The Sinners

Flashback: part 2

We were walking hand in hand in comfortable silence near the seashore, leaving our footprints on the wet sand. 

Why in the afternoon sun?— to dry his clothes, so that he doesn't catch a cold, because he forgot to bring spares. And hand in hand?— because I do not in any heaven want to leave him after knowing his tendency to wander around alone.

The purpose of this day was fulfilling slowly, to make him feel relaxed after his packed part-time work and study schedule, though there was one more thing for me— to have our first kiss.

I was pondering deeply whether to ask him or just do it when I get the opportunity. What if I asked him and he felt pressure to do it for me and had to say yes? Or if I just did it, it'll leave him in shock, and maybe he can get upset. Ah! Why is it such a big thing for me? And look at him, he's so...carefree. Lost in his own little world.

 Abruptly, he halted in the way and stretched his neck to look behind a large rock.

 "What's there?" I asked.

He grasped my hand and started pacing toward it. After reaching behind the rock, I understood, he was looking for the coral reefs, spread over an area of about 100 meters. 

Different kinds of seashells, conchs, scallops, some seaweeds, and colorful sea plants, were decorated like ornaments inside the crystal clear water. Some tiny fishes were also turning and twisting in a group. The place looked so enchanting, just like a kingdom of little mermaids. How come I never saw it before? 

The water was shallow, approx 3 feet high, so we stepped in. He bent down and started searching for something in the water, then broke some green leafy thing and put it in his mouth.

"Hey, you shouldn't eat it without having any knowledge about it,"

He looked at me with his big eyes, chewing whatever it was, ignored, and again back on searching. He picked up a shell-like thingy this time, scrutinized it for a moment, and tried biting on it. Okay, now it was getting overboard. I forcefully took it from his hand, "Not everything is edible, Joshua. Now don't put anything else in your mouth you find in the sea, didn't you have enough sandwiches?"

He sulked, showing his pouty face. "No, baby... I don't want you to have a stomach-ache,"

Then, after thinking for a moment, he removed his shirt, now wearing only his white tee, sat cross-legged in the water, and started gathering a particular kind of star-shaped seashell, scallops, and some cobbles in his shirt. To pick a special-looking pinkish stone, he forwarded, and completely went under the water.

Just a little while ago, we had almost dried his clothes walking straight under the sunlight, now he doused himself again. He's as stubborn as a 5-year-old—one of the things I learned about him in those last few months.

After collecting enough, he tied his shirt in a bundle and placed it securely in a corner under the rock, then came back to me, cutely wobbling on pebbles under his feet. I chuckled, "Don't forget to take it with you when we'll go,"

He gave a nod.

Suddenly a gust of cold wind came, and he started shivering, I could see small hair on his arms rising. "This is the result of staying in the water for too long," I took off my shirt and covered his torso, he just smiled sheepishly. "Let's go up, I've got a towel with me,"