The grasses gave way to flat,
shiny stones worn smooth
by hundreds of millions of waves.
I picked up a stone and skipped it
across the water.
It was swallowed by a wave.
I waded a few feet into the water.
It wasn’t warm or cool.
It felt like an extension of myself.

I climbed up onto a boulder and reclined.
The sun warmed my body from the front,
and the stone warmed me from the back.
I closed my eyes and my eyelids
were glowing reddish-yellow.
I knew it was from the blood
in my body, but I smiled to myself and pretended I was
illuminated. Glowing like a star. The sun wouldn’t burn
another star,
her sister.

I heard gentle splashing and someone
climbing up the boulder.
I felt a cool shadow pass over my body,
not sure if it was a cloud or a body obscuring the sun.
I felt a warm hand slip
into mine and squeeze it gently.
I didn’t open my eyes to see who
it was. It didn’t
really
matter.