This is a summertime flash fiction piece. When the cool night air hits slightly over -sunned skin and you seek cover, there’s a melancholy that sets in after a beautiful day spent frolicking in the sea and rolling on the sand.  Even a perfect sunset heralds an end.

Wriggling my toes, I watched the sand trickle out like those in an hourglass. The goosebumps on my arms stood like mountain peaks as I dug my feet deeper back into the fading warmth of the beach. Blue had changed to pink and the laughing had changed to shouting. I dare not go up those stairs. Waiting patiently for it to end, I waited silently- not moving lest I alert them to my presence.

Megan and Holly had gone home and I’d already collected my sea treasurers for the day. I cradled the long spire between my hands. The pink deep inside echoing the evening sky and the edge ruffled like the skirt of a ballerina. Putting it to my ear, I let the sea drowned out the screaming.

Mr. Jenson stepped out onto his deck just down the beach. I knew he could hear, I tried to smile and wave as he looked over. The steaks he threw on the grill sizzled, he smiled and waved back. He ducked back inside and I ran around the corner, as I watched the whole family poured out- smiling and laughing. Settling around the picnic table they chatted. I saw him look over to our deck again with a smile, but saw it drop when he noted I was gone. I could see them through the lattice, but I knew they couldn’t see me. I listened as they settled down; closing my eyes I could almost imagine being there. The clinking of silverware on the plates and murmuring broken by the occasional squeal, then finally the scrapping of wood on wood and the clattering of plates being stacked.

At last I opened my eyes, the sky now dark and the evening quiet at last. I stood up and dusted the clinging sand from me. Treading softly, I climbed the steps.