May/June 2013

Her voice was soft and it reminded me of wind chimes The summer cabin was wonderful. We all thought so. It was white with blue trim around the windows and doors. The roof was gray like mist. I had been waiting all summer to visit this cabin, but it was the beach I was most eager to see. My name is Jasmine, and I love the beach. I love the sound of the waves, finding empty shells on the sand, swimming. The pretty little cabin my parents, my little brother, and I were staying in was on the edge of a little forest, right near the beach. I would be able to go down every day! When we arrived, I hauled my two bags into the cabin, helped my little brother, Cody, carry in his five, and then had to wait patiently while my parents slowly explored the cabin. “So, Jasmine, Cody, do you want to have lunch first?” Mom asked. “No thanks!” I said, then turned and ran out the door, onto the beach. The sand was unbelievably hot, so I leapt into the water. It was very, very cold. I stood there, shivering as I waded slightly deeper. Then I heard her voice. “Is it cold?” I turned around and saw a girl. She looked like she was my age, but she was really tall, at least three inches taller than me. She had light brown skin, like mine, and big gray-blue eyes. Her hair was black and really long. Wait, was there a breeze? I couldn’t feel one, but the girl’s hair was waving steadily, like the gentlest puff of wind was passing by. “Is it cold?” she repeated. Her voice was soft and it reminded me of wind chimes. “Um, yeah,” I said, “it’s pretty cold.” She nodded and put one foot into the waves. She kept wading in until she was farther in than I was. She was wearing jeans, but she didn’t seem to mind getting them wet. She didn’t bother pulling them up. She smiled. “Doesn’t seem that cold to me,” she said. I stared at her. “You’re kidding, right?” I asked. The girl smiled and shook her head. We stood there for a while. I was shivering, while the girl just stared peacefully out to sea. “Um,” I said, wanting to hear the girl say something else, “so, what’s your name?” The girl cocked her head. “Does that matter?” she asked. “Well, uh…” I stammered, unsure how to reply. The girl shrugged and her hair slid over her shoulders. Was it shimmering? “But,” the girl continued slowly, “you can call me Aqua.” She nodded her head thoughtfully, like she thought her name sounded good. “Aqua…” I saw her mouthing the word, as if she was trying it out. “Aqua,” I said, “that’s a nice name. Mine is Jasmine.” The girl smiled, but didn’t say anything. I shifted my feet in the icy water. “I’m getting out of the water,” I said. “Do you, um… want to look for shells with me?” Aqua’s gray-blue eyes lit up. “Yeah!” she said, and splashed to shore. “Come on.” I followed Aqua out of the water. She was already holding a shell. “I found one,” she said, gesturing to the shell. “Want it?” I declined the offer, and Aqua settled the shell into her pocket. All day we hunted for shells, smooth pebbles, beach glass, and driftwood. Aqua found the most of everything. Things just seemed to leap out at her, including a little green crab that practically jumped into her hand. It didn’t pinch her or anything. It just scuttled up and down her wrist. Aqua laughed and set it back on the sand. After we were done hunting for shells and other treasures, we spread them on some big logs. Aqua started laying her stuff on the sand again, making intricate patterns. “Maybe…” I said, “maybe you could come over and have a snack with my family? I can ask, if you want.” Aqua shrugged and smiled happily. “Sure,” she said. I stood up, brushed the sand off my knees, and started up to the cabin. “You can wait here, if you want,” I said. “I’ll just go and ask my parents.” Aqua nodded, trailing her fingers in the soft sand. I ran up to our little cabin and pushed the door open. “Mom! Dad!” I called. My mom pushed her head around the corner. “What?” she asked. “And if you’re asking why we didn’t come down to the beach, Cody jammed the peanut butter jar on his head. I don’t know how, or why, but he did.” Yep. That sounded like my little brother. Last year, he got stuck under a bus seat. “Um, well,” I said, “I was going to ask if a girl I met could come here for a snack.” Mom nodded, “Oh sure. We almost have Cody’s head free.” She disappeared around the corner again. I walked back down to the beach. “Hey, Aqua!” I called. “You can come over for a snack.” Aqua bounded over and smiled. She didn’t say anything, as usual, but followed me back to the cabin. I introduced Aqua to my parents. Aqua didn’t even ask about a half-empty peanut butter jar being thrown away or about a very peanut-buttery Cody, who joined us before being dismissed to wash his face. After a while, Aqua said she had to go home. I watched her walk down the beach until she disappeared from sight. Aqua came over every day. She loved the beach even more then I did. She was nice, but I noticed even more weird things the more I got to know her. It always looked like she was in one of those weird shadows that you see underwater, and her hair was always moving, like it was being tugged by a steady current. She never talked much, and she was always ready to eat. Things got weirder and weirder. One day,