Tide

Chapter 1

The memories are still vivid - December 26th plays like a movie in my mind.

I flew in the afternoon of December 24th, with my best friend, my parents, and my younger brother. The plane ride was long, tiring and seemed to drag on for hours and hours. I remember how my five-year-old brother, Mason, had his nose glued to the window as the plane flew over the Indian Ocean, his eyes filled with wonder. Never had he ever seen anything like it. He'd been begging my parents to bring him to the beach all month. 

When the plane landed in Thailand, he looked up at me and beamed. "We're here."

Then he unclasped his seatbelt, jumped up, and spent the rest of the day asking to go to the beach, tugging at our shirts and trying to get our attention. "Can we go now? Please?"

"We have to get to our hotel and unpack first," my parents told him, "and tomorrow's Christmas. We'll go on Boxing Day."

And so on December 26th, everyone woke up early. By the time I got out of bed, Mason had already put on his swimsuit. His face white with sunscreen, he looked up at me and grinned. "Come on, Ava! Go and put on your bathing suit! We're going to the beach!"

--

December 26, 2004

The beach was quiet.

Mason planted his feet into the ground, a smile spread across his face. The sun glinted against the ocean, the pale sand stretching across the beach, puddles of shallow water scattered along the ground. The tide seemed oddly low.

"I'm gonna go look for fish," Mason grinned. I smiled to myself and watched him run off, his small silhouette sprinting towards the ocean.

There was this couple. They were smiling and filming videos of each other, laughing. I looked at them and flattened out a towel against the sand, lying down on it and spending the next few minutes letting the sun press its heat against my skin.

"Ava," said a familiar voice. I turned in the direction the voice came from, the sun hitting my eyes. My vision slowly coming into focus, I saw the view of the sky. Mason stood in front of me, a blue bucket in his hands. "Come build a sandcastle with me!"

I smiled a little and shook my head. "No thanks."

"Come on, Ava. Please? You promised!"

I had promised. I sat up, squinting. "Yeah, you're right."

"So can you?"

"Can I what?"

"Build a sandcastle."

I glanced at Piper, my best friend, and smiled at him. "No. But you can ask Piper."

"No." He frowned, crossing his arms tightly. He glared at me for a few seconds, but after a while of me just smiling and not saying anything, he realized I wasn't going to budge. He quickly replaced his expression with a pleading look. "Please?"

I shook my head, lying back down on my towel and closing my eyes. "No means no."

There was a long pause until finally he sighed and said, "Fine."

"Did you see any fish?" I asked him.

"No," he muttered, "but I guess I'll go continue looking."

"Sounds like a good idea."

He breathed out another sigh. "See ya."

With that, I heard his small footsteps walking away, drifting off into the distance. I let the sun stare down at me, listening to the calming sound of the waves crashing onto the shore, accompanied by the laughs of the couple beside us. Then I heard small giggles, followed by a cold liquid hitting the surface of my skin. I flinched and opened my eyes, only to see the shadow of a small child tilting over a heavy pail.