"R"

“R”

     The waves of Pacific Ocean often gently press the golden shoreline. They rise up above and fall on the shore, then recede back out to sea with a gentle cry. The sand that they fall upon is clean and bright, running for ten miles along the coast of California, all the while protected by the bright green hills that surround them.

There are green meadows on the southern end of the beach. As one moves towards the hills here, the sand becomes sparse. It is replaced by short, green grassed meadows and many ancient oaks. They are always being blown by the sea breezes that flow in, and it seems as if they are waving, “hi” to you as you pass by. They are the guardians of the peace on this beach.

      In the summertime the clear, endless blue sky shines briskly down on this place, and the sun glows and gives it's loving gift of bright sunshine, wrapped in the bow of peace.

And finally, on a small stretch of the southern beach, there is an old boardwalk between the sand and grasses. It was old and sandy and worn, as people had used it long before. Yet it is sturdy.

      There was once a day that seemed to contradict itself here on this beach. The sun was out, yet it was very cold. There was no breeze, yet there was a feeling of stormy tension in the air.

      On this very day, a man walked along the sturdy boardwalk, going north on a business trip. He was an average sized man, only about five and a half feet tall. His whole build had nothing that stood out about it, nor did his face. His irises were a dull brown, his nose was large and protruding, and he had a wigged chin He wore a business suit, complete with a silver tie, shiny black shoes, and a freshly pressed pair of pants.

He strode along the boardwalk with heavy, intense steps. He walked simply looked straight ahead to where he was going. He walked along the boardwalk for several minutes, until something caught his attention down on the sand, about 200 yards from him. He couldn't help but notice the strange sight because there was no one else here.

He made his way toward it, squinting a little bit. He kept on the boardwalk, though. His steps were almost fearful as he drew closer to...something. He finally saw that it was a young boy; perhaps nine years old. He wore simple blue swimming trunks. He looked like a common boy of his age, and is skin was very tan.

      The man observed that the boy was building a sand castle. He seemed to be pretty good at it, too. The little boy's hands used a toy shovel, his fingers grasping with perfect ease. Scoop..scoop..scoop, until his small red bucket was full of sand.

The boy tossed the shovel away, then took his bucket and turned it over quickly, balancing the weight so that the sand would come out at the perfect time for his castle. The boy repeated this three more times, putting bucket-shaped “towers” down, all as the man looked on.

The child began piling up sand again…when he sensed the fellow watching him. The child looked up and saw the man, who was standing several yards away. The child and man watched each other with curious eyes. Finally, a boyish white-toothed grin surfaced on the small fellow. He dropped his shovel and waved furiously at the man.

“Hey, mister! Whaddaya doin’ over there? Wanna help me with my castle?”

However, the man didn’t move at all. He stood on the wood, looking at the boy with wide eyes. His whole being was tense, like an animal on the watch. The man stood as the little boy waited for a response. The child grew impatient with the awkwardness and shouted,

“Mister?! Did ya hear me?”

Suddenly, the man’s expression changed. He softened a bit; still unmoving

Then, he stepped off the wooden pathway, and onto the beach. The fine sand was deep and soft, and with every step more slid inside his shoes.

The boy picked up the shovel and continued to make his sand castle wall swiftly: scoop…scoop. He piled the sand until it looked good. Then, he compressed the pile together until it was a thin, mini wall of sand, between two of his towers.

He looked up. The man was standing, staring down. The little boy laughed loudly at the man.

“What?” the boy remarked, “You never seen a san’castle afore?”

After a long pause, the man sat down in the deep, soft sand. He just quietly sat down, ignoring the sand that stuck to his pants and that swished in his shoes. He leaned forward and gazed at the half-finished castle

“Of course I’ve seen a sand castle before.” The man said. As he spoke, his face relaxed.

“Well, you wanna help me?” said the boy. “I asked ya before, but ya just stood there.”

A moment's silence.

“What's your name?”

“Ricky. It means big and strong leader. That’s what my Daddy told me. Cool name, huh?” Ricky then smiled brightly at the man, showing all his white teeth, and puffed up his chest as big as he could get it. The fellow cracked a smile.

“What’s your name, mister?”

“Alex.”

“Neat!” Ricky replied. “Sooo…you wanna help?”

“Alright,” Alex said “I’ll help you out. What do you need?” The man set briefcase in the sand.

“Build another castle. Right there,” Ricky pointed a foot away.

“hm...okay.”

Alex grabbed a bucket and shovel, then stepped over to the other side of the current castle and plopped himself down. Alex didn't even think about the strange fact that the boy had two shovels and two pails. A gust of wind touched the boys as they built their creations.

Alex sort of made a foundation, but eventually asked Ricky how to make walls, and how to form spires. Ricky showed him, with a huge smile on his face the whole time.

“See, you gotta be real careful, cuz a spire can fall apart easy.”

“Okay.”

“And be careful when you form those walls, Mr. Alex. They can sink in on themselves.”

“Sure.”

