Cold water on my hot pink toes. Sun beating down. Children’s laughter. I smile innocently. The weather will be nice today, I am sure of it. The waves carry my four-feet-tall frame across wonderlands. They move me with their lullabies and carry me to my cool blue world. Covered in sand, I sit on my rock, a small piece of island in a never ending sea. I gaze at the world around me. Dolphins playfully splashing. Rainbow fish beneath my knees. Seagulls flying towards me, teasing, laughing as I flap my arms, forgetting I’m a flightless mammal. I giggle at the clownfish and I swim with the Dories. I bask in the sun. I carve a heart on my island with the numbers 7/2/01. I hear my mother’s voice a world away, “Just a little longer, dear,” she says to me. “Just a little longer.”

Luke warm water on my dark black toes. Sun so hot it smothers me. My mother’s scolding, “Don’t go far” she says. I grimace at the thought of the day ahead. It looks like rain. My five foot six body is awkward amongst the waves. They lull me from side to side, unsure of what to do with me. They carry me in a direction I went long ago. Curious, I let them, and enter a world long forgotten. Sand uncomfortably covers my snug suit. I wonder aloud why I am so pale and sit upon a rock, hoping to gather just an ounce of beauty. I look up tentatively. Dolphins swim sickly. Dirt brown fish swarm my feet. Seagulls gawk at my hideous reflection. My eyes tears from the sun. I look down and see a heart, with the numbers 7/2/01. Tracing with my fingers, I can’t help but sigh. My mother’s voice calls out to me and I say my last goodbye.