The sound of the waves merged with the cries of the sea gulls, slowly drowning away in her giggles. Brown hair whipped across her face, the wind being gentle and yet stern. But she ran on ahead, turning and laughing, beckoning him to follow. And he wanted to, oh how he wanted to.
He felt stuck in the sand; part disbelief, part fear.
He then turned around to the sound of barking, the source invisible, constantly moving. He thought a red blur moved by his left and then by his right; the paw prints in the wet sand a proof of his existence. But he was nowhere to be seen.
It went all quiet. The waves quietened, followed by the wind dropping.
And then suddenly out of nowhere, she asked him, "I want to run…I want to walk…"
"With me?" he asked. Sarcasm. Or was it in his head?
"I want to leave footprints behind…"
"With me?" he asked her again, his voice laced with disbelief.
"I believe in you…you make it all worthwhile…I want to just be with you…"
"With me?" he whispered, desperate to believe her. What she offered. "With me…with me…" The sound echoes, suddenly becoming stronger and stronger…when suddenly it's a name…Whitney?
"Whitney? Isaac Whitney?...Isaac?"
Ah, yes. Things are falling in place finally. He takes one more moment to see her smile as she disappears in the wind, the sound of his bark following her.
He then props himself on an elbow, removes his hood before turning around and asking with the right amount of snark. "Hello John, come for me too?"