Up over the sand topped hill beyond the quiet beach there lay a quaint little town surrounding in palm trees and bathed in the sunset's glow. This town was much like any other town away from the beach. It had shops and employment facilities and houses in two varieties, big and small. It was for the most part a peaceful town where everyone could get to know everyone easily.

It was in a small building that was an art studio that Jack Dawson was at work, drawing his last portrait for the day. Jack was tall, lanky, and thin. He had slightly overlong hair the color of sunshine that hung over his forehead and lightly touched his eyelids. He wore simple clothing that consisted of a white tee-shirt and a pair of faded light blue jeans. His eyes were the same color as the ocean and they were now etched with concentration as he put the finishing touches on the portrait he was drawing of a little girl who sat across from him on a stool in her father's lap.

"There, it's done," he said after signing his name in the lower left corner.

The little girl got off of her father's lap and went over to him to see the portrait. Her father went with her and they both smiled when they saw it. The portrait was like a colorless photograph, only somehow even better as it seemed to capture the details which it seemed otherwise only words could describe, such as the sparkle in the little girl's eyes, and the gentle creases within her father's face and smile.

"It's really very good, Mr. Dawson," said the little girl's father. "I do believe you've got talent."

"Thank you, Mr. Cartmell," said Jack with a modest smile.

Then Mr. Cartmell gave Jack his payment, took the portrait, and left the studio. Then Jack picked up his art portfolio, turned the open sign on the door over so that now it said closed, and went outside and locked the door before starting on his way home.

Across town, in a small Italian styled diner, Fabrizio De Rossi was just now cleaning up the place and picking up dishes left by customers and collecting a few tips here and there. Fabrizio was a native Italian who had come to America when he was seven years old. Everyone Fabrizio knew liked and adored him. Maybe it was because of his charming accent and slightly imperfect English to go with it, or maybe it was his unfailing sense of humor, or maybe it was his rather unusually sweet nature and manners. Whatever the reason, he was not short on friends, that was for sure.

Just then, one of his friends walked into the diner. He looked up and smiled as he saw Brandy Brady. She was a Hispanic girl with long black flowing hair and chestnut colored eyes and large lips and a tan skin and a finely chiseled figure.

"Bouna sera, Signorina Brandy!" he said cheerfully. "How are things going with you and Tommy?"

"Going great, Fabri," said Brandy brightly. "In fact, I think he is starting to fall in love me at last!"

"I knew it!" Fabrizio said with a twinkle in his warm brown sparkly eyes. "I bet he will ask you to marry him.

"I don't know," said Brandy. "That don't seem logical for him to do."

"But amore is not logical," Fabrizio said pointedly.

"I just came by to invite you to my birthday party this Saturday," she continued. "It will be by the beach at the shoreline."

"Will there be surfing?" asked Fabrizio eagerly.

"Sure, if you'd like," said Brandy.

"Then I'd love to come!" he said.

"Great," said Brandy. "And mention it to Jack also as I'd like to see him there too."

"I will," said Fabrizio. "Ciao."

"Ciao," said Brandy as she left the diner.

Then Fabrizio put everything away, turned over the open sign on the door so that now it said closed in the front, and exited the diner, locking the door securely behind him, and stared on his way home.

When Fabrizio arrived to his home, which was a rather shabby looking white painted house sitting on top of a hillside nestled in-between several large trees, he opened the door and found Jack his roommate was there waiting for him.

"Bouna sera," greeted Fabrizio. "How was your day at the studio?"

"Pretty good," said Jack. "Had some new customers. How was your day at the diner?"

"Just magnifico," said Fabrizio. "Tips came in plenty today. Oh! And Brandy stopped by to invite me to her birthday party by the beach this Saturday. She wants you to come to."

"Well, I'd like to," said Jack. "But I don't have anyone to go with."

"What is wrong with that though?" asked Fabrizio.

"Well, if I had a date with me I could keep my distance more easily from those crazy friends of Brandy's," said Jack.

Fabrizio grinned. "You just always seem to attract all the attention to the women and you know it!"

"Well, that may be," said Jack. "But I don't have as much luck as you do, after all you've been dating Helga Dahl for six months steadily now."

"True," said Fabrizio. "But she won't be able to come to the party with me as it is on her day of working the night shift at the hospital she is a nurse at. So, I'll just have to watch out for the crazy women myself. But you will find the one for you someday," he added with certainty. "Helga and I met just by chance all those months ago, and I knew," here he sighed, "I knew from the moment I laid eyes on her she was the one for me. So never give up, Jack, you'll find her, just keep your eyes open."

Jack smiled. "Alright, Fabri, I will," he said. "And I'll go to Brandy's party with you."

"Alright!" exclaimed Fabrizio joyfully. "And you might even find the right one for you there. Brandy is always finding new friends after all."

"I don't want to count on it, though," said Jack.

