Starfish

She slightly wiggled her small toes as the golden sand made contact between them, making her smile and giggle. Feeling the tingly sensation of the rough, microscopic, rocks, that formed into a big warm sunny sand beneath the bottom of her feet made the five year old happy,. But besides the yellow sand, there was something else that made her even more optimistic, and that was the blue ocean water.

She enthusiastically, ran into the water shore, jumping as high a she could and splashing the cold water with her petit feet. She would run back and forth each time the water would come near her or when the water wasn't "chasing" her, as she presumed the ocean was doing; playing with her.

"Sora! Sweetie! Come back!"

The little girl name Sora stopped splashing and looked back over her shoulder to see the person who has just called her by name. She quickly gave a small jump into the water as if trying to tell the liquid substance not to go, that she would be back very soon. She then ran back to the lady who had a small bottle on her right hand and an affectionate smile place upon her pretty face.

"Yes, mommy?" little Sora asked frowning at the older woman, disappointed at the thought of leaving her friend, the ocean, by itself, alone with no one to play with.

"Didn't I tell you no to go in yet until you had your sunscreen on?" Sora frowned again and said on her most apologetic tone, "I'm sorry, I forgot."

Her mom laughed and opened the sunscreen, placing a small amount of it on her palm.

"Okay, arms open"

Little Sora happily, did what she was told. She opened her arms in a form of a lower case T, widely enough to be in a position, ready to fly high enough into the cloudless sky, her eyes tightly shut. Her mom slowly moved her hand over Sora's arm rubbing sunscreen onto each of the skin that was exposed, even under the armpit. At this, Sora squirmed at the touch of her mother's hand.

"Stop it! That tickles"

"Hold still!" her mom insisted as she moved into the other arm and armpit. Again she laughed and squirmed. Her mom couldn't help but laugh with her own daughter as her little body moved like a worm that had just been caught.

"Okay, that's enough. Now, the legs."

Sora scowled but let her mom have it her way.

"Awe you done? I want to go now!"

Her mom smiled and patted her on her head.

"All done."

Little Sora laughed and went back to play with the water. She splashed and pranced around the water again and again; the water would leap and wet her yellow pink flowery bathing suit, making drops of water slowly trickle down her face. She splashed the water with her arms and threw the water up her head making the water fall on top of her boyish looking red hair.

"Hey! Watch it!"

Sora automatically stopped, turning sideways to see who had just spoken. It was a little blond headed boy, with eyes the color of the ocean, wearing a bathing short color red his little torso naked. He was covering his eyes with his arms, carefully not to get water on his face.

"Oh, I'm showy. I did not mean to hurt you," Sora apologized, feeling bad for splashing water on the kid.

The boy smiled and said, "Its okay. I'm alright."

Sora felt relieved and turned her attention back to the water. Her short, red, hair friskily jumping up and down behind her ears.

"Can I play too?" the little boy asked, noticing how the little girl was having her own fun.

"Sure! Just jump when the water comes to you."

He joined her inside the water as they both jump in union. They would splash each other; their little hands would sink down under the sandy water and back into the cold air.

"Hey, do you want to make a sandcastle?" the little boy asked interrupting the happy moment of splashing water.

Little Sora stopped and looked at the small boy, she had just met him and he wanted to make a sandcastle with her! Her!

Does this guy want to be friends with me? she mentally thought as one of her small thin eyebrows raised up almost touching the tips of her short hair. She smiled her most charming smile.

"Yes I would!"

They left the liquid substance, their small feet kicking off the powerful water, and back to the sandy land. Sora and the little boy scanned the whole beach of moving people and families, which were gathered to have a good time. They would head to the less crowded people and explore if the sand was good enough to make a civilization of sand. But even for that it wasn't enough.

They headed a bit deep were less and less people appeared until they found a perfect spot to settle where it seemed that the place hasn't been visited because people appear to avoid it.

It was a humid and wet, perfect for the sand to make form. It was also filled with small seashells of different shapes, sizes and rainbow colors. It didn't look harmful or dangerous for people to neglect it; it was just a bit secretly. It had a pretty view of the sun and the water, together, almost reaching to touch each other. The water appeared to be much cleaner and visible, like a moving crystal in the water.

"It's so pretty!" Sora exclaimed looking around the surroundings of the quiet beach. It sure was. Not a soft shadow was present except of the two little kids silently mimicking them on their movements.

