Legacy of the Dreams

Chapter 138 - A Day at the Beach

Susan found it hard to sleep on the night of July 3rd. Between the news they received from Melody's doctor and their discussions with the family, there had been far too much to process from the day before.

And so Susan tossed and turned all through the night. She used some of her sleepless hours to pray, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't quiet her thoughts enough to center herself the way she knew she needed to in order to talk to the Lord properly. Finally, a little more than an hour before dawn, she gave up. Susan rose from their bed, dressed and was about to leave the room when Greg stirred in their bed.

"Where are you going?" Greg asked into the darkness of the room.

"To pray. I desperately need to and I can't seem to do that here," Susan told him.

"Would you like me to come with you? I don't relish the idea of you roaming the beach alone at this hour," Greg said.

"You knew where I was going?"

"You always do when there is something momentous happening in your life ... and I think the news we received about Melody yesterday certainly qualifies," Greg said.

"Yes please ... if you don't mind. I feel badly about asking you, you were sleeping so soundly," Susan admitted.

"Don't regret asking me for something you need," Greg admonished. "And as for my sleep ... I may have been sleeping, but not peacefully. I too could use the opportunity to have a word with the Almighty. I want to be as certain as Melody is that her transition from this life will be a joyful thing."

Susan frowned. "That is so hard to think about."

"Yes. It is," Greg whole-heartedly agreed. "Give me a minute or five to get ready and I will come with you."

And so it was, an hour before dawn, Greg and Susan were headed to the beach, the same place they went the previous day hoping for a walk when they encountered a crowd. Today however, it was an entirely different story.

Greg pulled into the deserted parking lot a full 60 minutes before they expected the sun to come up. Initially they were the only ones there, but as they got out of the car, a van with surfboards pulled up and parked as far away from them as possible.

"It doesn't look like they will bother us," Greg said as he got out. The two young men from the van were intent on putting on their wetsuits, ignoring whoever it might be that shared the parking lot with them.

"I doubt they will. I don't think they can really see us," Susan replied. "If the fog gets any thicker, we'll be hidden from one another completely."

Looking towards the water, the fog was already so thick all they could see was blackness beyond the parking lot. The thin line of lights that hugged the shoreline, which they could see well from their view at home on the cliffs above the shore, was all but invisible at water level. The only lights they could make out here were those less than fifty feet away. It was enough to identify where the parking lot and the highway were but not much more.

Greg zipped up his jacket studying his wife. "Would you like me to walk with you?"

"Are you planning to take a walk too? Or do you intend to stay here?"

"I wouldn't mind coming to the water's edge," Greg said.

"Okay," Susan agreed and she reached out to take his hand.

Together they walked across the parking lot to the sand, walking directly towards the sound of the waves. Once they reached them, Susan let go of Greg's hand and took off her shoes, allowing the cool water from the Pacific to curl around her toes.