as the engine was cut, words were not spoken, or seemingly necessary in the front seat of the rusted combi. The silence between sam and emma was not awkward, nor avoided, but embraced. they passed between then bottle of iced tea between them, enjoying sweet, cool sips. when the hollow sound reminded them that they had emptied the bottle, sam turned to look at emma.
his brown eyes contrasted with emma’s blue ones quite nicely, although she always argues that they were hazel. when their eyes met, they didn’t need to talk to know what happened next. a smile played on both of their lips as the sound of the combi doors being slammed rang through the crisp morning air.
the water below the cliff was calm. calmer than she’d seen it in a couple of months. the type of calm that could be upset if the wind shifted slightly, or if a pebble splashed through the surface. the surf would still be alright just round the bend, where they had dropped their gear beforehand. trackies and jumpers were quickly exchanged for wetties and goggles, although getting changed in the dim morning light was quite a struggle.
emma stood at the tip of the cliff, eyes glazed with a passion for the water below. suddenly sam’s arms snaked around her waist, jolting her. emma giggled, regained her balance and flipped sam off, before gracefully spinning and diving off the cliff face.
wind whipped her face and her hair and stung her eyes, but these were all difficulties she had faced before, and were hardly noticeable over the rush of adrenalin. she recoiled into an upright position, feet first to break the fall, and splashed down into the sea of glass.
the water was always chilly, as it tends to be at five in the morning, but this morning it was colder than emma expected. she kicked out with her feet and enjoyed the momentum propel her through the ocean. blue felt as if it was pumping through her veins. her mum always used to joke she was meant to be a fish, but god had made a mistake and gave her a human’s body instead. sometimes she felt that way too. the ocean was her sanctuary, a place she could go where everywhere else she went turned her down. unlike her messy life, the ocean was always constant, always there. emma kicked more, but this time towards the surface.
as she resurfaced she was greeted by a grinning sam who had done a very elegant head-first-belly-flop into the sea.
she smiled and he smiled and they were both happy. as happy as the rising sun, which was getting to see the new day for the first time ever. drowning in each other’s eyes, they were happy.
emma followed sam’s lead and began to paddle swiftly through the bay and around the rocky coastline, around to their little cove. the cove where the tide was small and the waves were big, and the rising sun looked picture perfect whatever the weather. their cove. memory cove.
the light was still dim as footprints were embedded upon the sand at memory cove. the two were earlier than usual, which was good, it gave them more time to savour.
“emma.” said sam.
“sam.”said emma.
these were the first words they had properly spoken to each other this light, although there hardly was any light yet to get by.
