Crossing the horizon, the sun brought forth dark skies dotted with salt particles.
First off, it wasn't dark when I decided to make the journey. A sophisticated person like myself knows how to plan accordingly, regardless of the situation. It could've been a mishap that I'd arrived late, yes. But like always, this situation wasn't any fault of mine. I have a miniature watch to plan out various activities, but as luck would have it, the infinite battery had run out at some point on the journey. I didn't notice till I arrived at my location.
The night got colder, my leather coat couldn't repel the sea's moisture.
My destination was a beach with large boulders situated out at sea—that could've been mistaken for land masses. And near the shore similarly—that could've been mistaken for small islands. Waves crashed into them periodically like accidents on a busy freeway—where they tumbled and grazed the surface with its microscopic components.
Contrary to that activity, the sea seemed calmer than ever. Maybe this has to do with the fact that I hadn't been here in a while, and noticing differences from where I reside; the light chilly breeze, the crunch of sand beneath my feet, the drop-off of darkness the further my vision reached, and the lack of presence of people. Maybe that was the biggest difference since I came alone.
Well—not much different, but still noteworthy.
To my dismay, it seems that I wasn't the only one here. The context is dissimilar.
Out at sea, I could vaguely make out a fin piercing the surface. It wasn't travelling exceptionally fast, but that could be different since I was observing it from afar rather than observing it from a close distance. It travelled in a zigzag pattern before closing in on the shore where things went awry. A white colour-haired girl protruded through the water, holding up her head before walking on her feet.
She might scare others with her entrance. But not me. I've known her forever, and she was the furthest thing from it. Because she was just a over nine thousand years old shark girl.
“Eh?! Ame?! What, what, what! What're you doing here?!” Gura screeched, taken aback. She'd nearly stumbled on how she threw her arms around, taking more than a few steps back into the water.
“You're the one that's surprised? I thought you were aiming for me with that entrance,” I said, narrowing my eyes.
She looked down the coastline, scratching the side of her ear.
“Oh, really now? Is that how it looked? Wow, I never knew. Hahaha.”
She was lying, and I didn't even need detective skills to ascertain that information. Her gaze said to all. Her whole body language. You don't even need to understand Goob that she wasn't being Gura.
”So,” I prompted. “Are you trying to scare me or what?”
She eased off the suspicious behaviour before her body seemingly appeared relaxed.
“Well...”
She grabbed the fin off her back and then showed it to me.
“I thought I could have my first victim of the night. You know, frightening them, making them run off like scared puppies. But the chances of meeting you here are dreadfully thin. Were you not surprised?”
I couldn't let her know that I was mildly surprised. The kind of surprise that came after the initial shock. Reflecting on it, she did look scary, but there was no need to tell her that.
“Well, I can't say I was nor can I say I wasn't. I might have felt nothing at all. Where's the impact of your whole shebang?”
“You're lying. You can't fool me.”
As she tried to figure that out, masking my emotions was a lot harder to do when a build-up of one emotion was thrust into my face. I can't let my interrogative side slide.
“It's not important if I was frightened or not. The only thing that matters is that I'd one-up you. That's where the real victory lies.”
“Ouch!”
After faking being brutally stabbed in the chest, she asked me a question.
“You know why I'm here, but what about you, Watson? Contemplating the meaning of life, the universe and everything even when you're well past the age of forty-two? Ow, ow, ow! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I wasn't being serious! Please don't hurt me! I'll never say it again!”
I went for her cheeks and pinched hard. How dare she bring up a woman's age. She may be over nine thousand, but she's busy acting like a child. That couldn't be me, of course. I was way more mature than her in every aspect.
“What did you say? I couldn't hear you over your pleading.”
“I said I'm sorry! That was an honest joke! A little funny-haha joke! Please let go! My cheeks are hurting!”
As I thought about letting her go, I pinched harder to let her know I'd got the message. Communication is key, but finding the keyhole could take a while.
“Alright,” I said, accepting the ceasefire. “Well, for the reason I'm here, you could say I'm doing some deep thinking.”
Gura rubbed her cheeks in a spiral motion. When it seemed like she was paying attention, I said what was on my mind about her previously asked question.
“Thinking? About what?”
“Have you ever had those moments in life that make you wanna take a look at your surroundings? That's how I feel. Like, the opposite of a thousand-yard stare. Not waiting for the inevitable, but appreciating what already happened.”
“Wow, that's… pretty deep.”
Gura’s words matched her expression.
Maybe I was avoiding this feeling because of how aware of it, it'd been. Maybe it's too late to say this because I'm not used to voicing my emotional opinions. I know it sounds lame and redundant—I sure know how cliché it is. But as I continue to learn and experience new things, I've rediscovered unfounded gratitude for all the wonderful things that happened.
Some people might think, “Wow, you've now realized this.” No, silly. I've rediscovered it. Sometimes as humans, we forget what's most important to us until it has been pulled from underneath. And it doesn't happen in one period of our lives, it happens throughout it. Constantly forgetting and finding want matters most important to us, even if they seemed obvious from an outside perspective or in hindsight.
So today, the reason I'm here isn't profound. But rather a simple one. It wasn't anything to write a novel about. I'm sure many have similar iterations of the same story but with different characters and experiences.
The sea is vast. Maybe that's the reason I'm here. Or maybe it was to meet Gura who looked to be in deep thought. She was a lot simpler than most people. She knows what she wants even though someone has to push her in that direction. We're all flawed, but we can overcome being flawed with the right person behind us.
Look who's speaking. You didn't come with anyone.
“You look sad, Watson. Are you okay?” Gura said, appearing before my face. I didn't know when she'd got so close, but it's uncomfortable that I'm realizing this now.
I dressed back and waved my hands across each other.
“No, no, no! I'm fine, see? I have this big smile on my face.”
Gura eyes me for a few seconds, grabs hold of my wrist, and pulls me.
“Gura, what're you doing?”
We were heading towards the water. I couldn't tell the reason for this and knowing how cold the water is, it didn't matter. I tried to convince her otherwise and resisted to no effect. As my ankles submerged in the water, my body shivered.
“Wait, hold up!”
Now at my waist. Moments later, I was fully submerged, and she'd urged me to swim with her. I denied and swam to an off-the-shore boulder. She'd asked me if it was fun, but nothing else came to my mind than how cold the water was. I was drenched, panted forcefully and addressed my sitting posture.
“What was that about?” I questioned.
In the distance, she submerged her head in the water until only her eyes could be seen.
“You seemed sad, so I thought I could make you happy, somehow.”
That's a weird way to make someone happy. But if there's one thing she'd achieved is that it'd woken me up, for sure.
I observed her for a while. Then all of a sudden, she began to blush.
“What?” she asked, unable to make eye contact.
It's rather enduring that she found a way to bring me from my deep thoughts, even though it's a method I would refrain from using myself. Sure—I forgot what mattered at first, but I've met someone that could help me from the dumps. And fortunately, that person was before me.
I relayed this to her.
“Stupid…! You're Stupid, Ame!”
She sank into the water—and from there, the water moved in a way as if announcing her departure.
That was the final time I saw her at the beach. And since then, she has been clinging to my side ever since. Going forward from that day on, I can't remember a time when I was feeling emotionally unwell. It seems as if I will never forget this feeling.