The wind was cold on the beach. Jeanie still had my coat. The piers stretched like worn hands out into the bay. I stood, not quite shivering, and watched the waves tumble on the shore. They had a strangely calming effect, and the pounding in my head subsided.
Jeanie had followed me, but she was keeping her distance. Perhaps ashamed of herself, although I'd never known Jeanie to hold truck with shame before. I leaned down and took a smooth stone, weighing it in the palm of my hand. It had been turned over in the waves so long, it didn't have a single rough edge. Yet, the balance of it was still off.
"That's no good for skipping." Jeanie told me.
"Yeah." I tossed it to the ground. "Who were you chasing?"
"Hmmm?"
"In the crowd."
"Someone who looked a lot like an old friend."
"Another boyfriend." I said, almost teasingly. "I thought my ancestor was the only one?"
"He's not really your ancestor, didn't have any kids." Jeanie replied irrelevantly. "My guess is that you came down through his sister. She was a nice girl. Always helping people."
"And am I a 'nice' boy?" I asked. "Or am I a man?"
"You're nice either way." She said, smiling.
We watched the waves tease the shore.
I reached over and grabbed her hand. "I'm glad you're alive."
"Mhmm."
We turned to go home.
YOU ARE READING
Three Wishes: This didn't go as planned!
FantasyAbel is a daydreamer. Things that will never happen, the impossible, are planned neatly in his head, while the possible is left up to chance. However, the impossible becomes possible when Able finds a magic oil-lamp in his grandparent's basement la...
