Abbie's figure rested on the sand watching the waves crash against the beach, loudly, as white birds flew away from a pair of odd, strange dogs. They looked like a mix of a dalmatian and a German Shepard. Abbie wore a blue baseball hat on her head that appeared to be torn on the crown of it. The symbol at the center was dulled. She was looking over in the distance of a rather lanky, tall man with a short hair cut. Crane was going to try again. He was a really determined, stubborn man when it came to riding waves. He had been getting better over the passing years.
Abbie laughed, clasping her hands together seeing the aged figure making its way to the next growing wave. Abbie was in a swimming suit that complimented her aging figure and 'I had children and proud of what they gave me' belly. Which, in truth, was correct. Her graying, curled black hair rested on her shoulders. Grace Abigail Mills looked gorgeous at the age of seventy-two. There were other beach goers dotting the scene, some of whom were preferring to keep away from the weird old couple. There was a small icebox alongside Abbie that was left open with several supplies inside the second box. Her skin was coated in sunscreen. Ichabod's figure skated along the side of the wave that gained height and in strength. His long, wrinkled fingers drifting along the wall of the wave.
"Go Crane!" Abbie called.
Ichabod made a left hand turn abruptly then came to the top of the wave.
"Leftenant!" Ichabod called back waving his hand. "I did it! I finally did it! I MASTERED THE POWER OF SURFING!"
Abbie laughed, shaking her head.
"You did it!" Abbie shouted back.
He did it, Abbie thought to herself, the captain finally did it.
Ichabod surfed his way over the wave flying over the water. She watched his flying figure soar over two toddlers playing in the sand making a sand castle, over a tent, and over two oblivious men with scars under their man breasts who were licking ice cream wearing sunglasses. Ichabod crashed into a sand hill. There were patches of grass seen here and there around the pit. A rabbit dashed from where the captain had crashed. Abbie ran after him to find his legs sticking out of the stand and his figure halfway buried into the sand. She tugged him out by his feet from the sand pit.
"That, was, awesome!" Ichabod's hair was full of sand and his hair bangs was cluttered in it.
"Are you okay, baby?" Abbie said.
"I am better than okay," Ichabod said. "I am glorified by my accomplishment!" Ichabod reached over for his surfing board. "your turn."
"Crane," Abbie said.
"Leftenant," Ichabod said.
"I was kidding," Abbie said.
"You pinkie swore," Ichabod said.
"I was kidding!" Abbie held her hands up in defense.
"You said when I surfed a wave without falling in it that you would give it a shot," Ichabod said.
"That was ten years ago," Abbie said. "I did it to make you feel better."
"You are my queen, my partner, and my graceful goddess," Ichabod said. "The beach's unrelenting waves will be kinder to you than it was to me," Ichabod cupped the side of her brown cheeks. "The ocean loves its mermaids."
Abbie felt her cheeks become heated.
"All right, honey," Abbie said. "but you have to do something in exchange."
"Name it," Ichabod said. "and you shall be given it."
"We are rewatching Mary Poppins Returns," Abbie said, into the man's ear with her hand placed on his shoulder while leaned forward toward him with her other hand on his left elbow. She leaned back, her eyes flickering back, observing the man's facial reaction. "lazy night."
"Lazy night it is," Ichabod said.
Ichabod's hands wrapped around her back feeling her shoulder blades with heart like eyes back at the woman. He planted a kiss on the woman's forehead while his goatee brushed against her skin, softly tickling the woman. He leaned away from the woman gently letting of her soft, uneven uneven torso covered in swim suit wear. Abbie let go of the man then reached over taking the large, wide but colorful surf board. She took off her sand shoes then handed them to the captain. Ichabod used his ranking when it came to going into a 'haunted house', going in to see what made a nose in their bedroom, and what was in their garage this week for example. With a baseball bat, a broom, a lamp, or a small pistol that he had legally acquired. Just because he was a war veteran did not mean he grew fearful of loud noises or sudden cracks in the twigs at night behind him, it meant he came with a fair share of baggage from the field. Some of which he has grown to live with and adjusted to.
Ichabod was staunchly furious at the soldiers who came home from war and were not treated properly.
It was outrageous and heartbreaking at the same time.
That people like him did not get the help they needed like he did.
Ichabod looked over in the direction of the Leftenant, admiring her, at the sheer beauty he lived with every day. Her not-as-thin-body, the way her hair fell, and the way she slept on the couch after a long day on a side job-one in which she lied about her age-to keep her busy. Ichabod, a professor, was happy to gently stir his boon awake to serve her dinner. He came to a stop at the wet sand and watched her go out riding on the surf board. Abbie looked over in the direction of the older man. Two years older than her. He had one hand behind his back shouting encouragements at her that went along the lines of 'the sea will help you!' and 'if I can do it then you can do it, honey!'. It made her heart feel warmed. This was the man she had married. This was the man who solved his soul to the devil and came back with his freedom afterwards. She turned her head away seeing the wave growing in size.
You can do it, old girl, Abbie told herself.
She made her way to the higher level of water then slowly made her way to her feet.
"This is a piece of cake," Abbie told herself. "you stood on a floaty and squirted Joe while it was moving."
Abbie guided the surf board with the wave seeing it grow in size.
"This is not a piece of cake," Abbie corrected herself. "this is a piece of tsunami I can surf!"
She guided the surfboard into the wave gliding her fingers through the wall. She could see the gentle blue water ahead. The shape of a fish tail, the torso of a woman, and long hands. Abbie looked over to see alongside Ichabod stood her sister waving back cheering her on. She moved the surf board onto the wall gaining traction and speed dipping her hand out of the wall. She was leaning down with her hands to her side. She heard her heart beat against her chest. Ichabod held a padd in his hands proudly watching his wife making her way through the long tunnel. Abbie flew out of the wall right at the curling exit that was about to collapse. She flipped in the air.