Jack then went outside to watch the sunset as he often did whenever he could. He sat down upon a bench in front of their house and gazed upward as the yellowish white sun hung low over the horizon turning the sky overhead a deep pink and orange hue and casting a purplish glow upon the water in-between.

He looked down as the sun began to complete its descent and looked at the deep blue ocean lined with creamy white foam lapped its waves gently upon the pale brown sandy beach shoreline. He listened as birds called out to one another and the wind blew serenely whispering through the great palm fronds of the nearby trees.

He sighed contentedly as he leaned back and looked up as the first bright stars of the evening appeared in the sky overhead. One of the reasons he liked to come out to watch the sunset was to see if he could catch a glimpse of a shooting star. His parents had been dead for quite a while now and his father had told him that when you see a shooting star it means a soul going to Heaven. Of course he had heard other theories of what shooting stars were but this was the one he held close in his heart.

He looked out over the ocean again and saw how the ocean seemed to stretch on and on. He had lived by the ocean for his whole life and he always wondered what lay beyond the ocean. And as much as he loved his home he always wished he could cross the sea someday and head out for the horizon and explore the lands beyond here and meet new people. Though at the same time he knew it would probably be a very long time before he could do so as he was so poor right now.

His musings were interrupted suddenly when he saw something washing up on the ocean waves nearby. He stared at it and watched as it slowly came to rest upon the sandy shore as the waves continued to lap softly against it. His eyes went wide as he realized it wasn't a thing, it was a person!

He quickly got up from the bench and hurried down the hillside toward the figure lying at the bottom. He saw that it was young girl with long red hair and creamy white skin like the sea foam. She was wearing a long blue dress trimmed with green lace. As he approached her and knelt down beside her for a moment he assumed she was dead, but then when he gently turned her over and checked her vital signs he found to his immense relief she still had a heartbeat and a pulse. Though her breathing was quite shallow as no doubt her lungs were filled with sea water.

Fortunately, Jack was well trained in CPR and he proceeded to do so on her. Minutes afterward she started coughing and sputtering up the sea water and he patted her on her back to help her get it up. Then her eyes slowly opened to reveal the most beautiful mix of blue and green he had ever seen.

They stared at each other for a moment and then Jack asked, "Are you alright?"

She choked slightly and nodded weakly. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Jack Dawson," he replied. "What's your name?"

"Rose... Dewitt... Bukater," she replied awkwardly. "Did you just save me?"

"Yes, I suppose I did," replied Jack humbly. "You almost drowned. How did you get so far out in the sea anyway?"

"Well, I... I went swimming," said Rose with hesitation, "and I dived under the water and hit my head on something on the bottom. That's all I can remember before you saved me... and... thank you... by the way."

Jack smiled. "The pleasure is all mine. Now we'd better get you dried and warmed. My house is just up the hull. Come on."

So then Jack wrapped his strong arm around Rose and helped her to stand and then led her up the hill and into his house. Once they were inside they found Fabrizio in his robe and bunny slippers and when he saw Rose his eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he exclaimed,

"Mamma Mia! Jack, what did you catch in the ocean?"

"Fabri, this is Rose. I just saved her from drowning and she is very cold, tired, and hungry. She'll have to stay with us for tonight at least," Jack said very seriously.

"Oh! Of course!" exclaimed Fabrizio as he hurried into the kitchen. "I'll go put on some tea and soup!"

Then Jack led Rose over to the couch where she sat down and rested while he went to get some towels to dry her off with. When he was back he gave her the towels and asked,

"Why were you swimming in the ocean so late in the day?"

"I... just... felt like it," said Rose as she tried to dry her hair.

"But wasn't it cold?" asked Jack.

"Yes... but I like the cold," said Rose with a bit of embarrassment.

Jack didn't press her any further, especially since it was just then that Fabrizio entered the room carrying a try of hot soup and steaming tea. He set them down on the table beside them and then handed them to Rose one at a time.

"Thank you both," said Rose gratefully. "You're both so kind."

"Well, my parents didn't raise me to be otherwise," Fabrizio replied.

"Mine either," said Jack. "Would you like to sleep in my bed tonight? I'll just sleep on the couch of course."

"No, I wouldn't want to take your bed from you, Mr. Dawson," said Rose.

"Please call me Jack, and I insist on it as you are our guest, an unannounced guest but still a guest," he said.

Rose thought about it for a moment and then said, "Very well. But I have nothing warm and dry to change into though."

Jack thought on this for a moment and then said, "Well, you can borrow my bathrobe for tonight then. And tomorrow we'll get your dress clean and dried."

"Thank you," said Rose.

Then Jack found his bathrobe and loaned it to Rose and led her into his bedroom to sleep. Then he went to the couch and fell asleep on it.

