MABEL
She shrugged, mimicking layers of indifference towards his first statement. Not boring by any means, but with the notion of a thousand other things out there, the temptation to linger, to press her feet into the sand, to walk into waves, outweighed placing bags of sand along designated routes. It’d been something she’d done to herself anyway, so no grudges could be slung upon anyone except her own entity, and eventually they’d be done, and she could tackle the currents at her own pace. Or merely relish the sights, the sounds, the swells, study them for what they were worth, journey back home and tell –
Except, there was no one else to tell, except for Evelyn.
Her eyes sought the ground, and then another pile of bags, hoisting one over her shoulder to continue the process. The stranger’s following remarks contorted in her skull though; more enticements, Rainbow Roads (and so she imagined things like from their storybooks, or her mother’s quiet voice reading out loud – avenues and routes colored, painted, like those warm hues flanking the skies) and foreign words like Aumakua – sunrises she couldn’t hold for very long, but a sunset could be savored. One of the phrases tripped her up though, and her brow furrowed in confusion. “What’s a lighthouse?” An actual house of light (and that sounded bizarre, uncertain of why anyone would want that)?
Except, there was no one else to tell, except for Evelyn.
Her eyes sought the ground, and then another pile of bags, hoisting one over her shoulder to continue the process. The stranger’s following remarks contorted in her skull though; more enticements, Rainbow Roads (and so she imagined things like from their storybooks, or her mother’s quiet voice reading out loud – avenues and routes colored, painted, like those warm hues flanking the skies) and foreign words like Aumakua – sunrises she couldn’t hold for very long, but a sunset could be savored. One of the phrases tripped her up though, and her brow furrowed in confusion. “What’s a lighthouse?” An actual house of light (and that sounded bizarre, uncertain of why anyone would want that)?
I bare my teeth
and stretch my claws out
and stretch my claws out
