Rewind The Memories

Chapter 15

"Um, white ones." I replied, I heard Hayllie sigh loudly,

"You're no help, how 'bout a purple bikini? Or do you want a yellow and pink tank suit?"

"Pink and yellow!" I shouted, there was no way I was going to wear a bikini. I'm not fat or anything, I love my body, but bikini's on a public beach with really little kids and sometimes old, creepy perverts just didn't sit well with me. Hayllie walked out of her closet, carrying the pink and yellow suit along with a blue and purple tank suit. Almost as if she read my mind, she changed hers. I walked into the bathroom to change; I folded my clothes into a neat pile and walked back out into the room. Hayllie was looking for towels and satchels.

Eventually, she found what she was looking for, and we walked into Eli's room. He was lying on his bed reading a comic book. Eli looked up as soon as we walked in, and flashed a grin at us.

"Are you going to the beach? Can I come, Hayllie, please? Mom won't let me go by myself, and I really wanna go!" he asked, kneeling on his bed, gazing up at us. Hayllie smiled at her little brother,

"Uh, of course you can come. That's kind of why we came in her, so get your suit and meet us downstairs in five, kay." she winked at her little brother, and then Hayllie and I walked down the stairs. We walked into the kitchen and grabbed a cookie each, and then grabbed two for Eli. Hayllie led me out onto the porch, where we sat on the railing, staring out at the water.

It was a beautiful, picture perfect day in California. The high was about ninety-five degrees with the sun at its highest; a soft breeze blew the leaves of the palm trees. The sun was bright and brilliant; there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I gazed out at the beach and saw several people walking from the Board Walk towards the water. Little kids were racing each other across the sand, some were building sand castles, far enough up the beach so that the waves wouldn't destroy them in the next few minutes.

Eli walked out of the house carrying a towel, and we all walked down to the beach. The sand seeped through my toes; Eli took off running towards the water, dropping his towel on the sand. Hayllie bent over and picked it up and brushed the sand off. I watched Eli run into the water and dive beneath the surface. For a six year old, he's a better swimmer than I am.

Hayllie and I spread out our towels in the sand, lying Eli's between ours. I put up one of those beach umbrellas, and we lay on our stomachs and watched the water. I untied my suit, and let the strings rest on the ground as I tanned, getting rid of the possibility of tan-lines. Hayllie had sunglasses on, and her nose buried in a new book. I didn't see the title of it, but she seemed to be enjoying it, regardless. I closed my eyes, resting my head on my wrists.

About fifteen minutes later, Eli came running up onto the beach, completely soaked and grinning from ear to ear. I squinted up at him; he smiled at me as he collapsed onto his towel, breathing heavily from running.

"The water's amazing! You two should come and swim with me." he said, laying back and eating one of the giant cookies that we had brought. I glanced at Hayllie, who was lying on her back, sunglasses perched on her face, she looked like she was sleeping. I looked back at Eli,

"I think your sister is asleep. But I'll come swimming with you, if you want." I offered, he grinned.

"Sure, you're practically my sister!" Eli jumped up; I tied my strings again, and took off after him. For a six year old, Eli's the best.

We both dove into the water, almost simultaneously, I surfaced before he did. The water was only up to my waist. I crouched in the shallow water as Eli jumped onto my back and I waded out further. When the water reached my shoulders I stopped walking and Eli jumped off of me into the water, swimming to the bottom of the ocean. I saw him pick something up off the bottom, then start swimming back towards the surface where I was. When his head finally broke the waters glimmering surface, he placed something in my hands. A soft blue hermit shell with specks of green and yellow on it, empty of course. It was beautiful,