      So it was that Alex and Ricky worked on their castles. Ricky talked to Alex, and Alex relaxed, and he smiled more and more, even though his suit was getting sandy and rough.

     The wind had picked up a bit, and the waves sounded their beaming whispers across the beach as the boys built.

After a few minutes of work, Ricky asked,

“Hey, mister.. uh.. Alex. Before, you looked all scared and grown-up like. Why are you all happy all of a sudden? That's weird.”

Alex looked over at Ricky.

“I am having fun.” Alex said quietly, his voice giving away his surprise.

“Yea. I know. But why? I hardly ever seen an old person who likes buildin san castles.” Ricky asked, gazing at Alex

Alex sat for several moments, silent. He listened to the waves crashing onto the beach, and the slight wind coming up from the water.

Then, he said, “ I guess because you were building your castle so happy-like. You reminded me of when I used build sand castles. It was awesome. It's so natural.” He sighed, and looked at Ricky, who was finishing a wall.

Ricky said, “I love san' castles. They're awesome, and you gotta focus to make 'em real good, cuz they can fall apart real easy.”

      “I know, right?” Alex said. “But...don't you have any friends to play with? Aren't you kinda lonely? And what are you doing out here, anyway?”

      “No. Not really. But you’re more fun! You actually like buildin san’castles! I can see it in the way you work! It’s awesome!” Ricky said, smiling again through those big white teeth.

Alex smiled, and laughed loudly. They continued to work on their castles for a good long time, building them higher and higher, as if they were professional architects hard at work.

What the two guys didn’t notice was the afternoon creeping onward. The sun had dropped some ways in the sky. The tide came in a bit closer to their castles. Of course, they didn’t notice at all. The wind was coming in stronger, now, and colder in its gusts.

Ricky asked Alex,

“Mr. Alex, why are you here, on this beach?”

Alex suddenly stopped working as he heard this question. He dropped the small shovel and looked around at the boardwalk, the trees, and the hills in the distance.

He answered, “I was going to meet with some other adults. But, it kinda doesn't matter now. I don't want to go there now. It seems so unimportant” He chuckled, and picked up the shovel again. “Why do you ask that, Ricky?”

Ricky answered, “I dunno. I like to ask stuff like that.

“Why?”

“I dunno...It makes me happy to know! It's fun asking, too!” Ricky said, quieter than before. Alex laughed again.

Finally, Ricky finished his castle. He had found a large, green leaf (that had come blowing by) and was working with his fingernail to carve an “R” (for Ricky) in it. Upon his success, he poked a hole in it with a stick, and stuck it on the top, like a flag.

Alex looked up and said, “Wow. Great work, Ricky! Should I finish mine?”

“Yeah.” Ricky said, grinning. The cold wind blew up somewhat tenacioisly, now. The sun didn't seem to be warming anymore. He sat back on the wet sand and shivered. The water was only a few feet from reaching their castles.

After struggling with the last part of his castle, Alex was done.“What do you think of my castle?” he asked.

“It's okay. Not as cool looking as mine!” Ricky said. He had to raise his voice a bit, because the chill was loud now. “Hey, you wanna build some more!?”

      “Sure!” Alex shouted. He gazed out at the sea for a moment, then back to Ricky and said, “I hope the tide doesn't come in any further!”

And as if on a mysterious cue, a large wave(which neither of them saw) came crashing over their sand castles. It flattened the structures into large lumps of sand in a moment, and drenched the two men from head to foot.

      Ricky said nothing, but simply stood up. He gazed back and forth from the mounds to his friend. Alex stared at the once mighty lumps in dissapointment, then sighed. He shouted over the whistling wind,

     “Actually, you should probably go home, Ricky. It's cold!” Alex was shivering violently in the wind. He was wet, and didn't ignore Ricky's sudden silence and loss of spirits.

     “Ricky?” He shouted, “Go home! What?”

Ricky shouted over the winds,

     “Mr. Alex, why did ya come here?” He shouted. The wind almost whistled out his voice. “I had a lotta fun, and I think you did, right?!”

  “Yes, Ricky! Of course! But why are you out her--” at that point, another large, icy wave came crashing over the beach, right over the top of Alex and Ricky.

     The water got into Alex's mouth and in his eyes, and he had to sputter and close his eyes to recover. He staggered as he stood up, shook his sandy self and said,

     “I'm leaving. Ricky--” he stopped and stood, dumbfounded.

Ricky was gone. There were no footprints running away; all that was left of their midday adventure was the two mounds of sand. Alex stood for several seconds, shivering in the chill of the falling day. Perhaps to assure himself that he wasn't imagining, he shouted,

      “Ricky!” No sound but the dying wind was returned. Alex looked up and down the beach, then he ran out into the surf to search for any tan. There was nothing. Suddenly, something caught his eye as he looked out.

A large green leaf bobbed in the water many feet from the shore. One last gust of wind came and picked the leaf up. As it flew away, the sun shone through the “R” carved into it. Then it vanished into the clear, endless blue sky.

The End

Author's Note

Well, what did you people think?