Tides---Chapter One, The Wind

Tides
Chapter One---The Wind

He chuckled as she ran ahead, her figure blurred momentarily by the
thick ocean spray. He heard her calling him on and smiled. Every day
he marveled at the way his name rolled off of her tongue. Smooth—like
the waves out past the whitewater.

"Daniel!"
She tossed the word out into the wind for him to catch. He
accelerated and dug his toes into the sand. As he propelled himself
forward through the early morning fog, he felt the moisture in the
air cling to his bare chest. The wind wove itself through his hair as
he ran.

She stopped and turned to make sure Daniel was behind her. He continued
toward the girl: twenty feet, ten, five, and he leaped. Unsure where
this sudden burst of inhuman strength came from, he decided to pull a
little trick. Still in the air, he lifted her by the forearms to
carry them both forward. A smirk came as he heard her suck in air,
surprised. Daniel twisted, switching their positions. He held her
close to his chest as he hit the sand. A bit harder than expected,
but he showed no sign. He had cushioned her fall, and now she was
curled around his torso as if latched on permanently.

Daniel laughed openly, not something that came of him often. He poked her
unmoving body, and she muttered something that sounded like it
contained more than one form of profanity. She slowly sat up, and he
wondered what she would do. Straddling his stomach, she brought her
arms above her head in a stretch that looked majestic from Daniel's
vantage point. How could he resist?

"Don't you dare," she whispered as he brought his hand up toward her
side. She burst into a fit of laughter as it connected, and tumbled
off him in an effort to escape. He simply flipped over and trapped
her beneath him. He began to tickle. His spirit soared when she
laughed. It was just like how the books described when they touched;
A spark of electricity stayed with him for the rest of the day.
Daniel knew something was going to happen soon, though. This was too
perfect—getting to spend his days like this, making her smile.

He felt the water as it licked at his knuckles, and brought himself back
to the beach. He looked down into her chocolate brown eyes. They were
concerned. He had done it again, zoned out and stopped responding.
She knew, but it worried her, because neither of them knew why.

"High tide is coming. Let's head in…” he murmured. He pressed
a soft kiss onto her forehead before helping her up. She hugged him
tightly before they linked hands and began to walk up the beach.

Daniel halted their progression with a gentle tug on the girl's hand. She
turned, meeting his gaze in puzzlement before she registered the
spectacular array of colors that framed his body. The sunlight made
him positively glow, almost giving her the impression that he was
levitating. She looked past him, at the orange and purple hues that
painted the ocean. The horizon supported the sun, holding it up so
that it could paint the entire world.

Daniel's eyes had never left her face. He knew when these sunrises came. He
knew the very second when they were the most beautiful. They
coordinated with the tides, and if there was one thing Daniel knew
everything about, it was those tides. He never knew how he gained
that knowledge...it was just something he had always had, like the
ability to blink or feel. So he had never questioned it.

"I love it," she said.

He pulled her into a hug.

"You haven't said much today," she remarked, the sound muffled by his
shoulder.

"Do I ever say much?"

"No, but...you know what I mean."

"I have absolutely no idea what in this world you could be speaking of,
young lady," he mumbled into her hair, before sweeping her off
her feet and continuing up the beach with her held bridal style in
his arms. She was so light sometimes that it felt as if she wasn't
there at all; it was those moments that scared Daniel most, when she
wasn't completely there because no amount of brute strength could
save a ghost. Unfortunately, that was all he had. Strength and the
tides, and some apparent measure of compassion that the girl kept
commenting on. He had no idea where that came from either. For the
second time that day, he looked down to see those brown eyes looking
up at him in clouded confusion. He muttered an apology and something
about needing coffee, before once again kissing her forehead and
continuing on.

"We need to get you home. Fast route?" she inquired. He smiled, and
picked up his pace as they crossed from sand to pine needles. They
ran faster and faster, until the horizon was obscured by the ever
present palm fronds.