• The cool waves flow gently over and under my feet, erasing the traces of my passage, even as I make them. The moonlight glints off the sand, casting it in stark relief, every rock and shell as sharp as a knife and twice as bright. The night is still young; the moon not yet at its peak, and the lights of town glow in an orange haze just over the nearby bluffs. I climb up the beach, sand brushing lightly against my feet and legs. Reaching my favorite spot, a rock, with just enough of a hole to give a comfortable seat, with a spectacular view of the bay, I sit gingerly down, wary of any denizens of the deep that might have been washed up this far. A sigh floats from my mouth, low and quiet, as I gaze at the moon-kissed waves. A lone sailboat glides across the blue, its bright sails fluttering slightly in the cool sea breeze. I let my gaze and mind wander, the thoughts coming and going in a lazy stream, none of them staying long enough to know what they are. I come to my senses as a seagull noisily scolds me for straying to close to its territory, and notice my gaze is locked on another person below on the beach. I lean forward and offhandedly note the passerby is a girl, her long black hair swaying in the wind. I look on a moment more and watch as she jumps into the water, spray splashing over her. Suddenly she disappears, her head vanishing beneath the waves, popping up ten or twenty feet from shore. Her head turns towards me and a hand pops up from under the surface, waving me over. My feet move without any conscious will, dropping down from the rock and dragging me down to the edge and beyond. I don’t even notice I’ve moved until I hear her voice.
    “Hi, who are you?” she asks, her face flushed with the cold. I hear myself tell her my name, her head nodding. “I’m Kaylynn. Nice to meet you,” she replies, dunking under once more, coming up behind me, laughing. We continue like this for an hour, splashing about like two children. The moon grew high, its ghostly glow enveloping us in our revelry. She looks to the sky, her face clouding. “I’m sorry, I had a great time here tonight, but I have to go.” She wades out of the sea, slipping into her shoes and turning back. “Bye!” she cries. I wave back and start to get out of the water, shouting to get her attention. She simply waved behind her back. I run to catch up, grabbing her by the shoulder. She turns around with a perplexed “What?” I open my mouth to try to say something, but the words won’t come. I release her shoulder, and she shrugs and runs off, disappearing over the nearest dune. I sigh to myself again and kick the sand, a drop of salt water falling off my chin, though my body is dry. As the moon sinks low in the sky, I gaze up at the sky, the stars reflecting off of my eyes, my mind still on the girl and what could have been.