#drablet.

She comes out beside me and closes the sliding door. Her orange hair hangs over her shoulders, her sunhat helping to block the sun that’s beating down on us. She’s smiling, I know it, I see it, but… I can’t make out the rest of her face.

The sand is warm under my feet. 

Mom looks like a hula dancer, the way she’s dressed. 

I touch the sand with my hand, building a sandcastle. The water rushes past mom’s feet, over her flip-flops, and gets closer to me every time after it pulls back. I put my hand in the coming wave, which flows over me and my castle. 

“It’s all wet!” I exclaim, none too pleased. 

“Uh-oh! Looks like we’ll have to build a fortress,” Mom says, her hands on her knees while leaning forward. “Or maybe a moat…!”

“A moat,” I repeat, my eyes back on my gloppy castle. “...”

Mom holds out her hand, beckoning me towards the water with her. I take it, but the sun is shining so bright… 

So bright… where is she…

Mom…

…

..

.

Her eyes slowly blink open, white and fixed. 

It was that dream again.

…