He stared at her from his seat simply admiring her innocence and childishness. Her eyes were wide and round always excited to experience something new, and he always wanted to be a part of her journey. He wished that he still had that ability that she has to be excited over every single detail no matter how dull it may appear to others. She was like his guiding star in his life of darkness that she was so unaware of, and he intended to keep it like that. He wanted keep her pure and pristine like a diamond for as long as humanly possible. It's the reason he decided to plan this road trip with her and a couple of friends.
She kept telling him to look out the same window as her, and he couldn't help from the excitement clearly shown on her face to be excited too, even though it was just the beach. Not once did she fall asleep even though he could tell she needed it, but it was that need in her to see everything that prevented her from going to sleep. And the second the car pulled to a halt in the parking space she opened the door not caring that her friend had yet to turn off the car but her friend chuckled at her enthusiasm.
She ran and ran and ran to the sea. She ran to smell the salty sea air. She ran to feel the soft yet hot sand underneath her toes. She ran for freedom. She ran because she could.
From the car he saw her running with all her might and the second she came in contact with the freezing water she abruptly stopped. He smiled and chuckled softly before he carried on with helping his friends unloading the car as fast as he could so that he could join her.
Tentatively, she took a step forward to the mysterious and vast ocean that is clear as the sky yet held so many secrets that he had yet to uncover. She was hypnotized by the crashing waves before being sucked back into the ocean taking along with them as much as they could. She noted that the waves seemed as though they didn't want to go back, and she understood.
Catching her off guard, he came up to her lightly touching her arm when she jumped up in fright. She looked beside her and laughed and chided him for scaring her. He shrugged while holding two buckets and pails, and she noticed them. She pointed to the equipment he had in his hands, and he nodded. She took one of the two buckets and pails with her and started scooping up the waves, but she soon realized that she could bring with her all of the waves with her.
The young teenager came up to her questioning her sadness since only a moment ago she was over the moon and back with joy. She shook her head not wanting to burden him her thoughts because surely he would think they were childish, but that is exactly what he loved about her.
He then looked out onto the sea then at his feet where the waves would crash then be pulled back into the ocean. Suddenly it all made sense to him, and he convinced her to come to the nearby shops and stands to simply look around while they were in the area. She walked back along side him with her bucket filled with sea water while his held nothing. They set them down where their friends had claimed their area, and before they left she warned them to not touch her bucket.
Smiling he lead her away from them and to the crowded streets filled with vendors trying to sell their merchandise. While she was looking at a couple of necklaces the vendor had out for display he sneakily slipped away from her to buy her a present. When he got back minutes later she was paying for a necklace made out of seashells, and he offered to put them on her. She smiled and thanked him for his kind gesture.
So, why did you buy it? he asked.
Because I heard the waves crashing in the big shell, she simply said. What did you buy? she wondered while she curiously eyed his plastic bag around his wrist.
He chuckled and told her she has to wait and see. She pouted disappointed with his response but sighed in reluctance.
When they arrived back to the beach the sun was setting, and he started to run to her bucket. She wanted to come with him, but she told him he just needed to get his jacket. She pursed her lips knowing he was up to something, but defeated she lazily walked back to her group of friends who were a shivering mess. She came by to sit next to one of her friends who asked her how her day at the shops were.
He strode over to the group with a huge grin on his face full of excitement like hers, and she noticed. She gave him a knowing look because she knew he hardly ever got excited about anything, and she so desperately wanted in on his secret.
Stopping in front of the circle of friends he placed his plastic bag in the middle of the circle, and she crawled over to it and pulled the bag down revealing several phials filled with either sea water or sand. Shocked at the surprise and fully touched by his gesture she looked up at him with watery eyes and a sincere smile.
Everyone else in the group went in to grab one of the phials thanking their friend for the kind and thoughtful souvenir, but no one was as touched and as grateful as her. But when she looked back to get a pair of phials for herself she found none. Her forehead creased in sadness until he called out to her and she looked up in curiosity. She got up and walked over to him.
From his pocket he pulled out a necklace of two vials one filled with sand and the other filled with sea water and put it around her neck. She looked up at him with tears streaming down her face, and he would have been worried if it wasn't for the fact that he knew those were tears of joy.
She reached up to him standing on her tippy toes and kissed him on the cheek lightly grateful for all that he had given her throughout the years. He looked down at her happiness filling up his heart at the sight of her. He knew she enjoyed the road trip, and she knew he enjoyed the road trip.
She looked down at the two vials in her hands pensively, and slowly she smiled knowing that she will always keep her souvenir to remember that day forever even though she was perfectly capable of remembering this day without it, but it was the meaning behind the road trip to the beach that she wanted to keep. It was something she wanted to be reminded of every single day for the rest of her life.
On the was back to their home town they both had on their laps a bucket halfway filled with sea water from the waves smiling and chatting while they looked out from the same window.
