There's This Girl...

Chapter Thirty Four

"Stay close Jess!" I shouted as the girl ran off, Scooter right behind her.

"But I've never seen the beach before!" She yelled back, her little feet carrying on.

Sitting down on the warm sand, I watched her dip her toes in the water and squealed at the coldness. Scooter happily ran around her, barking each time she laughed. Today was her eight birthday so I sneaked off with her under the pretence of getting her ice cream. We lived a little way from the beach and moms would probably freak if they knew we took a taxi. We had roughly an hour or so before getting back to her surprise party.

Jessie ran and fell on her knees next me. "Can I go in?"

"You don't have a bathing suit or a change of clothes." I said in regret.

"Bummer." She huffed before getting over her disappointment and dashing off again.

The time spent was short, but at least she enjoyed herself. Our linked hands swung between us as we walked down the street back to our home. Jessie's other hand occupied her ice cream she messily ate.

"Do you think stars are people who die?" She asked suddenly, mouth smeared with her treat.

"Uh, I dunno. Maybe." I answered as I looked both way before crossing the street.

Jessie fed the rest of her ice cream cone to Scooter. "I think they are. I like to believe mommy and daddy are up there too."

"Is that why you like looking at the stars?" I asked, glancing down to see her messy face. I used the napkin to wipe her face clean.

"Yeah. I'm trying to decide which ones they are. Sometimes I think it's the brightest I see, but other times I think maybe they aren't where I think they are. Like I can't see them from our house so maybe I have to go somewhere else to look, but that's so hard cause I'm only eight." She blew out air with a huff.

I nudged her with my hand. "You'll grow up and go places. You can look then."

"I guess. Hey, maybe your family is up there too." Her eyes brightened at the possibility.

Though I didn't really believe it, I didn't have the heart to disagree. "Maybe they are. Try looking for them for me?"

Jessie nodded enthusiastically. "I will and I'll show you. There's so many stars and sometimes I get confused. So it may take a while and you'll have to be patient."