Son of the Sands

Like a Shard

Every time I slip into the ocean,

it's like going home.

- Sylvia Earle

~~~~~

The smell of breakfast reached my nose and I rolled over, planning on burying my face in my pillow for five more minutes of sleep before my grandmother called everyone to eat her amazing food. Instead of my comfortable pillow, my face met the floor. I lifted my head quickly, looking around to find myself in the middle of the living room next to Ryan, who was still sleeping. We shared an enormous afghan between the two of us and in front of my face sat a large bowl with the remnants of the popcorn we'd made last night. I dropped my head and rolled over to face Ryan.

"Ryan," I whispered, reaching out and poking his face. His nose scrunched and he batted me away. "Ryan, wake up."

"I'm awake," he grumbled, eyes still closed.

"Good morning," I hummed, poking his face again. He huffed out an irritated sigh and opened his eyes slowly, squinting in the soft sunlight that streamed through the curtained windows to our right. In the sunlight, his eyes seemed to glow a little, even as he blinked a few times to adjust to it. I smiled at him and he returned it.

"Good morning," he repeated. "We managed to sleep on the floor the entire night."

"We'll regret it later," I shrugged, not bothering to move. My grandmother was clamoring around in her kitchen as she had for the past few days as if last night's events hadn't bothered her one bit. I wondered how often she coughed up water like that. Ryan didn't bother to move either, aside from a quick swipe of his hand to get his hair out of his eyes. Last night had been much needed and I'd appreciate every single second of it. He didn't mention a single mermaid-related thing to me and when I'd bring it up by accident, he just let it pass. There was no place for our problems last night, while we watched a dumb old movie and made fun of it and the actors.

I'd realized before that these moments were rare but now they seemed even farther apart than they had before. And it would be a long time before we did something like this again. Maybe that was why I didn't want to get up; because when I did, we'd be stepping back into all of the action.

I was pulled from my thoughts when Ryan reached out and tucked a stray strand of my hair behind my ear. I blinked and then turned away from him, slowly sitting up.

"Ryan..."

"I know, I'm sorry," he said quickly, sitting up as well. "I'm sorry."

"Are you kids hungry?" my grandmother came to stand in the doorway to the living room and gently leaned against it, looking at us.

"Always," Ryan answered quickly, rising from the floor and stretching as he walked into the dining room. She looked to me next and I held my tongue, nodding at her. She turned and headed into the dining room to probably serve Ryan and I stood, stretching.

My grandmother had made a whole spread, just as she had the other mornings, complete with eggs, toast, pancakes, fruits, and bacon. My dad didn't join us for breakfast and I didn't ask where he was, sitting next to Ryan and picking at the food. The conversation was brief and meaningless and I had to wait until Ryan had eaten his fill before we were able to get ready and leave for the ice cream shop. The streets were still wet from the rain last night, coating everything green with a blanket of lushness that brought the city more to life.

"Hopefully she's there," Ryan commented in an attempt to break the silence between us. I just shrugged, unsure of what to say to him when I was still thinking about what he'd done this morning. That was the first time he'd ever done anything like that but it'd been so natural. "Rina?"