Can You Hear the Ocean?

PART 1: New Beginnings

Gooch's Beach was illuminated by the orange glow of the sunset, just as it was every evening. The tides, once wild and choppy in the afternoon, now crept up slowly onto the shore, dampening the sand beneath them. Back and forth the waves went, crashing gently onto quiet beach, now long deserted by the tourists who had crowded it earlier that hot summer afternoon.

Two pairs of footsteps walked lightly across the pale sand. Leila Sutherland and Mia Cunningham were familiar with this beach. For the past few summers, they would pass the warm days riding their bikes down from Kennebunk to the seashore. This evening was no different, except usually at this point, when the sun was rapidly descending and the ocean was lit orange, the two eleven-year-old girls were usually on their way home so as not to worry their mothers. Instead, they walked quietly, knowing this evening marked the end of their summer tradition permanently.

Neither Leila nor Mia knew what to say to each other. Since Mia had shared the news that she would be moving to Missouri where her father's family lived, Leila had not quite found the right words to say, and Mia, still recovering from her mother's death in the spring, had not quite found the words to share her grief of leaving her hometown. For the most part, the two had continued their normal summer traditions, pretending all was well, though both knew their time together was limited.

"So...you leave tomorrow," Leila said, finally gathering the courage to speak. All afternoon they had chatted as if nothing was wrong, but now that time was fading, they both seemed to be trying to make each word count.

"Yeah," Mia replied, continuing to walk in front of Leila. "All the boxes are packed. The moving truck comes tomorrow."

"Right," Leila murmured. "Will you miss Maine?"

Mia paused in her tracks, feeling the salty foam of the ocean come up and gently kiss her feet. She knew she would miss it more than words could describe, but the reality of the past few months had still not set in for her. She still thought she would find her mother at home after school, and she still seemed confident that her and her father's move to Missouri would feel only like a vacation.

"I think so," Mia said at last.

Will you miss me? was what Leila had wanted to ask, but she had spent too long already grieving the departure of her best friend. Rather than share her grief with Mia and make her feel even more guilty for leaving, she had found ways to convince herself this was for the best. After all, they were going to enter middle school in the fall, and maybe their friendship would have fallen apart naturally. Mia's father had not picked a better time to move.

"What kind of things will you do in Missouri?" Leila wondered. "I've never been."

"I don't really know yet," Mia answered. "My aunt and uncle and cousins will all be there. But I haven't visited since I was younger. I don't remember it being all that interesting. We mostly just sat around and went to church."

"What about your school?" Leila asked. "What's your school like?"

"I don't know yet either," said Mia.

"Maybe they'll have a drawing club you can join," Leila suggested. They had made an informal one at their elementary school, though they had been the only two members, and Leila had only helped form it so that way Mia could have a reason to draw during school. She had spent many hours watching Mia move her pencil back and forth on sheets of blank paper. Mia always made something beautiful in the end. Leila often stuck to her stick figures.

"I'll have to see," Mia said, her gaze fixated on the sun slowly dipping below the horizon.

"Mia?" Leila asked after a period of silence.

"Yes?" she asked, finally turning around to face Leila.

"Why do you have to leave?" she asked, even if she already knew the answer.

"Because Dad says there's nothing here for him anymore. Not since Mom died," Mia murmured. She hugged her arms to her body and stared out at the sea. "So I have to go with him. He hasn't been the same since Mom died. Maybe being with his own family will help."

She was doing it again, Leila realized, where Mia shoved her own emotions downward for the service of others. During their six years of friendship, there were only a few times Leila had seen Mia cry. Even when Mia's mother died earlier in the spring, she showed up to school a week later with a smile on her face, as if nothing had happened.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy it there," Leila said.

"I hope so," Mia replied. "Leila, will you write letters? I'll send you a letter from my new address once I get settled."

"Of course," Leila said without hesitation. "But only if you send me some drawings."

The corners of Mia's lips curled upward into a slight smile. "Okay. It's a deal," she said.

"Will you visit often?" Leila wondered.

"I don't know," Mia answered, her back turned to Leila once more. She began walking again.

Leila was trying to ignore the chalkiness in her throat and the tears beginning to sting her eyes. She turned her gaze to the ground, blinking them away, when her eyes fixated on a pale seashell buried in the sand. She knelt down and brushed away the remaining grains of sand. The cone-shaped shell was no larger than her palm, but when she held it up to her ear, she heard the crashing of waves and smiled.

"Then, take this," Leila said, picking up her pace to reach Mia.

Mia turned around, gazing down in confusion as Leila dropped the seashell into her palm.

"When you hold it to your ear, you can hear the ocean," Leila said. "So I hope...I hope if you ever feel homesick, you can do that and be reminded of here and your mom and...and me," she said quietly.

Mia held the shell up to hear and listened before shoving it into her shorts pocket.

"Thank you, Leila," she said. "You really are my best friend. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too," Leila replied, her voice a bit gravelly from the tears she was holding back. Mia pulled her in for a hug, and as the sun fully vanished beneath the ocean waves, they hugged each other under the stars for a long time until they both reluctantly let go.

It was Mia who wanted to hold on forever, who wanted to continue listening to the waves crash upon the shore, but she needed to be strong, otherwise she would never gather the courage to leave. Mia pulled away from the hug first and smiled.

"Don't worry about me. I'm sure I'll have a good time in Missouri. Tell me all about how middle school is here," she told Leila, trying to wipe the frown off Leila's face.

"I will," Leila said. She turned, ready to head back to her bike, but Mia stood in place.

"Aren't you coming to get your bike? We need to go home," Leila said.

Home. The word sounded foreign to Mia now that she knew that her house was filled to the brim with cardboard boxes.

"I think I'll stay here a little longer. Don't worry. I'll go home in a few minutes," Mia promised.

Leila hesitated, but slowly nodded her head. She walked up to grab her bike and turned to stare at Mia one last time.

"Write to me. I'll see you," Leila said.

Mia waved to her in the darkness, then turned back to face the darkened sea. Neither were aware of just how long their separation would be.