The surf board landing on a gentle, slow moving wave.
Abbie crashed into the water alongside the surfing board.
The retired FBI Agent's head emerged out of the water and she was hurled over the surfing board giving a thumbs up.
"Thirty-three points for team witness!" Abbie shouted.
Abbie ducked back in then came back out with the wet hat.
Ichabod was concerned at first.
"I dropped our hat!" Abbie waved the wet, floppy hat.
Ichabod sighed in relief.
Jenny rolled an eye.
Abbie put the hat back on her head then started to make her way toward the shore.
Abbie had the hat since she was a young woman in the town of Sleepy Hollow. Since Ichabod entered her life. Since she entered Crane's life. It represented the two's budding friendship that grew, fondly, and mutual pining each other but could not act upon it for obvious reasons. It represented into something that became something more after Katrina's death. Months, afterwards, after the man grieved for the loss of his wife. The only person left from his past in the present. All his friends had become historic individuals and had stolen his quotes claiming it as their own. He was still annoyed to find, every day, words that he said claimed to have been coined by another. She made it to steady ground holding the surf board wearing a smile on her face. She joined the two.
"Jenny," Abbie said. "tell me you didn't track my phone down, again."
"None at all, sis," Jenny said. "I just trusted my sisterly instincts-and the giraffe gave birth!" she took out her small, long square padd to show a short, small giraffe walking alongside the taller giraffe.
"Is that really all you had to show me?" Abbie asked. "You could have sent it to me via email."
"Look at it, Leftenant," Ichabod said. "perfectly wonderful. Perfect reason to search you out and show you," Ichabod took the hat from the woman. "pardon me but I have a hat to return to the car and turn the heater on."
"That would destroy the hat," Jenny said.
"No, it would dry it off," Ichabod said. "worked for the other hats."
"This one isn't over seventy like you two," Jenny said.
"I have been advising her to get a new one," Ichabod said. "which she refuses to do."
"It's the last thing we have of our time together as witnesses," Abbie said.
"Get a new one then that looks exactly like it," Jenny said, as the man walked away. "look at the baby giraffe."
Jenny tapped on the screen and in front of the two sisters appeared the hologram of the baby giraffe. While being wibbly wobbly on its feet looking around curiously. Abbie reached her hand out toward the giraffe and lightly touched the animal's fur. It was synthetic computer generated texture that felt real to the touch and nearly took her breath away. She was spell binded to see the little long, thin legs supporting the body up to the child sized giraffe. She gently stroked the animal's neck looking into the eyes that was not exactly seeing her. Computer technology was advancing so fast. Felt like yesterday that the screens were just flat screen, CGI was not used to reconstruct people from the dead and use their voices like they were still alive, and holograms were a every day use in modern life. Abbie knew how Crane felt these days in a world that she was outdated in.
The large, huge wide view screens aka tv screens.
Best quality to watch moves in order to watch them.
Her hand stroked down the neck of the baby giraffe looking over toward her sister.
"Jenny," Abbie said.
"Yes?" Jenny said.
"Stop using my phone to track me down," Abbie said.
"Hey!" Jenny said. "That is what a sister is for."
"You are too old to be doing that," Abbie said.
"Says the woman who tracks her husband down when he goes missing at a museum with his phone," Jenny said.
"He blends in so easily," Abbie said. "that is for emergencies. This is not a emergency."
"This is a emergency," Jenny said. "this is part of a endangered species that does not have a giraffe born every year." She waved her hand earning a glare from the retired FBI Agent.
"14 and 15 months count as a year," Abbie said.
"One year and five months," Jenny said.
"Same thing," Abbie said. "I can always catch this up on youtube videos."
"But the experience is not the same there," Jenny said. "look at the adorable, baby in real time giraffe!"
Abbie turned her attention in the direction of the baby giraffe stroking the little ones short neck. It was soft and prickly. The silent like giraffe looked up in the air toward the direction of the mother and nodded its head closing both eyes. lifting it's tongue out into the air. Jenny immediately tapped on the screen making the image zap away with a sheepish expression on her wrinkled, graying face. Her curled hair a shade of grade almost all over the place. She honestly didn't expect to see the baby start feeding right away! No one did, actually.
Ichabod came back putting a new blue hat on Abbie's head.
"The hat looks good on you," Ichabod said.
"Is that the cubs hat?" Jenny squinted her eyes at it.
Abbie shifted the front protector with a smile.
"I believe it is," Ichabod said.
". . . Then why is there a elephant on the top?" Jenny asked.
"Respectable source claimed there was a incident at the factory and it is what it is," Ichabod said, as Abbie crashed into a hug with him and Jenny in her arms. Jenny rolled an eye.
"You should have asked for a refund," Jenny said.
"No," Ichabod said. "I rather not."
"I love you two," Abbie said, her arms wrapped around their waists wearing a smile with two people in her life that meant the world to her. She looked toward Jenny and Ichabod. "your impromptu ideas and all."
Ichabod and Jenny shared a glance.
"Speaking of impromptu ideas. . ." Jenny said.
"Would like to go Genie hunting?" Ichabod asked.
"On the weekend," Jenny continued.
"Where we have no plans," Ichabod said. No wonder Ichabod cleared his schedule for Saturday and Sunday.
"After your beach day," Jenny said. She looked over toward Ichabod who agreed with her.
"There's another Genie out there?" Abbie asked, raising a grayed but thinning eyebrow.
"Yes," they nodded.
"Count me in," Abbie said.
"One question," Ichabod said. "I love to do this all day but not at a crowded beach. . . Are you going to let go, honey?"
"Never," Abbie said. "never in your wildest dreams."
"Oh Crane," Jenny said, bemused.
The End.