Young Writers Society

James shrugged a little and looked over to Evaline with a small smile. It came so easily, and so naturally, even if it wasn't genuine.

"It's normal to me, you know," he said casually. "Going from place to place. Never staying anywhere too long. I don't think I'd be able to settle down even if I did reach Lettera."

"Right," Evaline said.

She wanted to say that she didn't think James would ever settle down, but she vaguely felt like he once told her that he did want to settle down somewhere in Lettera. He probably changed his mind, and likely was unable to do so anyways.

"Not be choice, though," she added on. "That's also by necessity. Right?"

"Both."

Evaline silently sighed. She wasn't sure what else to ask, so she decided to change the subject.

"Well, speaking of new places," she said after a pause. "I'm thinking we'll get to Terra the day after tomorrow if we keep up the pace. We're not too far now."

To Terra and the place she wanted to take him. She squinted ahead of her, seeing the hill of sand in the distance.

Two days. James had been trying to avoid thinking about the impending goodbye, but now that she'd brought it to mind, the familiar sense of dread came bubbling back to the surface. He only nodded in reply.

He noticed how she looked ahead, but he couldn't quite make out where she was leading him to.

"Where are we going right now?" he asked, then paused.

"Or is it a surprise?"

"I could tell you," Evaline said slowly as she continued to walk forward. "Or I could show you instead."

In other words, sure, it was a surprise.

James huffed through his nose.

"I guess I'll just have to wait and see, then."

"I guess so," Evaline said with a hint of a smile as she glanced back at James and Elliot again. She decided to let the silence sit between them again, especially since they weren't too far from where she wanted to take him.

The wind picked up a bit, and strands of her hair flew to face. The light lit the path in front of her, and the prairie grass was thinning away, turning into sand again. The change was rather drastic, but a lot of the scenery on the coast was.

Finally, they reached a tall hill of sand. It was somewhat steep, but with enough care, Elliot could climb up too. Evaline began to dig a small hole to place the oil lantern in so it wouldn't get blown by the wind.

"It's just over this hill," she said as she recited the lantern. "C'mon."

With a small smile, she beckoned for James to follow as she started to walk up the hill, almost clumsily since sand kept pushing her back, and it was hard to see in the dark.

As the ground shifted to sand, James changed his pace, moving a little slower as the hill of sand grew steeper. Elliot followed behind quietly, without complaint, and James followed Evaline, without a word.

When they reached the top of the hill, he saw what it was she'd wanted to show him. He'd mentioned glowing mushrooms, and dotting the lines of the shore, in the water, and where the waters met the sand was bright blue glowing algae. It almost looked like a painting the way it danced across the shoreline, and it looked more vibrant in some spots than others.

He picked up the pace a little bit to get closer, and to keep up with Evaline. The sandy hills continued to roll down what looked like a long beach. Going on, and on.

Evaline walked down the hill but mostly ended up sliding down. It was a short drop, because the sand kept rolling down in elevation until it met the ocean.

"It's not glowing mushrooms, but bioluminescent algae might be the next closest thing," she said with a louder voice behind her for James to hear. The wind was stronger now, howling in her ears. The sound of the lapping low tide ocean melted behind the noise.

James paused at the top of the hill, and then carefully started to skid down it. He loosed and lengthened Elliot's lead, letting Elliot take a slower, more cautious pace - at least, until Elliot seemed to surrender to the pull of gravity just as Evaline had, and he started to slide down. James, of course, followed after. They finally came to a stop at the water's edge, a few feet from Evaline. When he finally stood still and steady, he looked out over the water, able to take in the sight with more clarity.

The wind drowned out the sounds of the ocean, and he'd barely caught Evaline's voice on the way down, but watching the push and pull of the ocean's waves was calming. He could see how the wind rolled over the surface, causing ripples in the directions it turned. The bioluminescent algae would seem to tremble and shift with the wind and the waves, but it wasn't a chaotic movement. It would push and pull with the water. Forward and back again, like it was swaying.

Something about the bright blue glow of the waters felt so familiar and yet so foreign.

Spotty memories tried to piece themselves together.

The purple hue of the jungle at night. How the silence fell as all signs of life holed away when the beast started to prowl.

The swell of the ocean waves, swallowing him up and pulling him under.

He inched a step back from the water, just escaping the foamy edge before it licked his boot.

If he divorced the sight from the memories that called to him, he could appreciate it for what it was: a beautiful sight in nature, and not one that was particularly common. It meant more that it was Evaline who brought him there. He knew she only meant to show him something he might appreciate. There was no way she knew what had happened after...

He took in a deep breath, waiting for a pause in the wind to speak so that his voice wasn't stolen away from him. He didn't want to yell.

"It's beautiful. Thank you for bringing me here," he said.

Evaline was staring out at the glowing ocean in front of them, but then turned to look at James when he spoke up next to her. With the blue hue light from the algae, the sliver of the glowing moon above them, and the galaxy of stars shining down on them, she could make out his face. He seemed sincere.

"I'm glad you like it," she said as she returned her gaze in front of her.

She took a moment to take the view in again, noting to herself that it has been a while since she took this path and saw the glowing algae. She took a few steps back and decided to sit down on a dry patch of sand to untie her boots and roll up her pants so she could get closer.

"This is the last month the algae will glow before it returns next spring," she explained. "I don't usually go out of my way to see it anymore, but it's nice to return with someone who hasn't seen it at all."

James nodded, watching as she slid off her shoes. He wasn't going to get in the water, but he could appreciate it from where he stood.

"How often did you come here before?"

"Not often," Evaline said as she slipped out her boots and socks. "It's been a couple months. But there was a time when I would come here everyday for a week."

She sat up after rolling up her pant legs and took some steps forward so she was a few feet away from James. The frigid cold water lapped up her toes, but she wasn't bothered by the temperature. Sometimes, she preferred it. It often interrupted her thoughts and made her feel more awake.

James stayed at the edge of the water, watching Evaline inch her way in. She didn’t seem to shy away from answering. He hoped he wasn’t stepping on any toes, but he was relieved to have the conversation finally steer away from himself.

That, and he did genuinely want to know... what Evaline had been up to all of this time. If she wanted to share...

But he wasn’t going to dig any deeper than he would’ve wanted her to, if she was asking him questions.

“Did you live out here at one point?”