The lazy afternoons were the ocean's favorite time of day. The time when the morning chores were complete and the two families would come to the beach to play. Both families were steadily growing; the older children romped and played while the mothers carefully helped the younger ones.
Children's laughter floated across the water, causing the ocean to sparkle in delight. The fathers, more like young boys themselves, chased their oldest sons down the beach, ignoring the scolding voices of their wives. They picked up their boys, ran into the water, and tossed the screeching children into the waves.
The ocean knew the game well. It snatched up the boys and carefully deposited them back on the beach. The father covered in tattoos playfully yelled at the water while the other splashed out of the waves to retreat to a safe distance; he also knew the game well. He quickly ran to his beautiful wife and, much to the merriment of his children, cowered behind her. Using her long hair as a shield he shouted warnings to his friend in the water and gestured for his wife for help. The silver-eyed woman only laughed and swatted at the hands clinging to her skirt.
The tattooed man ignored the warnings from his friend and continued to taunt the ocean. The ocean swirled around him, splashing him on one side, then the other. The man drew his leg back, but the ocean anticipated the move and retreated at the last moment, causing the man to kick into the air and loose his balance. He fell onto the uncovered sand.
Hearing the boys' laughter from the beach, the ocean rose up and covered the fallen man with water. The boys collapsed onto the sand in fits of laughter and the ocean even saw the two women trying to hide their smiles.
The man emerged from the water sputtering and wiping his long hair from his face. He bowed to the ocean in surrender and made his way out of the water to join his still laughing family. He took their teasing with laughs of his own, and drew the silver-eyed woman into his wet embrace. The ocean could hear her protests and the playful bickering that only siblings could enjoy.
The tide soon began to pull away and the lengthening shadows of the trees signaled the approach of the dinner hour. The ocean rose up when the parents waved farewell, ushering their reluctant children to follow them back to the village. The two older boys rushed back to the water's edge and peered up at the ocean with expectant eyes. The ocean knew what they were silently asking.
It gave a single nod of its head before joining the waves. It drew back its waters over a patch of sand it had been carefully protecting from the rough currents. The boys scrambled onto the sand and quickly collected the treasures they found. The younger boy found a smooth rock and threw it at a nearby coconut, hitting the fruit directly in the center. His silver eyes sparkled, no doubt seeing the rewards of his spear practice with his father.
The older boy collected pink shells for his mother, searching for the perfect one to give as a gift. The ocean studied the boy, noticing his already impressive height and admiring the new tattoo that appeared on his arm. This one of two boys sitting under a palm tree.
As the sun sank closer to the horizon, the ocean slowly filled the hole where the boys worked, its gentle way of reminding them they needed to head home. Familiar with the routine, the boys raised no complaints as they waved goodbye and ran to the trees. The ocean shimmered and swirled in farewell and watched the boys disappear.
It settled, allowing its waves to rock with the lowering tide. As night fell the ocean drifted off to sleep, knowing that the boys would return as soon as the sun rose. They would soon be old enough to begin sailing on their own and the ocean could not wait to see the adventures they all would share.
Thank you so much for reading my story! I hope you enjoyed it :) So my plan is to write one more story for this Moana series. I'm thinking maybe some time travel so that the boys in the epilogue can meet the kids in the prologue? Let me know what you guys think! Bye for now!