He told her once to always wait five and a half hours, so that's what she did. When he left her stranded on that beach she insisted they stayed there, that he would be back no matter what he had said.
During the first hour she sat patiently, taking her shoes off and feeling the warmth of the sand against her feet in contrast to the cool breeze.
During the second she walked down to the water, jumping over the waves and splashing her clothes in the process.
The third hour she collected sea shells and rocks of all kinds. Shiny and smooth, rough, dark, colorful, anything you could imagine. She skipped the flat ones into the ocean, watching as they bounced off the surface as if they were poison to water.
On the fourth hour her family was asleep in the car, but she stayed wide awake, waiting. She wasn't going to leave a second early. It began to drizze lightly, but she stayed outside to not wake anyone and so when he came she could get to him as fast as possible.
When the fifth hour came, she felt her eyes begin to water again. It was getting late now, the sky a cascade of colors as the sun set. She took a shaky breath and told herself there was still time left.
And finally, her phone beeped, alerting her 5 1/2 hours had passed. She started at the phone and threw it down angrily. Then, she stayed an extra minute just in case.
He never came.