He told them to walk ahead as he was in no hurry to get anywhere but they seemed to be. He smiled as they ran across the white sands chasing the birds and splashing in the cool waters of a late October day. The older kids held onto their shoes while the younger one much like himself hadn’t seen shoes this entire weekend. A free spirit she was, her long red hair a reminder whose genes she inherited. He smiled again whispering her name as he so often did since she passed on.
He spotted a piece of cobalt colored sea glass and stooped to pick it up cringing a bit as the old back was not as reliable as it once was. Continuing their walk, the kids all found a treasure to take home, a conch shell, a starfish and quite a collection of sea glass in assorted colors. He often wondered the stories the glass could tell.
The day was running low on light as they reached his cottage anxious to show off their treasures to mom and dad who he was sure enjoyed the past couple of hours alone. Hanging his straw hat on a hook he noticed his trousers were wet from the ankles down, so he rolled them up another notch, his daughter noticing it and smiled at him the same way her mom once did. Time fly’s so fast here she told him, and he nodded without words.
He watched them drive away into the night as her man preferred night driving, but he believed it was just an excuse to get back to his beloved city. Closing the door, he went outside and sat on the steps, looking and listening to the blackness of the sea. His now constant companion in a quiet life. Tomorrow he would rise with the sun and put on the old straw hat. He would walk for miles unknown or cared about to a destination he never knew. Treasures would fill his trousers until they bulged as the sea washed his feet with every step he took. This was his life, a life they both loved as they loved each other. It was perfect except for the missing footprints next to his.
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