Everything felt like it was ending that day, that hot summer day. The air was thick with humidity and the faint scent of sea brine. The ocean crashed rhythmically against the shore; the perfect soundtrack to a seemingly perfect day.

Too bad perfection was going to end in about four hours.

My best friend and I were crowded underneath the shade of a beach umbrella, which provided a total of five square feet of reprieve from the relentless sun.

We had, with my family, gone to a beach off the coast of Florida for the day. It was an important—no depressing—day; for today was the last day I was ever going to see my friend.

I was moving the next day.

The sun reflected off of the stark white sand, incinerating the bottoms of feet and melting everything capable of melting. She, my friend, splashed a good amount of ice water on her face; an attempt to keep the heat at bay.

“I think you’re supposed to drink the water,” I said taking a swig of water myself.

“Yeah, ha. Shut it,” she said.

I laughed. She laughed. A musical chorus of laughter. The little sarcastic cackles came from my sister and her friend as they came over to the shade from the ocean. My friend and I shared a single glance and a handful of sand was clenched in each of our fists.

Chaos ensued.

Minutes later, my friend and I dove into the lukewarm waters (a mouthful of saltwater as a result) to avoid the flying sand attack.

After an hour of avoiding my sister and her friend, my friend and I sat right on the cusp of the shore. Our behinds were planted upon shards of broken shells and the old remnants of seaweed stems. A loud CRASH! And some screams. We had let ourselves be taken by the waves into the larger part of the ocean. Multiple times we did this, letting the waves knock us senseless and drag us like we were nothing into the water. Upon standing up, we found that we were covered head to toe in sand.

Then it was time to leave the beach. I knew then that it would be the last time in a long time I would ever see the Atlantic Ocean.

I didn’t mind.

What I did mind was dropping my friend back off at her house. We both slowly got out of the car, wanting this moment to last.

“So, this is goodbye then, huh?” I asked.

“Yeah, I guess so,” she said.

We said our goodbyes, which didn’t last long. I knew I was going to miss her a lot, way more than I could ever tell her.

So it was a simple goodbye; one word that can change a person’s world, perhaps forever.

I know it did for me.