Down To The Sea

“Ooohhheee, Look at that!” Fallon said, remembering his visit to the ocean with his dad. When Erthen squiggled in his arms, he set the boy down and watched him run to the water’s edge. Concerned for his safety, Alithea rushed forward to protect him but Fallon caught her arm. She tugged away from him. “The water won’t hurt him,” he assured her, not understanding that she was the self-appointed manager of Erthen’s safety in circumstances that were new to Alithea.  

She gathered the boy into her arms but he ducked under her arm, slithered sideways and jumped back down. His paws made a slight impression in the firm damp sand, then he made an abrupt turn to the water. His nails had not grown long enough to dig into the sand as he shifted weight, so he stumbled.  Recovering quickly, he ran into the water’s tongue as it licked the beach.

Alpen and Bebe set the playpen down next to Alithea, who watched Erthen as he stamped in the thin cascade of white foam and water. Fallon joined him. Together they held hands and walked out until the water was half-way up Erthen's legs. Fallon turned back to the others. "It's a bit chilly."

"What's the white foam?" Bebe called out.

Fallon shrugged, then swung his leg forward and back, sloshing up water. Erthen let his hand go and skittered to the side. Fallon scooped up some water and threw it at Erthen who did the same to his dad. "Up!" he called and held up his arms.

Fallon looked back to Alithea. "You hear?" He called out. "He said 'up'." She smiled briefly, more worried about Erthen than rejoicing in his language milestones. He gathered up Erthen, set him on his shoulders and turned back to shore, thinking that Erthen wanted to go back.

The boy twisted and pointed out to the watery horizon. "Go!" Fallon pointed and rocked on his dad's shoulders. Fallon smiled and pointed to Erthen as he looked at Alithea to acknowledge this astounding leap in the boy's vocabulary, but she looked unimpressed.

Fallon turned again and walked in the mild waves until the water came to his waist. There were only small smooth round rocks below his feet. Erthen bounced on his shoulders, wanting to go further but Fallon did not feel comfortable going deeper into the water. He turned to look back at the group and view the shore from the water.