments and mortgages and steady paychecks that did more than simply put small meals on the table. He had been the most magnificent person i had ever known with his gentle personality, his witty sense of humor and his calming smile. He had lit a fire under me with his knowledge on books and writers and art. Everything has about him was so different from anyone else I had ever known.
He didn’t laugh at my forgetfulness or my disorganization. He had never ridiculed me for my love of books, even if they were only frivolous fiction. He understood my Star Wars obsession, especially with Ewoks. He didn’t comment on the amount of coffee I could put away in an hour or my junk food vices. He was patient when it took me awhile to pick up new things, to remember how to do them, he didn’t mind that I always took the same route home, that I always shopped at the same grocery store, that I had my favorite brands of food. He understood me and accepted me and that was important to me.
Thinking about Evan made me miss him and I wondered if he had made it back yet. I decided to trek back to the house and find out. As I walked I thought about how lucky I was that he also shared a love of the ocean. I absolutely loved it that we literally had a beach in our backyard and that I could come out here anytime I wanted. The sounds and smells were so soothing to me.
Having reached the house I opened the back door, calling out to him.
“Ethan! Are you home?”
I walked through the kitchen into the living room where I stood for a moment, listening. All was quiet. Sighing, I fetched my cellphone and dialed his numbers from the contacts. It rang once, twice and then someone picked up.
“Ethan? Where are you, Silly? I woke up and you were gone.”
I laughed softly and waited for his reply. On the other end al was silent except for the faint sound of static.
“Ethan? Can you hear me?”
I thought I heard a voice very faintly in the background, and then another voice. I listened even more intently. Definitely two voices. But, no, that couldn’t be my Ethan could it? Not only could I hear the distant muffled sound of his laughter but I also heard the soft, tinkling laughter of another woman.
Written in response to the Daily Post.