Waterside Views
Al looked out onto the lake. It was almost unreal how beautiful it was, sparkling in the afternoon Spring sun. A lone island, with a single tree, sat in the middle of the water. The mountain lake was the perfect place to be alone, listening to the birds chirp to each other and the pines sway in the wind. She wanted to practice her bass during some of her down time. She had been farming for just over two weeks, and she felt the need for a change in scenery, so she brought her bass and portable amp up to the mountains. Luckily, neither weighed that much.
She began with tuning, then with warm-up exercises. It had been a while since she had had time to practice, but it wasn’t long before muscle memory began to take over. As she got more comfortable with playing, she switched over to playing some of the songs she knew. “My Boy” by Billie Eilish, “Aries” by Gorillaz, “You’re Lost Little Girl” by The Doors. She was glad that she was able to able to sing along, otherwise playing songs on her own could become lonesome.
About a half hour into practicing, Abigail appeared from behind a tree.
“Woah, I didn’t know you were a musician, Al.”
“Oh! Hi! I don’t know if I’d go as far as to say that I’m a musician per se. I just play bass every now and then when I have some time,” Al replied, startled by Abigail’s sudden appearance. Abigail, however, acted as if she were expected all along, and sat down beside Al.
“Well, have you ever thought about being in a band?”
“The thought has crossed my mind a few times, I’ll admit, but for that I’d have to actually know enough people who play other instruments to form a band.”
“Lucky for you, then, that I just happen to know three such people in Pelican Town—you should join our band! Sam’s been dying to add another member to the group,” Abigail gushed, her excitement being too much to maintain an air of mystery.
“Wait, you, Sam, and who are in a band?”
“The third member is Sebastian, of course. Who else?”
“Oh, Sebastian, right.”
“He’s not so bad. You’ll see, once you get used to each other. Would it help if I drew a smile on his face with marker?”
Al laughed at the image of Sebastian with a shitty marker smile. “No, please don’t do that; I think I would have nightmares afterwards,” the two laughed together for a moment before Al continued, “Jokes aside, though, I think you should ask the rest of the band before you offer me a spot. I don’t want anyone resenting me.”
‘Anyone’ being Sebastian.
Abigail bit her lip. “I guess you do have a point. I’ve got a good feeling about this, though. Expect to hear back from me Sunday—that's when we have our next band practice. Here, give me your phone number.” As she said the last sentence, she held out a pen and her other arm. Al wrote her number on Abigail’s arm as neatly as she could.
“If you manage to lose my number, I’ll be very concerned about your physical state.”
“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on losing my arm until I’m an accomplished adventurer, with thrilling tales to tell future generations while I grieve my loss.”
“Gotta have priorities. Speaking of which, I should be getting back to farm work; the crops aren’t going to water themselves. I should really get some sprinklers.”
“Yoba, you’re watering all of them by hand? No wonder you’re so busy.”
“No kidding,” Al stood up and strapped her bass to her back, “I’ll see you around! Make sure to text me so I know you got my number right.”
--
Sebastian looked out onto the ocean. It was almost unreal, how endless it seemed, extending outwards past the horizon. It was pouring rain, making the ocean as messy and murky as his mood. He enjoyed being out in the rain, though, since it made everyone disappear, even on a Saturday. This was exactly why he had bought himself a good raincoat—an all-black raincoat, of course. He wouldn’t be caught dead in one of those yellow ones; no one can brood in a yellow raincoat, and he was in a particularly broody mood after lunch that day. It had been fine, until the family small talk turned towards the subject of Maru’s academic career. Maru was his little sister; more specifically, she was his half-sister. Demetrius, her father, had been married to his mom nineteen years, yet he never seemed to approve of Sebastian. He had taken the subject of Maru’s college plans as an opportunity to nag Sebastian about not having a degree. Degrees weren’t very important in Sebastian’s career field, so he had left school after getting the certifications he needed. Demetrius still didn’t think Sebastian had done enough in school. They had had this conversation before, and the topic always resulted in a fight.
Between the rain and the ocean, Sebastian couldn’t hear a thing around him, so it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t hear the footsteps of someone walking up to him. What was surprising, however, was that there was anyone walking up to him at all. Who else was crazy enough to be on the beach in the middle of a rainstorm?
“You doing alright?” Al asked, coming up beside him. It took all of Sebastian’s willpower not to jump at her sudden appearance. He glared at her, instead. Why did she keep appearing when he least expected it? How could he ever start being a normal person around her when she always shows up out of nowhere? It didn't help that he was definitely not in the mood to talk to anyone at the moment, let alone someone he barely knew. All she thought of him was that he was an asshole; how could he open up to her about his family troubles?
“The ocean is best enjoyed alone... don’t you think?”
Maybe I am an asshole.