A Moment In Paradise

Chapter 1: Summer

Isaac Summersons sighed as he stiffly climbed out of the van and stretched. The afternoon breeze brushed along his clothes, cooling him down slightly from the hot temperatures. The roar of the waves calmed him as his stocky, well muslced frame made its way toward the small boardwalk through the sand dunes towards his new home. Up ahead was a medium sized beach hut, made of dark ivory timber. The glass fenced balconies looking over the empty beach let the house have a very relaxed and modern look to it. It must have been built very recently, with two storeys, and a fancy curved roof, which was glass and curved over the balcony. Potted Plants were scattered neatly around, and the hut seemed to have a bohemian theme to it. Isaac sighed with relief as he saw a straight sand path leading straight to the beach in front of the deck at the back of the house. A few metres to the right of their beach hut were three more huts, nearly identical. The trip from Sydney had not been a pleasant one. Isaac had spent hours sitting in the cramped interior of the mini van with his bast mate. They both had become more and more exhausted, each taking turns to drive, and also partially to stretch and go for a walk every now and then. You could tell he was glad to be out of the vehicle. His ocean blue eyes scanned curiously but confidently across the expanse of sea in front of the house. He felt a sense of home wash upon him. He felt lucky, happy even. This was such an upgrade, and the cramped ride had totally been worth it. The surf was beautiful that day, and he looked back longingly at the board resting on top of the van. He met his mates eyes and he nodded for him to go.
"Don't worry, just come and unpack later" He said with a grin. If anyone knew him best, it would be his best mate, Josh Browne. Josh understood how much surfing and music played a part in his life and in return he appreciated his best friends own interests. Isaac ran back to the van and started undoing the heavy metal clasps that kept the surfboard securely tied to the van. His hands were clumsy with excitement and he had trouble undoing them. When he successfully got his board from the roof, he quickly took off his shirt and tied the rope to his right ankle, sprinting off as adrenaline rushed through his veins. The hours being cramped in that van had made Isaac so impatient and energetic. He ran down the path next to his new home and sighed as the grains of sand made their way in between his toes. His feet met the water and his connection with the ocean was complete, he jumped on his board and glided across the water. As he dived under a wave with newfound energy, another rush of excitement reached him as the smooth silky touch of the water slipped over his tanned skin. The waves were miles better than in his home town. And probably safer too. He had to wait for another couple of minutes for a better lineup for waves. The girls would have been swooning over him if they saw him like this, shirt off, and raking a hand through his naturally gorgeous, blonde, bleached locks. All while relaxing on his smooth, sleek, white board. But there were no girls here, such a beautiful beach, with no tourists and no job as a musician. And Isaac loved it. The quiet. The peace. Like he belonged here. Like it was home.

