Forever and Ever. Amber Aitken

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       1 forever friends

      The ocean tide was at its lowest, the boats sitting high and dry on the yellow beach sand. Early-morning fishermen stood chewing sandwiches while they fished. Somewhere up above in the salty air, white seagulls circled and squawked for their breakfast. The promenade and beach were otherwise deserted, but Coral and her pup Romeo barely noticed. They were running far too fast.

      On the other side of the Sunday Harbour seafront, Nicks was also racing along. Pretty beach houses of sea blue and green stood quietly as she passed them by. Shops were empty too. Not that Nicks noticed.

      Coral and Romeo sped past the cobbled jetty and a huddle of beached buoys with the wind whistling in their ears like a hurricane.

      Nicks’s heart beat so fast it made her chest burn. But that didn’t slow her down one bit. She swiped at the tears streaming down her cold cheeks and ran even faster.

      Coral was the first to spy Coral Hut as it stood quietly in line with the rest of the sleeping beach huts. The sight of its pale pink, minty-green and lemon-yellow stripes spurred her on, and she put all her energy into her final sprint.

      Finally Nicks reached the promenade. There was Coral Hut! She dipped her head and moved her arms even faster.

      The two girls arrived at their beach hut at precisely the same time. But then they were best friends; they did almost everything together.

      “Coral!”

      “Nicks!”

      “I got here as quickly as I could,” cried Coral breathlessly. “I left the moment you called. Are you all right?”

      Nicks was also trying to catch her breath. She was sobbing at the same time, which made catching her breath just about impossible. And talking was out of the question. Coral immediately inspected her friend for any sign of injury. She looked OK. Coral patted her friend’s head. Her long blonde hair was a tangled, windswept knot, but the rest of her head seemed to be in good shape. She zoomed in on her friend’s face with its puffy, red eyes and cheeks drenched in tears.

      “Why are you crying?” she pleaded. Nicks had refused to tell her anything on the phone – she’d only said that she had the worst news ever and that they should meet at the beach hut immediately.

      Finally Nicks took a very deep breath. “My mum has been offered a new job!” she cried out.

      Coral stared and blinked.

      Nicks took a second deep breath. “And the job is in a town almost five hours away from Sunday Harbour!”

      A new job…in a town almost five hours away? Coral gasped (it had taken a few moments for the awful news to make sense). “Is she actually going to take it?”

      “I think she just might! She says it seems too good to pass up. She thinks she may never get an opportunity like this one again.” The words tumbled out one after another.

      Thoughts of endless days without Nicks spread through Coral’s head. Suddenly her dry eyes sprang a leak. The tears spilled over her eyelids and landed on her cheeks with a splat. It really was the worst news ever.

      “But what about you? And me? And us?”