Chapter 1 - Scene 1

First scene of the project. More to come soon.

Chapter 1

We gazed up at the night sky. The stars danced across the canvas of black, painting fill-in-the-dot kind of images that only the imagination could finish. It’s what I and my current company became so engrossed in; this task of creating pictures out of, seemingly, nothing. In the background we could hear the wave’s crash against the shore as the tide inched closer towards us; this would lead to the inevitable retreat of the water as the night grew older.

We had come to the beach on a whim the day before; whims being a practice that we took on religiously. It was so practiced, in fact, my parents did not find it the least bit surprising when we showed up at their house later that night. We took our impulses very seriously. After all, who were we to deny them their reason for existence? Without a doubt they could lead us into a hundred different directions, but it didn't really matter much to us. It was more about the adventure getting to the destination.

We lay on an air mattress that I had managed to dig out of my closet at my parents’ house. I had bought it a couple of years back to use while camping, but never got around to actually utilizing it, so it was still in the box and unused. It was a green, queen sized mattress, and smelled of the plastic material it was made of. It was the kind of air mattress that you had to blow up by mouth, the ones before they came with pumps that would do it for you.

I looked over at the girl that I now shared the air mattress with, and couldn't help but smile. From the day that I had met her she had made my heart skip a beat just from the sight of her. She had curly, dirty blond hair that reached down past her shoulders. Her eyes were a mixture between, green and a light blue, on the verge of being gray. She was staring off into the distance, not realizing that she now held my attention. We kept this position, her looking to the sea, me looking towards her until I couldn't help but break the silence. "So what are you thinking?" I asked her, already knowing what her response would be.

"Same ole, same ole," she retorted, stifling a grin at the corner of her mouth.

"Come on Soph, you have gotta give me more than," continuing the joke that had now become a standard routine in our daily banters.

"Well to tell you the truth...” She stopped, making sure it was alright to bring on a more serious topic before she continued, "I have just been thinking about the future. It’s this ocean. It's just so big. It just reminds me of how small I am, and how short life is. I know all of this sounds cliché but I just want my life to be memorable, if only to me."

"Honestly, I don't know what to say. I do know that we are doing more with our lives than most. We decided to come to the beach today because "Little Surfer Girl" came on the radio. If that is not a testimony to the lives that we lead, I don't know what is." My eyes broke from hers, staring off into the vastness of what started our current conversation, “I know that when I am old and gray, I am not going to look back and wonder at what I could have done."

"Llexiton?"

"Yeah, Soph?"

"I want you to know something."

"What would that be?"

"It's just about what you said."

"Yeah?"

"It was completely more cliché than what I said," she answered as she leaned in, our lips meeting for the briefest moment. Then, with a quick start, she was on her feet running towards the water.

I stared at her in awe. I knew for a fact that I had never met anyone like her before. She was a strange girl, that was for sure, but it’s what made her so alluring. Before her feet could reach the salty foam, I was on mine following after. Following after this girl who had become such a huge part of my life. Following after this girl I shared all my adventures with. Following after this girl named Sophie.

-^-()-^-

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

I know there is some inconsistency with looking at the sky/ocean thing, Ill fix that at a later date. Any suggestions on the first scene?

Reviews

[Els.]

Overall, a very good start. Nothing I'd change. In particular, I love your choice of character names... that may not be the kind of substantial critique you'd like, but I feel like character names can make or break any kind of writing.

[KATHY SUE SILLS]

Very interesting start to a novel! well done!