The Lifeguard Stand

We sat and talked, talked about our love and how we felt about each other, and how much we loved the ocean. Never did I mention the past few years. She spoke to me like we never had parted and I wasn't going to question her about the past. We lay down in the sand together; Jesse had this huge pink hat that was big enough to cover both of our faces. We covered our faces with it and blocked out the rest of the world. Face to face, we kissed and talked for hours. When the sun got too hot, we went into the water. We stood there in the surf about waste high and held hands and hugged. We held on to each other like our lives depended on it. This was too good to be true, was this really happening, or did I really die and I was in heaven?

When the sun started to set, Jesse said she had to go. I begged her to come back to my place with me, but with no words spoken, I knew in my heart she couldn't. The beach was almost empty now, so we got up in the Lifeguard stand, snuggled close and held hands until it was almost dark. We said our goodbye and I slowly watched her walk away down the beach and fade into the darkness. When she was out of site, I walked toward my house, away from the lifeguard stand. When I got about a hundred feet away, the same feeling started coming over me again. Uneasy feeling, my hands started shaking again and all my senses went blank. This time I saw no figure coming at me, but my senses then started coming back as they did before. The sun was then again bright, this could not be, I spent the entire day on the beach with Jesse, and I saw her walk into the darkness. When I finally came around, I found myself back in the sun, where I started out. I could see the lifeguard stand in the distance. I was really confused, and had to ask a passerby what time it was. She said it was twelve o'clock noon. How could this be? I lost no time at all. I sat down on the beach and had to gather my thoughts. I must have been dreaming. It was so real; I really believed I spent the whole day with Jesse. The more I thought about loosing my senses, everything going silent, made me think I must have been sleeping. I spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach as I had planned, but the thoughts of Jesse were so overwhelming. I walked up the sand, over the dunes and half way down the street to my house. I walked around the side and washed the sand off of my body in the outside shower. It was about five o'clock now; my guest would be arriving in about an hour. I entered the house through the side door, and headed directly for the telephone. I was very tired; it truly felt that I had lived two days. I still wasn't convinced that my experience with Jesse was a dream, it was too real. I swear I could smell her on my skin. I picked up the phone, I still remembered her number, and how could I ever forget it? I started pushing the buttons, I remembered the excitement I used to feel in anticipation of hearing her voice, and I felt it again now.