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Sophia Williams was sitting on the windowsill letting the sun warm her up through the clear glass, while looking at the beautiful blue ocean. She heard a car on the gravel road and thought is was just another person that got lost. Who would visit this boring town anyway? However the car did not keep going and the engine was cut. She made her way to the kitchen window to take a look as a blue rickety mini van come into view. She watched as a tall, reasonably good looking, blonde guy, came out of the van and stretched to his full height. He was wearing a pair of board shorts and a t-shirt with some logo that she couldn't read. He was incredibly tanned, and pretty muscular, and had a couple of bracelets around his right wrist. An outdoorsy person, probably travelling around the world, Sophia guessed. Another person, about the same age but with darker hair came out of the van and yawned. He looked tired. She was caught staring discreetly as she saw Rileigh clicking her fingers in front of her face to get her attention. Dread filled Sophia's gut as she knew she would be hearing more about this. But Rileigh didn't seem to notice who she had been staring at. Rileigh had been Sophia's best friend as soon as the two literally made eye contact with each other at school. She had medium length long brown hair and gorgeous milky brown eyes. She had a toned medium sized frame, and could go for hours doing a sport. The young 18 year old was a professional dancer.
"Come on" she said with a grin. Sophia grinned at her, it had taken a while for her to get to the hut. Sophia ran to the kitchen island where took three glasses and poured juice in them. She heard the front door close with a crash and then a small "ow". "Avan!" Sophia yelled happily as she went to welcome him at the front door. She rounded the corner and laughed. Avan, her other friend was lying in a heap on the doormat. His glasses were skewered and he sighed in defeat as his brown eyes gazed up as Sophia. His black hair was ruffled from the ocean breeze and his tall lanky frame stretched over Sophia's strong petite frame as he stood up.
"I don't know when you're going to learn how to stop falling over" She laughed, and Avan started grinned with her.
"Sorry" He said sheepishly. Avan was known for his clumsiness. She helped him up and he grabbed his camera gear. He then slightly limped towards the kitchen. Avan was a photographer, looking to work for National Geographic. Rileigh greeted him as Sophia opened the back doors to the deck and let the sun send a mellow feeling across her skin. Avan and Rileigh made their way outside as Sophia took two beanbags from inside and placed them on the deck. Rileigh had already settled herself into the hammock. "Man I love summer" She sighed and gazed across the beach. "It's such a great way to relax and get away from college. And actually motivates me to start working on a bikini body!" She grinned.
"Who are you kidding Rileigh! You've already got such a fantastic body. If anyone needs a better beach body I think it's Avan" Sophia said cheekily with a grin towards Avan.
"Hey!" Avan protested but he grinned along with the girls.
"What's planned for the holidays then?" Sophia asked.
"I'm staying here for most of the time but in the last week I'm heading off to Italy to visit family out there" Rileigh says, mentioning her Italian relatives.
"Oh that's amazing!"
"Yeah! What about you?" Rileigh asks Sophia.
"Ah I'm just staying here" Sophia says disappointingly.
"Hey! Turn that frown upside down! Maybe you'll have a hot summer romance..." Rileigh sends Sophia a cheeky wink.
"What are you talking about? Someone would have to be crazy to go for someone like me!" Sophia pouted.
"It's true that" Avan says with a grin, getting back at her.
"Oh please Sophia, have you seen the way the boys look at you? None of them even have the guts to ask such a gorgeous girl out. Plus, I saw you checking those hot new neighbours out..." Rileigh says with a wink. Sophia gives Rileigh an unimpressed expression.
"Aw come on! They're cute!"
"Yeah it's about time you got a boyfriend Sophia, you don't want to end up like an old cat lady" Avan says with a laugh.
"Oh Avan you're on fire!" Rileigh exclaims while fistpumping Avan. Sophia grinned and shook her head while the other two laughed. They fell into a pleasant silence.
"Hey why don't you play us a song? I'm bored anyways" Rileigh asked.
"Yeah! You're amazing at it anyway, you should make use of your talent. I would kill to have any form of musical talent" Avan agreed with her.
"All right" she agreed and Avan and Rileigh grinned at each other.
She made her way inside the cool home and got her songbook and guitar from upstairs. They were the two most prized possessions in her life. Her great grandfather had discovered her talents or music when she had to spend her summer holidays in the huge family home about five years ago. Her great grandfather had been a popular musician in his younger years, and he had kept his acoustic guitar in the wardrobe of the guest room. When Sophia was sorting out her clothes she was immediately mesmerized by the smooth varnished curves of the instrument. Each string was still perfectly tuned and there wasn't a single scratch on the guitar. Sophia had followed a couple of lessons so she knew some simple chords. She took out her laptop and searched up some songs. She got the hang of it easy, and improved more and more as the holidays continued. Every day she would be outside or on her bed figuring out how to play another chord progression. Her great grandfather, had heard her play through the thin walls each day. He searched for the finest wood, cut, and sanded all throughout wintering the basement. He was making a masterpiece for his great granddaughter, because he knew that talent had been passed on. This talent could not go to waste. In the lingering hours he had left, he admired his handiwork in the dark hours of the night. Now he only needed to put a coat of varnish on the beautiful wood and the masterpiece was finished. He had written the note for his loving granddaughter so that everything was ready for her birthday the next day. Alexander Williams passed away at approximately 3am that night. So when Sophia Williams woke up he next morning she knew immediately something was wrong, even though it was her birthday. She made her way down the stairs in suspicion, to find her mother at the dinner table, crying with her head in her hands. Her father had his arms around her, and his eyes were red too.
It was strange, she had a feeling, a feeling it was him, that something was wrong with him.
"Is-is it great grandad?" She had stuttered feeling her throat close up.
The nod her dad gave was all it took for the first of many tears to leak out of her azure blue eyes.
Why, why did it have to happen on her birthday? However when she looked back on that day, she did not curse that her great granddad died on that significant day. In fact, it was one of the most precious days she ever lived. The guitar had such significant meaning to her, and Alexander had spent so much time on it, she even thought it would ruin the look of it if he had varnished it.
Then there was her songbook, which she had started soon after she got the guitar. It was the closest thing to her personality. Each song she searched during those holidays was in that book, and the songbook was still growing. The type the gentle of the music, what the songs mean, what they were about, they explained her whole life. So, even though her friends were all watching her, the music was like comfort, it got the adrenaline pumping. There was something that made the butterflies explode in her gut each time she played. She could feel the emotion in the music like no one else could. Her fingers moved subconsciously up and down the frets of the guitar as she plucked a soothing melody. Capturing hearts and minds with each tune.