Ocean Eyes

Happy Days

The next morning, I went away from my house again. My father and brother were fighting once more. I just couldn't take it. I couldn't contemplate it. I had felt very morose. Not even bothering to tell them I was leaving, I scurried out of the house and with that, walked along to the beach.

I wore the same sweater I wore yesterday, but this time with shorts and flip flops. Just as I was walking along the sandy shore and staring at the sea, I noticed that I had completely forgotten about Skye until I heard a small, high pitched musical giggle following me. I turned around and was surprised to see who was standing behind me. A small girl smiling up at me with wide, blue eyes. Skye.

"You're back", she beamed.

I nodded and gave a small smile.

"Do you want to play with me?" She asked. "I have lots of toys!"

I looked down at the sand to see what Skye had brought. A sand shovel, two small buckets, and toys used to make miniature sand castles.

"Sure", I said, refusing to pass the offer.

As I got onto my knees and sat down with Skye on the sand, I still didn't know weather I was happy with this or not. I was still in a morose mood, but being with this cheery little chatterbox who I called Skye made my emotions slightly rise.

We continued to make miniature sand castles with wet sand. Just as we were building the moat (the really tiny body of water surrounding the castle), something caught her eye.

She suddenly stood up with a quick start.

"Look at this, Morgie!"

I stood up and followed her to where the miniature waved crashed onto the shore. She picked something up, something bright.

"It's a shell", she said, showing it to me and studying it closely.

She held up a small seashell, glimmering in the sunlight and really standing out with its bright purple color.

"It's beautiful", I said.

She beamed, showing her cute little dimples on her small but chubby little child cheeks.

"I think I will keep this", she said, grabbing a toy bucket and placing it in carefully, making sure not to break the brittle shell. "Let's go shell hunting!"

We spent the next thirty minutes together, our bucket handles clenched in between our fingers and palms, searching for shells on the beach.

"How many shells do you have?" She asked me, showing me her bucket filled with about ten shells.

"I have nine shells total", I said, showing her my bucket. She giggled.

"You have nine, I have ten", she said. "I have one more shell than you, Morgie."

As something different caught her eyes, she immediately dropped her bucket and ran right by the water. I tagged along with her, to see what it was.

As the pretty blue water pulled back away from the shore, I saw as Skye picked up something. A perfectly round shell that seemed to have a flower carved right into it. She examined it closely and rubbed it with her tiny thumbs. It was a sand dollar.

"Luck", was all she said.

"What?" I asked, not properly hearing her the first time.

"It's luck", she said, her eyes still glued to the sand dollar.

"What is?" I asked.

"This", she said, looking up at me and holding the clay colored sand dollar up to my face. "It's a sand dollar."