I Met You by the Beach

Langa Hasegawa dipped his feet into the cold water of the ocean, closing his eyes against the light breeze that blew through his light blue hair. When he did, all he could think of was him and his father, balancing on surfboards, riding waves and laughing together. It had been months since his father's passing, but it still sat in his heart, an open wound that just refused to heal.

He fell backwards into the sand, the grains getting stuck in every strand of his hair. He would need a shower after this, but Langa could care less, because the warm sand was the only real comfort he had at the moment. His mom was working over time, trying to keep cash flowing in just enough to have food on the table and a nice home, so she was almost never home except for dinner and it wasn't like Langa had any friends. So the beach would have to do for now.

The beach was nice early in the morning. At six AM, no one was there blasting loud music and there were no kids running around and being crazy. At six AM, the only noises that could be heard were the splashing of the water against the shore and the seagulls that flew high up in the sky. At six AM, Langa could just let himself sink into the sand and let out all his emotions with no one there to ruin it.

That's exactly what Langa did, he laid there, resting his head in the sand, the sand digging into his skin, tears tracing down his cheeks. He hated feeling this way. Those days where all he wanted was to have his father back. Those days where he wanted to be surfing next to his dad, laughing and having a great time. Langa despised these days. He wished he could just jump back in time and stop his dad from dying or to beg God or whatever omnipotent being that was out there to just bring him back.

Sand sifted through Langa's fingers as he brushed his hands across the ground, trying to ignore these feelings. He was stuck between two decisions -- keep laying here and finally let those emotions he had been bottling up for so long out or to swallow them down, stop being such a baby, and block it all out, like he had been doing. The latter decision was so tempting, because Langa hated the grief that randomly consumed him at times, even if he did know better.

What would his mom say? Langa was sure she would sit him down, brush his hair back and tell him that feeling this way was fine, that he should let these emotions out. Still, that seemed too much at the moment, because the second he would start, he was sure he wouldn't ever be able to stop, because there was just too much, buried deep down there.

So what was another few months, it couldn't hurt, right?

Langa sat up, pushing those feelings down once again. Even then, tears stung behind his eyelids, threatening to escape and make tracks through the sand that covered his cheeks. He reached up to clean off his face only to realize his hands were just as dirty. He huffed and stood up, leaning down towards the water that splashed onto his feet, rinsing his hands off and wiping the sand off his face, keeping this up for a few minutes.

Eventually, he was somewhat clean and he was no longer upset, at least he thought. Letting the wind whistle past his ears, he ignored those emotions that screamed deep within, trying to deafen them with the sounds of the waves in the background. His toes dug into the wet sand and he cringed a bit in regret, the uncomfortable feeling of sand beneath his toenails distracting him from anything else.

As he tried to get the sand out from beneath his nails, he heard something, a little far away. Langa wasn't good at hearing things in all honesty, even if someone stood right in front of him with a megaphone in their hand, yelling. Langa would still manage to say 'huh', so it surprised him when he overheard some yelling and cursing from across the shore.

He started running in the direction he heard the voice, behind some rocks on the edge of the beach. Once he reached the boulders, he peeked from behind them, trying to see who was yelling so loudly at six in the morning. Langa's eyes widened and his breath seemed to leave his lungs.