A gust of icy wind slapped Jesse’s face; her light hair whipped her neck, tangling itself together. She dragged her feet through the sand, raising a small gray cloud with every step. The grains got caught in the holes in her shoelaces. They rubbed roughly between her toes. She kept moving, one foot after the other, toward the red cliff. She lost her balance and did not hear the thud as she fell to her knees, in the sand. Above and below and behind and in front of her, the wind drowned out every other sound.
Her eyes were fighting against the cold sea air, closing against her will. She sat up, wrapped herself in the sand, pulling the scarf around her nose. She was so alone. She could lie down here forever. No one would find her. She would be slowly buried by the sand, or the high tide would rock her first, and the wind would scream those feelings for her, who was now voiceless. Better than other ways to go.
The sound of the waves rushed in her ears. Mia was scared too when they came there, she thought. Still, she jumped in immediately, running away. She could not swim, but rather trembled at the sight of the currents and as expected she lost her bearings quickly, ended up too far out. That’s when Jesse heard her scream - high-pitched, a sob with the wind. She jumped in quickly and swam, swam till she could feel the cold touch of fingers wrapping around hers, the currents swirling beneath them, Mia's feet flailing for the ground. It was Jesse who guided her to shore, till her feet found uncertain footing on the rocky bottom. It was Jesse who wrapped Mia in the towel, enveloping her in a cocoon, enveloping the cocoon in her arms, hooking one hand into the other, around her. Their hair dripped onto the light towel.
"You didn't wait for me," Jesse said angrily.
"Why should I have?"
She was turned toward her without seeing her. Her eyes were full of the sea in front of her, the wind around her.
Jesse hugged her knees. No cocoon there. She could still feel her body trembling with a fear that her gaze did not show. What was it, in that gaze? Stupid resolution to fight fear or get killed in the meantime. They waited there until the sun, which found them, straight and fiery, resting on the sea. They run away before the mosquitoes attacked Jesse. They never bit Mia.
Jesse struggled to his feet, her balance unsteady. The sun had set; the pale evening light painted the sand gray, and the sea lilac. But the sea was red-hot that day, when she and Mia talked about the universe, the latest shoes they had bought, the serious and the superficial, the sea and themselves as they walked toward the cliff. It was hot, and their feet moved effortlessly along the shore, dodging the sharp shells. Now the sand did not warm her feet; Jesse kept them protected under layers and layers of clothing, and yet something had gotten in and scratched insistently. The wind, however, was the same, icy, lashing. It howled in her ears, only Mia's laughter slipped through, a bird's trill that Jesse could distinguish everywhere. It rode the winds, hopping to her head, making her turn.
"Are you coming?"
An icy grip froze her feet. She stood still, so that not even the rustle of her clothes could confuse her. A crystal-clear laugh burst into the noisy silence of the wind.
"Are you coming?"
Memories tangled with the noise around her. What was it? She knew perfectly well what it couldn't be. Her vision flickered: the clouds were orange, the sea ablaze, brown hair in front of her running away.
"From up there. Are you coming?"
She blinked, everything was dark again.
"Are you coming?"
She hadn't moved a muscle and still she could hear it.
Jesse ran. Once again. She ran in the light of a pale moon, not of that day's warm sun. A birds’ trill echoed in her ears; she couldn't hear her own breathing. Mia left her footprints on the dry quays. Hers were washed away by the wind; theirs had been covered by the sea. She planted her feet in front of the cliff and rested her hands on the rock.
"I'm going there," Mia had said. And Jesse heard that she was afraid. The moon was now high in the sky. She began to climb, remembering the handholds; it wasn't difficult to reach the top. The rock was bare, jagged, it wasn't nice to sit on, but they sat down for a moment. Then Mia got up, smiled at her, and dove without a trace of fear in her eyes. Only resolution. She left all the fear to Jesse, and to this world.
"Come!" she heard again, in the wind and in the chest, as her lungs craved salt water.