Anchor's Lifted

Anchor's Lifted Final Part

Aruna lingered against the railing of the Boardwalk. The ice cream stand had a line of people waiting for their cones and Aruna thought about how cold it was outside. Charity's bar shack was next to the ice cream. Aruna hadn't realized she was going to see Charity.

"I saw your mom earlier, I was on my way to see you but I figured I'd check in later." Charity closed up the bar shack after spotting Aruna.

"Yeah, she's here to check on me too." There was a lowness in Aruna's voice.

"I know I've asked you this all week but how are you?"

"You have asked me that all week."

"You were shaken up, understandably, we just want to be sure you're good."

"You said that too."

"Ru." Charity reached for Aruna's shoulder which was shrugged off. "You don't have to be good."

"Whatever happened with Nolan and traveling." Not buying that Aruna was in good shape, Charity still allowed her to change the subject.

"The whole john-doe thing freaked him out a bit since we found the body. He said he wants to travel with me. He's not sure about the whole idea of moving but it's a start. He said he'd try because he wasn't going to miss out on marrying me." Charity giggled as she played back his words. Aruna's silence against the boardwalk rails was eerie.

"How's our view?" Charity's favorite question had lost its sentiment.

Aruna tried to focus on the ocean's portrait of the sky. It didn't feel the way it should have. She wasn't in the right spot. There was no more right spot.

"I got you Ru, I'm here if you need."

"You won't be soon."

"Aru-"

"It's not that. I won't do that. I love that you want to go."

"What is it then?" Charity moved closer to Aruna. The man left his eyes behind, left them on her. Aruna didn't know how to describe it. He changed the serenity of the town.

"How's our view?" Charity nudged again.

"How is it for you?" Aruna hadn't thought about how that night went for Charity.

"It freaked me out too, but I didn't see much apart from the frame of his body. I was more worried by your reaction."

"Sorry-"

"Nope. I won't allow you to be sorry for something beyond your control." Sitting over the side of the boardwalk Charity let her feet dangle next to Aruna's. The air was honest and sweet. Reminding Charity of what she had been blessed with.

"You remember when you told me about the great charity divide?" Charity placed her phone in her pocket.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I didn't understand what you meant when you said that you couldn't find where you had placed yourself. I get that now." Charity had confided in Aruna about the way her uncle had moved snakelike around her and commented on her life with hushed tones and double meanings.

Charity had spent the summer of her eighth grade year picking up subtle cues and noticing the wandering eyes that belonged to the man who she'd grown to realize was interested in his niece for his twisted pleasures. Charity had become weary and anxious of her surroundings which didn't allow for her to be herself. Instead, for the few weeks her parents went out of the country, she forced herself to figure it out on her own. When she returned to the cove, she couldn't take the armor off and had forgotten to bring back the unguarded self she had left behind.

"How'd you get there again?" Aruna's question had muffled the sound of the waves. The word "again" had offered them both a life they had surpassed, Charity had learned to let that past be where it was, Aruna still reached for it.

"I never did get little Charity back." Slipping her hand out of Aruna's, Charity kissed the side of Aruna's temple and draped her arm around her friend. "I eventually found a new me to focus on. Discovered what I really wanted out of life here at the cove."

Aruna had a second glimpse past the man's eyes at the orange hued horizon. The fading laugh of her mom and dad echoed slightly lower than the sound of waves. The memory in the wind from the week before had been unveiled. There was her family, the three of them making dinner with each other. She had been missing that part of the cove. The part that gave her a reason to turn away from the view and have other things and people to admire.

Aruna hoped her mom was still home and that her dad was on a plane. She hoped that they could shield her from the man's gaze and cast it away. Charity would leave with Nolan in tow and Aruna would be alone with the man again. The man was covering the view, taunting her dream, and tainting the pieces of Aruna that kept her grounded. She couldn't let him snuff out the light that she hadn't fully grasped just yet.

"Will you come back after you travel?" Aruna had broken the silence with her neediness.

"I'm not sure yet. It's a possibility." Charity placed her chin on Aruna's shoulder and sighed. Aruna appreciated that the man couldn't set his eyes on Charity, she was already living.

"Just don't stay away too long. I'm still gonna be here."

"It wouldn't be our view if you weren't. I couldn't miss out on that forever." Charity giggled at the cheesiness and Aruna followed suit. They were okay, getting better.

The eyes were glaring. She would find something to cling to, in this place, where she made her home, where she planned to spend the rest of her life. She would find what she had set out to do before she stopped to stare at the blue and green swirls of freshness. As the eyes clouded the frame again, dimming everything a few shades darker, quickening her heartbeat, and making her afraid, Aruna took a deep breath. The dead man watched her exist, Aruna would change that.

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Thank you for reading. I hope you've enjoyed this.