Never before had the young woman been allowed to see the family she'd left behind. All she wanted was to let them know she was safe and being well cared for. Today was going to be her first contact. She walked down the aisle of the near empty church...
"Look at that evening sky," said an old man. "The stars look so beautiful."
The sound of splashing pierced the darkness. The cheer of a young man's voice carried through the air, followed by a young woman's laughter...
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...The thin sheet of water reflecting the stars receded, revealing two sets of footprints in the glistening sand. The footprints led to a young man and young woman illuminated by the moonlight, walking bare-footed along the shore. The gently breaking waves lapped at the couple's feet as they walked arm-in-arm.
He wore knee-length beige shorts and a loose white shirt. She wore a light yellow summer dress. She spoke excitedly. He replied to her questions guardedly, but with humour and warmth. A faint scent of vanilla carried in the whispering breeze.
Higher up the beach, on the dryer sand, another pair of footprints ran alongside the man and woman. These were more widely spaced, apparently made by someone with quite small feet, running in plimsolls. The man in the beige shorts followed these footprints with his gaze. The footprints trailed far ahead in the direction of a distant pier. Just before the pier there was a small stockpile of driftwood, for a campfire later that night. Just after the pier a young red-haired woman was running towards the distance, the sea on her left-hand side. She stopped twenty feet or so in front of two young men and a young woman, who were strolling towards the pier, their feet in the water. The red-haired woman shouted something over to the two men and the woman and they waved at her in reply. The woman of the small group then ran towards the unlit campfire.
Then the attention of the man in the beige shorts was captured once again by the red-haired woman in the distance who was now running back under the pier, up the beach to just outside a large beach hut, which was at the entrance to the pier. There she stopped to talk to a young woman who appeared to be supervising a gathering of children making sand-castles, their play area illuminated by multi-coloured fairy lights attached to the side of the beach-hut. Just then, all the children in the small group looked across at the couple walking along the shore, but then quickly averted their gaze. The firm rebuke of the red-haired woman and the children's supervisor carried in the air.
A few people walked into the beach hut, and the distant base sounds of acoustic band music rolled across the beach to the couple, but then disappeared when the door swung closed again. The single lyric from the live band inside the hut that was discernible to them was "Gloria".
The couple walking along the beach then noticed that in the distance, far past the pier, there appeared to be a young woman standing alone at the shoreline, looking out to sea. She had long dark hair and was wearing a long white dress.
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Suddenly, the view was obscured by black and white fuzzy static, accompanied by a rushing sound, as one typically sees and hears on an out of tune television set. Then, this was replaced by everywhere a pure blue, and silence. Writing appeared, pink text, reading "I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas - 2009". The music video of that song commenced with its distinctive beat.
