Entwined Fates

Ch 3 Nostalgia

I heard the beach before I saw it. The sounds of waves rushing the shore brought forth unknown nostalgia, almost bittersweet. The chirps of crickets were all around the three of us as we walked. The wind blew past us, bringing a smell one can only associate with the ocean. We stopped right where the pavement turns into sand, taking everything in.

Duncan went first, walking ahead of us, followed by Sam. I watched from behind as a sense of De ja vu hit me. Before I could ponder it, Sam looked back with one of his eyebrows raised.

“Are you coming” his voice was just barely heard over the waves. I felt a smile tug at my lips and made my way towards him.

“Just lost in thought is all.” I told him calmly and we continued down our usual route. The three of us had a secret hideout we found when we were younger. If our parents knew, they’d killed us because the hideout was right by a cliff where the undertow was strongest. Overgrowth was trying to take over. Since we became seniors, we haven’t come here together much. The small path we were walking on opened to a clearing. Brown grass was everywhere except in the center where a fire was often lit. The large stones we had thrown hazardously around that fire were still untouched and now dirty. I headed over to the cliff, the wind always blew hardest right on the edge, bringing memories along with it. There was some grunting behind me and when I turned back around Duncan was trying to ignite a pile of sticks and leaves, with no success.

“They make it look so easy in the movies” he said while smashing two rocks together.

A chuckle escaped my lips at his futile attempt.

“Here let me see”, I motioned for stones, and he gave them to me. I knew, of course, that you need specific rocks to make a spark, and that wasn’t it. Obviously, Duncan didn’t realize this, so I concentrated and pictured a fire in mind. Nothing too crazy, but I felt the build of heat in my hands when my magic was at work. When I was ready, I scraped the rocks together a few times and saw the sparks fly. A few leaves caught and with a bit of blowing we soon had a small fire. A smile crept over my face

“Guess I just have a special touch.”

“ Yeah, Tide, the jack of all trades. First a nurse, now a survivalist.” Sam quipped, laughing all the while.

It didn’t take long for silence to surround us again, the crackling of wood was the only sound between us. It was Duncan who spoke first.

“Can you believe we’re almost done with school?” He had a solemn expression as he stared at the fire. “I remember when we first found this place.”

“Yeah, the day that marked us as friends, both literally and figuratively” I mentioned as I touched a scar located on the edge of my wrist. I noticed Sam and Duncan doing the same.

“I gotta say, if you guys didn’t stop me from falling off the cliff, our current selves wouldn’t be here”

“Duncan since when you have been so sentimental.” Sam placed an emphasis on you to show how out of character Duncan was being.

“Look, my mind has been full of a lot of crap lately and the fact that we won’t necessarily see each other as often is bugging me.”

“Is that why you’ve been getting into fights more often?”

He looked at both of us and did that thing he does with his head, signaling he was not revealing everything, “More or less, pretty much.”

Something in his eyes told me I wouldn’t get an answer even if I tried to pursue it and I think Sam came to the same conclusion.

“Well, Duncan, not to sound sappy, but we’ll be friends forever. You’re eternally stuck with us. If we die, we’ll haunt your ass so you’re not lonely. Yes, I’m speaking for Sam too, because he’d never say it.”

My words brought the laughter back and it felt good as this was how we always were and will be. It always felt good to laugh like this with these two. In the back of my mind, something felt like it was trying to come to the forefront of my brain. Laughter was echoing through me, but it didn't feel like my own. Everything felt surreal just for a moment, filling me with a sadness that I'd never known; as if something were missing from this scene. I choked back a tear and kept smiling through the sadness. Finally, Sams voice caught my attention.

“By the way Tide, what time are your parents supposed to be back?’ He, looked at his watch and then back at me.

“Midnight, why?”

“Because its 11:45”

Horror could not describe the feeling slowly overshadowing my happy nostalgia.

“Why didn’t you say that sooner?”

“We were having a moment” he said casually.

I got up quickly and kicked sand on the fire until it was out. Before anyone could say anything else, I sprinted off towards home.

~We were having a moment, he said. We won’t have any more moments if I’m dead! ~.

The other two were right behind me, keeping a steady pace. Of course, Duncan always turned it into a competition.

“Race ya to see who gets there first, Loser sleeps on the floor”

“just so you know neither of you are sleeping in my bed” I glared at them both to quell any objections.

“We’ll see about that” Sam yelled back, getting a head start with Duncan right behind him.

Running was not my strong suit, but I managed to keep up with them somehow. After what felt like forever, my house finally came into view. At the same time, I remembered that I spelled the door and silently cursed to myself. It was too late to stop them as Sam's hand reached for the knob first.

"F*cking hell"

Sam jumped back, bewilderment covering every aspect of his face.

~Sorry Sam!~

I could only play dumb to the massive shock he just received from the door.

" What happened?"

"I just got shocked to oblivion that what happened"

I put on what I hoped was a puzzled look and walked up to the door. Since I was the one who placed the spell it wouldn't do anything to me. I unlocked it and waltzed right in as if everything was normal.

" Maybe you just had too much friction?" I said with a shrug.

He kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish trying to figure out what to say and ultimately decided against it.

After that surprise, it didn't take us long to settle in the living room fussing over what the rest of the night had in store for us.