It wasn’t this beautiful five second ago. Five seconds he was reaching up. Ten seconds he was in complete darkness. Fifteen seconds ago he felt his body succumb to the waves. Twenty seconds ago he felt so warm and tired. Twenty-five seconds ago he strained to hear his mother say “i love you”. Thirty seconds ago he looked into her eyes before he went to bed.
When his eyes opened, he didn’t know where he was. Gasoline in his nose and wet salt on his face, his body shook as the Jeep drove across the beach. Colors he never saw in his lifetime waved back at him as if they were old friends. The sky laughed with joy and the water danced along. Something black ra-no, it couldn’t be.
His first best friend. His main man that helped him with Little League and his first breakup with Mindy Scheki. It was his first encounter with death that struck him and changed him forever. No longer was the world a dream but simply reality.
Wet salt burned his eyes as he tears came out. How could this be?
But it didn’t matter, so he whooped and cheered and the colors intertwined them all and the sky smiled with glee and the water continued to race Connor. And it was okay that thirty seconds ago Lee Bennett left the Earth, for a boy and his dog were once again together, and that was all that was needed.
