A Prose With No Direction

ocean eyes

Ring.

Ring.

A call awakens me from another nightmare, hands jumpstarting this heavy body of mine to sit and pick up the call. I squint my small, black eyes, the light and glare of the screen blinding me. 

I find the words Ocean Eyes appear on the screen, and I pick it up.

It's 4:30 am. 

"Hugh?" I groan, voice still boasting its morning rasp. 

"It's time," his voice says.

"Time for what?" I ask, legs squirming to the edge of the bed as toes kiss the cold floor below. 

"The beach!" He exclaims. I can hear him chuckle. "Did you forget?"

"Why would I ever agree to go to a stupid beach this early in the morning?" I say, walking towards my mirror to check out my ragged appearance. 

I hear Hugh sigh. "We wanted to watch the sunrise, remember?"

Remember... 

Remembering things I wanted to remem— 

"Clara?" He says.

I blink. "Uh, yeah," I respond, setting my phone on the bed and putting it on speaker as I begin to undress. "I don't really remember agreeing to this, though."

"Last night," he begins. "After dinner, you said we should watch the sunrise to clear our minds."

"I suggested that?" I say, frowning. "I'm sorry, Hugh, but I really don't remember what happened last night. Maybe it's because I'm still half-asleep or..."

"But do you still wanna go?" He interjects, his tone of voice slightly disappointed. 

I nod at the phone. "Might as well," I answer. "I'm already dressed. Do I need to bring anything?"

"Maybe just sandals," he responds. "And a mask. But other than that, I don't think there's anything else to bring."

"Okay," I say. "Call me when you're outside."

I hear him chuckle again, imagining the ocean-eyed boy to rub the nape of his neck. "Actually, I'm already outside your house," he says. "We should hurry since they said that sunrise starts at five."

"Oh, okay." I grab my phone and head downstairs. "I'm on my way."

As legs tip-toe themselves down the stairs, careful not to wake her up, I scurry over to the door to remove my slippers and put on my sandals from the shoe rack.

But as feet snug themselves into my white, platform sandals, I feel a lukewarm presence to the left of me, turning to find her hovering over my body, eyes wide awake and alert. 

Where are you going?

Hugh and I are going to the beach.

This early? You're never up this early.

We're watching the sunrise.

She pauses, eyes just staring.

You're watching the sunrise with a penny?

My nod is my response.

And she just stares again.

As long as it's just with a penny, I guess you can go.

I frown.

I never asked for your permission, though.

She glares at me.