"Let's make our sandcastle!"

"Okay!"

Both kids crouched down their small little palms capturing the wet sand that was on reach, between their fingers making a big slob of sand together. After minutes of gathering sand, they had achieved to make a small hill that reached across their waist they patted the cold sand until it started to make form.

"It's going to be the best sandcastle ever!" Sora said, making a small little whole with her index finger, as the entrance of the castle.

The little boy nodded smiling at Sora, who started to hum a soft tune with her eyes closed patting the sand.

"What's that?" he asked.

She opened her eyes slowly, "It's a song my mom taught me."

"Cool, my mom sings us songs too, my little brother and me. Can you teach it to me?"

Young Sora smiled. "Sure! It goes like this: Little star shine for me, little star come to me. I want to touch your pretty glow; I want to be close to you. Don't ever let go, because I will miss you so, and if you do, I hope we get to see each other soon." She smiled again and looked back at the little boy, he was looking perplex but at the same time impressed. "That was cool, you sing beautifully."

"Thank you."

They finished their little so called sandcastle, it wasn't perfect and it wouldn't win first price, but for them it was something they had accomplish.

"Lets decorated it!" Sora exclaimed.

"How?"

"With seashells! Pretty seashells!"

She grabbed his hand and ran to the shore to find seashells; she quickly found the first one she laid eyes upon. "Look at this one! It's yellow!" She picked it up and showed it to the little boy. She went back to searching and found more exotic shells. From the corner of her eye, she saw the boy crouching down and grabbing something that he appeared to have found on the shore of the ocean, he slowly concealed it safely with both his small palms.

"Whatcha got there?"

The young little boy flinched at the voice of Sora behind his shoulder, he had no idea how she got there or when she started to move towards him.

"Uh-uh, um, nothing!" he said quickly standing up quickly, back on a straight position, and face into a bright crimson color red.

"Okay then, let's finished decorating!"

She grabbed his hand again and pulled him back to their position where they had built the perfect sandcastle. Sora would place a small shell on each side of the castle; it almost looked more like a round sand cake rather than a castle. With a relief sigh, little Sora got up with both her hands on her small waist.

"There!" It's done!" she said proudly.

The little boy got up as well and took a view at their small masterpiece. "

Its awesome, I like it. But I think it's missing something," he said looking back at the castle and ruing his small chin.

Sora looked back at it; she would scan every inch of the castle to see any wrong doing. "I don't sing anything wrong."

He smiled and showed little Sora what he was hiding earlier.

She gasped clapping both her small hands on her mouth. "It's so pretty!" she said looking back at it.

"You can put it on the top," he simply said, giving the small object to her.

She laughed and carefully placed it on top, making it look much better. A small bright pink starfish, dead, with its five long legs spread apart. It glimmered a small glow even when it was no longer alive, there was something special about it, though the two young kids didn't know what, they just stared back at the starfish, not knowing that the time was short and soon it was time to say goodbye.

"Sora! Honey! Where are you! It's time to go!"

"It's my mommy!" Sora said, "I have to go."

She gave the little boy a goodbye hug, a hug that made the little boy blush deeply. When she parted away, she smiled turning away and walking slowly towards the voice of her mother.

"Wait!"

Little Sora turned around to see the little blond boy running towards her.

"Here," he said, grabbing her hand and opening her palm to lace the dead starfish on her hand. "Keep it."

She smiled happily and gave him a kiss on his cheek, he blushed more deeply than when she gave him a hug. "Thank you."

They said their last goodbyes, heading towards their families.

"Did you have fun, Sora?" her mother asked as soon as little Sora appeared and gave her mom a hug.

"Yes I did mommy! I made a new friend! We made a sandcastle and played on the water!"

"Sora, I told you before to never talk to strangers!" her mom said in a strict tone.

"But mommy! He wasn't on stranger, he was my friend and he was like my age!"

Her mother couldn't argue anymore, it appeared that little Sora had won the battle.

"Well, okay then. Let's go then, it's getting late. We'll come back soon, okay?"

"Really Mommy?" Sora asked enthusiastically, her squeaky little voice almost out of air because of the excitement inside her body.

Her mom could only smile. "Let's go." She held down her hand so little Sora could grab it. They headed out walking away from the blue ocean and off the golden sand. Little Sora looked back at the beach, clutching tightly the starfish, careful of not hurting it.

"I hope we get to see each other soon," she whispered softly.

/End/