He introduces himself as Jay, then accepts her invitation with a nod. Pleased for this opportunity to be in the water, Reef follows a half-step behind, splashing in just past her knees before she pauses to look around. On her left, deliberately out of reach, floats a small school of fish. They are flighty and swift, quick to flash away from any sudden movements. She teases them with a quick lift of her foreleg, chuckling as they zip away. The roan mare glances up then to see Jay looking back at her. He has gone in all the way up to his chest, his dark tail streaming behind him.
Reef sloshes forward to join him. She loves the weight of the waves rocking against her. "Oh, I just paused here for a nap," she explains, flexing her hooves deeper in the sandy bed beneath to anchor herself more firmly against the wash of the tide. "I'm trying to see all the islands before the year is up. It's been a lot of swimming," she adds with a laugh.
Her nose tips toward the water, kissed on occasion by a high-reaching wave as she tries to see beneath the uneven surface. Light has a harder time penetrating these depths, and with the uneven surface glittering under the sun she has difficulty making out much more than a few plants here and there striving to reach the air above.
"I suppose I do travel alone," she adds, though has admittedly never thought of it that way. The interludes between meeting new friends and seeing new places have been both peaceful and rejuvenating for her, for there is always a balance between how much time she spends within her own company and that of others. Even when she is by herself, she is so impressed with all the new experiences she is collecting that there has never been a moment where Reef might have considered herself lonely.
To be alone, however, and lonely, are two very different states of being.
"What about you, Jay?" she asks, raising her head to meet his eyes. "What brings you beachside all by yourself?" |