Like Stars

iii. the sea monster

When the darkness of the night overtook the other colors, and stars began to poke through the sky more prominently, the two decided to return to their campsite. While turning to help her friend to her feet, the blonde girl gasped and pointed toward a dark blob that stood out against the light sand at the edge of the rock pile. The blob was no bigger than a toddler's fisted hand, and it moved lethargically along the shore, but it still garnered a frightened response from the taller of the girls.

"What's that?" she exclaimed, watching the creature with rapt interest and growing fear. Her grip on her friend tightened as the creature moved toward them at a sluggish pace, its many legs carrying its small body closer to the girls inch by inch.

The brunette only spared a glance at the thing. "It's just a crab," she said with a huff, beginning to stand from her perch at the edge of the rock. "Come on, let's get down. My feet are all dirty now."

"What if it bites us?" the blonde whispered, still tense in the presence of the crustacean beneath them. The crab seemed in no hurry to attack. But perhaps that was its brand of trickery.

Her friend huffed again in response. To ease the other girl's growing fear, the brunette proclaimed confidently, "Crabs can't bite people, so it won't hurt us."

"Are you sure?" the blonde whispered, as if the crab would hear her and come to shut her up.

"Yes, Emily, I'm sure," the brunette stressed, not entirely sure about the validity of her statement but sure that she was ready to get back to the campsite where their families would surely be waiting, ready to chastise them for taking so long on their most recent adventure. She wanted to get the scolding over with already and could already envision her bed getting closer with every step she took.

"Okay," Emily said softly. Again, the brunette offered her a hand to assist her as they travelled down the rock, and again she accepted. "Sarah," she said hesitantly, her dark eyes pleading silently with her friend to understand as she gripped her hand tightly. The brown of her eyes could no longer be seen in the fading of the day, and the darkness allowed for the tiny dots of light in the sky to reflect in her irises. Those eyes shone in the darkness, Sarah thought absently, like they were full of the glittering stars that beamed from above their heads. Were the stars still there? she wondered. In that blissful moment, Sarah didn't care enough to check.

After a tense moment spent with blue eyes carefully watching her, Emily heard Sarah sigh before removing her flip-flops. Emily watched her friend with confusion as she held the yellow things out in front of her.

"Here," Sarah said, handing the flimsy footwear to her friend without looking her in the eye, focusing instead on the stretch of sky and beach ahead of them. After a glance back at her friend showed that she still didn't understand, Sarah rolled her eyes before explaining further. "You can wear these. Now it won't bite you," she reasoned. Though the logic was greatly flawed, it seemed to ease Emily's mind to have some protection from the dreadful creature crawling below them.

"But your feet will get dirty," mumbled Emily. But even as she was speaking she was slipping her feet into the straps of the flip-flops anyway. Sarah shrugged before brushing her hair behind her ear, looking out at the waves crashing lazily against the shore a few feet away from them in an effort to keep her face from Emily's wondering eyes.

"They're already dirty. Let's go back now," Sarah spoke again, her words rushed as she led the way back down the incline.