Strawberry Island (girlxgirl)

The Sandman

The birds were chirping as they gazed out from their spot on the tall pine trees that lined Tanglewood. The girls were lounging by the shore while the younger kids played in the water, soaking up the sun as much as they could before lunch. 

Three towels laid flat out in the warm sand, a bikini body resting on each one. Evangeline was coated from head to toe in sunscreen, she burned easily so this was a constant precaution. "Is it blended in well?" Evangeline quizzed. "Sure" Florence mumbled to her cousin, preoccupied with her unfinished 4x4 painting of the green murky waves that crashed onto shore. 

"Evangeline, do you want to take a walk?" Clara rose to her feet, tossing her book onto her towel. "No thanks, my feet still ache from standing all day yesterday at The Scoop." Evangeline leaned back and pushed her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose, rejecting the offer. "What about you, Picasso?" Clara adjusted her attention to Florence, who responded with a shake of her head, entranced by her artwork. "Big surprise there." Clara raised her eyebrows, slipping off her worn-down Birkenstocks and making her way to the shoreline. 

"What's that supposed to be?" Jasper asked Clara who was patting down wet sand into a ball. "I call it a 'Sandman', you know like a snowman but instead it's made out of sand." She explained with a warm smile, squinting up at the boy while the beams of sun glared down at her. "How come I never thought of that." Jasper frowned slightly, shaking his head out of disappointment. "Maybe it's because you're too busy theorizing all the significant things in life." She assured, "I suppose you're right. I can still offer my help though." Jasper dropped to his knees and began following her lead of clumping together wet sand. Florence couldn't help but let her gaze wander, she watched as her little cousin erupted in laughter at all of Clara's jokes while they played in the sand. She analyzed the blonde's face whenever she cracked a smile, it was mesmerizing yet intoxicating, Florence couldn't keep her eyes off her. "What made you invite Clara?" Florence adverted her eyes quickly, she set down her paintbrush and turned to Evangeline, asking the hundred dollar question. "She's my friend, Florence." Evangeline's strawberry blonde hair glistened under the sun, and she seemed to be the furthest from wanting to answer Florence's question in any further detail.

"Did you invite her out of pity?" Florence pressed with furrowed eyebrows. "No I di- you can ask her yourself you know." Evangeline let out an exasperated sigh and began reapplying sunblock. Florence rolled her eyes defeated and laid on her stomach, resting her head on her arms. 

Clara turned her head at Florence then back at Jasper, "Who's your favorite cousin to hangout with?" She asked while finishing the final touches on the sandman. "I don't have a favorite- but I suppose Florence always listens to my ramblings about science but-but I prefer to talk about dinosaurs with Nunzio. Then again, Evangeline always bakes me the best oatmeal craisin cookies, but Emelia shows me funny videos on her phone. Sometimes Elizabeth is fun to play with but she's too girly. Its too hard to choose." Jasper shrugged and brushed off the sand from his pale legs, standing up to admire the sandman. Clara nodded, glancing at Nunzio who was chasing Elizabeth with a dead fish; Clara observed as Emelia put in her earbuds in an attempt to tune out her little sister's obnoxious shrieking. Clara turned her head to the two girls laying on the beach towels, Evangeline was scribbling in her journal filled with desert recipes while Florence was resting her eyes. 

Clara returned her attention to Jasper, noticing that the boy's blonde hair made his eyebrows nearly invisible. "What are your cousins like?" He asked as he wrote his name in the golden sand with a stick. "I'm not sure, I only have three and they're all a lot older than me; they have their own families so we never get together on holidays." Clara sighed while sprinkling a handful of sand upon her exposed legs. "Maybe it's less complicated to have a smaller family- no one to compete against or impress." Jasper countered as he watched with a distant expression as a crashing wave erased his name from the sand. "Is that how you feel, Jasper? Like you have to compete against your cousins to impress the adults?" Her soft voice was a friendly invitation but even at at the young age of eleven, Jasper knew better than to discuss family conflict with an outsider. "The Sandman should have a hat." Jasper plastered a smile on his face, revealing his mouth of permanent teeth slowing coming in. "Oh- yeah sure sounds good." Clara let out an awkward laugh. She was starting to become conscious of the restrictiveness each of the Ainsworth's possessed, making her feel even more out of place.