"Mother's in the hospital, but there's nothing to worry about."
His father's voice echoed in his mind as he swished his feet around in the chilly tide pool. He felt like it was an appropriate time to visit the sandy beach and cool down. He had excused himself from breakfast, hardy having ate anything off the plate.
And he cried.
He was alone so he didn't have to worry about the judgement of anyone else laughing or calling him a sissy. No one was here but him and a far off fisherman. It was cloudy and cold, it even looked like the sprinkles falling from the sky could turn into as big of a storm as the one going on in his mind.
His eyes were still damp and stung from letting the rainstorm in his mind leak out. Rubbing seemed to make the stinging worse, but it wasn't too much of a bother.
His father hadn't come looking for him, and he couldn't tell if it had been a few minutes, or a few hours since he came here, but the dreary weather was indeed brewing a storm. And before he knew it, it was pouring down rain.
It was cold, but it felt like a chilled relief for his clouded brain. He could feel the fresh drops on his face, mixing in with salty tears.
Continuing to kick his feet around in the small pool, he laid down on his back, feeling some of the sand brush into his hair. The clouds above him seemed massive, and to a ten year old boy, a few looked like turtles. He yawned as he stretched his arms out over the sand beneath him. A mid-day nap, he thought, didn't sound so bad right about now.
So he closed his eyes and tried to find a little peace in the stormy world around him.