The Bane Of My Existence ~ Analogical

Logan Sandy

Logan's POV:

"RIGHT, KIDDOS!"

The somehow optimistic-sounding yell sounded relatively early in the morning. We had spent nearly the entirety of the previous day playing games, chatting and eating snacks. Not exactly my initial picture of an enjoyable day, but it had actually actually been rather... entertaining. That morning I had already awoken by the time Patton knocked at my hotel door, but I was slightly taken aback considering the time at which he had arrived. The forecast had been promising, so we were geared up and ready to go. We made sure to collect everything from the hotel rooms (because our booking had timed out and we didn't want anything to collected by some cleaner) before we left.

At the beach, Patton went straight for a clear spot and spread out a beach mat. The sand was warm beneath my bare feet (Patton had assured me this was the smartest move, which turned out to be correct,) and the sea stretched out to the horizon. I had expected giant waves to be crashing violently against the land, but that wasn't the reality. A gentle ambience was all I could hear from the gigantic mass of water. It all felt like the childhood I never had. Roman spotted me gazing out into the distance as he came up behind me and called my name. When I didn't respond, he added,
"what? Have you never seen the sea before or something?"

I shook my head.

"So... you've never sunbathed? Built sandcastles? Skimmed stones?" I forced my eyes from the expanse of blue to see Roman's thinking face. Once he realised I had done none of these things, his sympathetic expression was suddenly paired with a glint of something in his eye. He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards where Patton and Virgil were settling down on a mat. Patton adjusted his sunhat and grinned up at me and Roman.
"Virgy wants to make sandcastles. You in?" I saw Virgil tense up a little defensively, and nudge Patton as if to tell him off for something. That man really did blush easily.

"Oh it is ON!" Roman clapped the blushing man on the back enthusiastically before they both stood up and each went to a suitable space. I would've rather not participated, so I sat next to Patton. Rather than boring, sitting in the sun was actually... relaxing. We talked lightly about nothing in particular, laughed a few times, stayed hydrated. Until Patton went to help Roman out with his castle. I sighed, what nonsense was this? Before long, Roman was winning, and Virgil was struggling to keep up. Patton was "assisting" Roman with his castle, even if he wasn't helping particularly much.
"I've got this in the bag. I cannot be defeated!" Roman boomed dramatically. There were days like this where this man really got on my nerves. For some reason, seeing that Virgil had no chance against him sent me over the edge.

I marched over to Virgil, and knelt next to what he had built so far.
"Lo- what are you doing?" He inquired, humour lacing his tone. I had begun to scoop sand around in a circle.
"I am making a.. uh... moat. So that if the tide comes in it won't knock it over." Virgil sat back, propped up on his hands, legs outstretched and crossed over in front of him, laughing lightly. It felt strange seeing a man who seemed to be more of the 'Stay Indoors In The Dark' type sitting here out in the burning sun, laughing in the sand.
"Anyone could've thought of that, nerd." I heard a familiar voice yell from the other side of the beach mat that Patton had laid out on the sand.

"But ya didn't!" Virgil combatted.

This went on for some time, Virgil designing the best castle he could to beat Roman, me trying to make the structure as strong as possible so that it was less easily destroyed (considering that it was made up of purely sand), Roman frantically trying to build something as high as possible without Patton knocking it over and Patton placing shells all around the sides. By the time the water reached our castles (which was about an hour later), Virgil and my creation was looking relatively magnificent. It was quite obviously up to Roman's standards, or at least close, but I knew that man would never accept defeat so easily. The ocean swayed that decision quite easily; that and Roman's tower. Our elegant structure managed to withstand the tide, however.

Roman started whining that it wasn't fair and that the game was rigged, as if the ocean was somehow biased towards me and Virgil. I have to admit, it was quite hilarious seeing him being reduced to such a child-like state. It was silly, and petty, but I also loved it when I won against Roman, especially seen as he had always been better than me at many a thing. After high-fiving with Virgil, I gathered my things and returned to the mat, which had been moved further away from the sea by this time. For the remainder of the day, pretty much, we lay in the burning coastal sun. Every so often Roman, Patton and even sometimes Virgil went down to the see to "paddle" around. I could always see Roman showing off by swimming against the waves and looking over at me to check if I was watching from where I was reading. It was an enticing book about a dystopian world which I could not put down. Midway through the day Patton bought us all lunch and insisted that we weren't to pay him back for it. The same thing happened in the evening.

It had been a wonderful day, and I beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, this trip wouldn't be a disaster after all.