The Things We Did Last Summer

Chapter 3

Out on the front porch, Benedict hung upside down from the porches railing, giggling like a child. Strange things happened when Benedict had to entertain himself. He now wore a pair of trunks, and a necklace. He figured there would be swimming so he didn’t actually see the point in wearing more. It was too hot to wear more clothes than needed anyway. This was his attempt at patiently waiting for Emma to show up; him hanging from the porch laughing like an idiot.

Emma opened the front door, having quickly changed into a light blue swimming suit one-piece with black shorts to match. She smiled to herself. The sight of Benedict hanging upside down was quite funny. It was neat to her, seeing that adults could still act like children; still have fun in the little things. She closed the door quietly before calling out, “Having fun there?”

Benedict looked up and her and nodded with his quirky crooked grin. “Yes I am.” He got up, and stood next to her. “It’s fun. You should really try it sometime.” He bounced down the steps, and looked back at her when he got to the bottom. “Okay, so I wasn’t sure where to go, but I think we should go to the tide pools. I go there nearly every day with someone new, but there are little animals and things in them. It’s entertaining.”

 “If I’m ever in the mood to do something and I can’t think of what that something could do I’ll come swing.” Emma walked down the steps, speaking as she descended. “Tide pools? That sounds brilliant! I can see how that would be entertaining, it sounds entertaining! ” She smiled brightly at the idea of it. “Lead the way? Because I honestly don’t know where they’re located.”

“Of course, love.” He agreed, and started to walk along the beach. “They’re just this way. Have you actually been anywhere but the house and where you woke up?” He asked, wondering if she’d explored at all. “There’s a lot of cool little things like that.” He explained.

Emma walked beside him, shaking her head a little. “Sadly no. I have seen many rooms of the house, still trying to get to know it all though. The only out of doors discovering, if you could call it that, that I’ve done is walked along the beach near the building where everyone woke up. I’ve been meaning to do more, but with finding a bite to eat, and someplace to stay, exploring has been pushed to the back of my list. Until now.” She smiled widely, glad there would be more to see. And she planned on seeing them all.

Benedict nodded. “Yeah, our first few days always are a little hectic I suppose.” He agreed, and gasped as he found a tide pool. “Come look, here.. I always find these cute little star fish here.” The pool was too dark to actually see in the deeper parts, and he reached his hand in rather fearlessly to halfway up his bicep and seemed to be feeling around for one. After a moment or two he pulled out a star fish. “See?” He held it in his palm, and showed it to her. “You can hold it if you want” He seemed like an excited little boy. His weakness was nature, and things like this.

 Emma’s eyes widened in amazement at the life sitting in his hands. She reached out with her forefinger and gently drew it along one of the star fish’s legs, feeling the cool and slippery skin against her finger. She laughed lightly, loving the unique sensation. “That is incredible!” Gently, she reached out and picked the little star fish from Benedict’s grasp, being careful to hold it securely. After a few seconds, she set it back down in the water, watching it float to the bottom and re-attach itself to a rock.

“Isn’t it amazing?” Benedict watched the starfish float down in the water, and then looked to Emma. “There’s all kinds of things in these.. I found an eel once.” He stated, just making conversation, and reached into another one near him to search for something new.

He began to think of other fun things to show her on the island. “Are you afraid of anything?” He asked, still sort of concentrating on the water. The different things he liked to do on the island weren’t exactly common. He liked dare-deviling, so he couldn’t exactly show her his favorite things if she were afraid of heights or something like that.