The next morning Jack when Jack awakened he walked into the living room in his pajamas and found Rose still wrapped in slumber. He smiled slightly as he thought of how serenely beautiful she looked as she slept, almost angelic. Though she was beautiful there still seemed something about her that was somehow missing, something so lost and scathed.

Before he had much time to ponder on this Rose began to stir on the couch. She stretched and brought one arm up above her head and her other arm up by her face as she yawned lightly. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at Jack.

"Good morning," she said a bit sleepily.

"Good morning," he replied. "Did you sleep alright?"

"Yes, very well. Thank you," replied Rose as she got up from the couch.

"Now I suppose you'd like to use our shower," said Jack.

"Yes, if you don't mind," said Rose.

"Not at all," Jack assured her. "Come. It's this way."

He then led her across the hall to the bathroom door. When they reached it they found it was locked and from inside they could hear the water running and a high-pitched Italian voice singing out loud,

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away!"

"Fabri!" Jack knocked loudly upon the door.

"I'll be out in a momento, Jack!" Fabrizio called from behind the door.

A moment later they heard the water turning off and then the door opened and Fabrizio stepped out, wrapped from the waist downward in a thick blue towel and smiling brightly.

Jack then let Rose enter the bathroom. "Please don't mind Fabri," said Jack. "It's just he's always the first one to wake up in the morning."

"I don't mind him at all," Rose assured him. "And he is a good singer."

Jack then closed the door and a moment later he heard the water running again. Then he waited patiently behind the door until Rose was done. When the door opened and she came out, wrapped in a thick white towel that just covered her from the top of her breasts to the end of her waist,, he saw that her flaming red hair, while still slightly damp, was now washed and brushed well and was in thick wavy curls all around that reached to her shoulders. For a moment he though he had stopped breathing. She looked like a Roman princess with only a crown missing from her.

Rose caught his stare and said, "Well, it's your turn now."

Jack blinked as he snapped himself out of his trance. "Oh, yeah!"

He then went into the bathroom and showered himself and washed his hair. As he was in there he couldn't help but wonder why he had been starting at Rose the way he had and been thinking such thoughts. It seemed so unlike him.

After he had showered he left the bathroom and went into his own room and picked out some fresh clothes and changed into them. He then went into the kitchen where he found Rose was sitting at the table and watching Fabrizio as he was making apple pancakes.

Fabrizio sang along as he turned over the pancakes.

"When the full moon hits your eye
Like a big pizza pie
That's amore!"

His voice rose a note higher on the last line as he whirled around and flipped a large pancake into the air and caught it neatly onto a plate.

Then Jack sat down at the table beside Rose as Fabrizio served the three of them each plate with three large apple pancakes in them.

"I've never had pancakes with apples in them before," Rose said as she bit into one. "How did you learn to make them?"

"It is a family recipe from my Mama," Fabrizio explained with a modest smile.

"You also have a lovely singing voice," Rose added. "Does that run in your family also?"

Fabrizio just chuckled as he blushed and replied, "Thanks, that's what Helga says too."

"Who's Helga?" asked Rose.

"She is my girlfriend," said Fabrizio. "My angela di luce."

"Oh," said Rose. "So you're taken. And so am I," she added with a hint of melancholy.

"By who?" asked Jack.

"By Caledon Hockley," replied Rose. "Have you heard of him?"

"Yes, I think so," said Jack. "He is the son of the guy who owns a chain of steel mills around the United States including here and he comes to the beach to vacation from year to year."

"That's him," said Rose. "Me and him are engaged actually. Though we can't get married until next year of course since I'm only seventeen."

After a moment Rose changed the subject as if the current one made her uncomfortable. "So, you two live here together?"

"Yes, we do," said Jack. "Just because we both come from poor families and we want to help each other with expenses and suchlike."

"We are also the best of friends," added Fabrizio with a broad smile. "We've known each other since childhood."

"You two are so lucky for that," said Rose.

Then they finished their breakfast and Jack asked Rose, "So would you like for me to walk you home, or can you find your way back yourself?"

"I think I should probably walk back myself," she replied. "After all, mother wouldn't like to see me come with a stranger after a whole night."

"But you said you were seventeen didn't you?" asked Jack.

"Yes, I am," said Rose. "But mother doesn't seem to understand what that means."

"Well, can we see you again?" asked Jack.

"When did you have in mind?" asked Rose.

"Well..." Jack thought for a moment and then suddenly it came to him. "My friend Brandy is having a birthday party this weekend at the beach and she invited me and Fabri and I'd like you to come if it's not too much trouble"

"Sure, I think I'd love to go to the party with you," said Rose. "If I'm able to."

"So we'll see then?" asked Jack.

"Yes, goodbye. And thank you both so much for everything." said Rose just before she left through the back door.

Fabrizio smiled. "La Rosa is a bella madonna, no?" he asked Jack.

"Yes, she sure is," said Jack. He felt like he meant this more than he had ever meant anything before.