(in progress)

Chapter 2. Tides.

The day was almost perfect, Charlie only wished that there were a few more fluffy clouds to dot the sky. When the sky was nothing but blue--like today--it was almost as if the sky and the ocean weren’t split, and that the world was surrounded by water both calmly above and roughly around the sides and below. The ocean air was strong and damp like usual, the sun was strong and bright like usual, but the sea was quieter than usual. Charlie--now nearing the beach--wondered if the low tide had already come an gone.

She wasn’t complaining though, she liked days when the sea was calm, because it was easier to make her way towards the tide pools where small crabs and sea critters hid right at the edge of the beach.

Charlie made her way further down the cliffs, enjoying the softer sound of waves against the sand and the increasingly cool wind coming off the waves. She enjoyed the tug on her clothes, and held her hands out beside her. Eventually the grass thinned out and Charlie felt more small stones prick at the sole’s of her feet, small, dry patches of earth every few steps sent small dust clouds up around her. This--of course--eventually became sand, and the land evened out into the beach which tipped down into the ocean.

Charlie's sea-colored eyes had started drifting lazily over the small expanse of sand, noting the calm and smooth shape, when they rested on what appeared to be some driftwood. It stuck out like a sore thumb, even though it was very flattened in shape and sunken into the sand. Curiosity prickled inside her chest, nudging her in the direction of the strange driftwood. Her body leaned foreword a little in anticipation of walking towards it, but she held herself back, and only rolled onto the balls of her feet.

Charlie’s eyes scanned the beach once more, to see if there was anything else out of the ordinary. There was nothing.

She shrugged, and was about to make her way towards the tide pools when the sea gave the driftwood a push. instead of moving with the usual stiffness Charlie had come to expect from the trunks of trees on the shore, it gave a rather limp and rag-doll like roll foreword. Charlie was shocked for just a moment, aware that the odd thing must be some sort of poor dead animal or a large clump of kelp.

Curiosity got the best of her, and she walked closer to the mysterious shape. The closer she got, the less like driftwood it looked, and eventually She wondered how she had mistaken it for driftwood in the first place.

When she eventually stood less than five feet from the shape, she could make out the smooth and shiny surface of the shape, shining cherry red against the sun. An inch or so closer and Charlie gasped, recognizing the figure for what it was, a Boy tangled in the kelp.

She hurried the last few feet, coming up beside the boy lying in the sand. So-to-speak his face was buried in the sand, turned away from her and slightly sideways with his dark hair flying about in the breeze. She could see that the ends had turned slightly blonde from the sun and salt. His back was scorching red, as were the backs of his arms--also half buried in the sand--hands, legs and.. Oh god, thought Charlie. The boy wasn’t wearing clothes, and now that she checked, he was also older than she had first guessed. He probably stood about 6 feet tall, was probably 16 and had the build of a swimmer.

I’d flip him over if it weren’t for that.. thought Charlie. Rocking back and forth as she crouched, biting her lip nervously, she eventually came to a conclusion and ran back up to the lighthouse.

When She reached the door, She left it ajar--despite the groaning protests of the brass hinges--and ran up the stairs to the kitchen/laundry area. There was a small shelf overhead the laundry machines where She kept some beach towels. Hastily, she grabbed the nearest and retrieved her flip-phone from the charger by the counter, then ran back down the stairs and out the door, back towards the beach.