ashes to ashes ➵ camren

1. the beach

Listen while you read - 'The Beach' by The Neighborhood

Camila's never really been a fan of the unexpected.

She doesn't like being taken by surprise. Although, she figures that this day in age, uncertainty is the only thing that remains constant. It's always been like that, but things always seem to progressively get worse. So she forces herself to get used to it. It's the only way she'll survive.

No one expected things to get this bad. Granted, the technological decline had only just begun when she was born. But as a kid, her parents did their best to shelter her from the conflicts going on outside their door.

But there was only so much they could shelter her from. And as war and rebellion rocked the world, everyone began feeling its effects. In fact, Camila can't remember a day where she hasn't gone to bed wondering what would be outside her door when she woke up in the morning.

But that's just how things are. And she's come to realize that sometimes, she just needs to accept things for what they are.

She always walks along the shore in the mornings. The beach is always right outside her door, but it is only this time of day that she can do so in complete silence.

Camila's been working at the docks for over a year now. Money is few and far between, and the brown eyed girl does whatever she can to try and take the weight of her existence off of her family's shoulders. The pay is decent, and her only co-worker is Dinah, her best friend. So she doesn't like to complain.

She's usually the first one at the docks. Dinah shows up late to her shifts most of the time, but Camila doesn't mind. Her best friend tries her best to take care of her younger siblings, and Camila knows her mother's arthritis has been growing worse. They help each other out sometimes, because that's all they have - each other.

She finally makes it to the docks, where the small bait shop sits at the edge of the shore. As she jogs up the back steps, she ties her bandana around her head and tosses her long brown hair out of her face. Once she retrieves the key from underneath the mat, Camila lets herself in to the small wooden store (she'd call it a shack, but it's a bit more civilized than that).

Most of the chores she does in the morning are pretty simple. Start up the generator, retrieve the lockbox from under the floorboards, and occasionally provide food to the coast guards that drop in every now and then.

But first - start the generator. She groans as soon as she steps inside and all she hears is silence. The steady hum of the generator is absent, giving her yet one more task to complete that morning.

Cracking her knuckles, Camila hops down from the dock and onto the sand, pausing for a moment to glance out across the water at the sun as it begins its ascent into the sky. At least that's constant, she supposes. The sun will always rise in the east and set in the west. No amount of war or bombings could change that.

Camila's brought out of her thoughts by a bark that pierces the air, making her jump slightly. Her eyes widen and she quickly makes her way under the dock, shaking her head.

"Brutus!" she hisses, clapping her hands to gain the old dog's attention. Immediately, the dog comes bounding towards her. Camila likes to think he looks more like a mop than a dog, but she's not one to judge.

She basically has to crawl under the lower part of the dock in order to reach the generator. But before she can, she feels a tug on her sleeve and yanks her arm away as Brutus whines and looks at her expectantly.

"What the heck?" Camila hisses, fixing the sleeve of her jacket and looking down at the dog. Her father had found him when he was just a puppy, and they'd basically taken him in. Although, he spent most of his time roaming around wherever he pleased.