The smile on Harry's face drops. I force mine to drop too, imitating him before bursting out laughing. His eyes stay on me as I lose it, and I look up to see him matching my expression, eyes twinkling.
Standing, I slide on my floppy hat and tug on Harry's hand. He quickly gathers the Nem and follows my lead back towards the town. But as we turn into town, I drag him down another path and the pleasant scents drift away from us. Well, more like, we drift away from them. The town is really too crowded. The food is nice, definitely, but staying amongst the overwhelming crowd isn't relaxing at all. It'd be much better if we were… under the sun, sitting in the sand, letting the cool breath of the ocean whip our backs, and savouring the crunchy sand between our toes.
"Where are we going?" Harry asks me, trying to get a look further down the path.
I giggle, already inhaling the salty breeze, letting it tickle my nose. "You'll see."
Several years ago, my mum led me down this same path, and the trees looked so much taller then. The skies were so far away, and the ants on the path were so much more like little friends to me. I had on pink sandals and a noodle-strap floral dress. I may have even been wearing a small floppy hat too. We had just emerged, dad, mum and me, from the crowd in town, and I had been complaining about how I wanted to leave, go back to the ship, return to my friends at the kids' club who were so much more fun to play with than shopping for knick-knacks. While I was pouting, my parents glanced at each other, then at me, and my dad whispered something to my mum, grinning ear-to-ear before disappearing back into the crowd. That was when my mum took my hand and led me to the beach, playing with me in the pattering waves, laughing when I laughed, and feeding me the nem that my dad had bought from town.
Past the deep green palm leaves, the ocean sparkles like millions of blue diamonds, forming small ripcurls, painting the pale sand with beautiful pieces of itself. Just how I remember it. Except, with a new lilt in the rhythm beating in my heart, so much brighter.
Kicking up the yellow grains, I race towards the sea, not worrying at all that my eyes are brimmed with tears from speeding so fast down the shore. It's a rush of excitement when the water meets my toes and feet and ankles, surrounding them with a comforting coolness. I throw my gaze up to meet Harry's eyes, inviting him verbally first, then crying out, "Harry! Come on!"
He frantically but happily rushes towards me, then calls out, "But what about the nem?!"
"SWALLOW IT!" I scream.
I turn and face the horizon, letting the blue of the sky and sea hug me tight. I look up at the sun, letting the warmth bathe me. Then there's a splash of coldness on my back, and I don't turn quick enough before Harry's hands are locking with mine, challenging me to fall into the water.
Now, I may not be Lilli-competitive, but I'm not going to back down until Harry can prove that he has the strength to knock me down.
"You sneak!" I yell at him, gulping down my laughter to concentrate on shoving him away.
He chuckles loudly, eyes squinting. At first, I think that the gesture is sweet, but then I realise that he's only doing so to distract me from this game of mercy.
"Gonna crack yet, Taz?" A lopsided grin is spread across his face, and his chestnut hair is shadowing his deep-set eyes, and his challenging but soft words almost make me start melting on the spot.
Lunging at him, I call out, "YOU WISH!"
My weight on him makes him fall, and he's lucky that he's facing the shore, or his entire body would be soaked. I land on top of him, squealing in shock at the coldness tickling my thighs, and the semi-pleasant sensation of the sun through the water on my skin.
"I've won, you know, Harry?" Splashing him. "You're a goner!"
He splashes back at me. "Not yet!"
We're both laughing our heads off maniacally, and even the fact that I'm literally sitting on his tummy isn't embarrassing at all. Turning up the craziness notch, Harry starts to tickle me, laughing at my cry-laughing. I must look like a mad lady, and I'm worried that someone will come off the path just to discover this mess.
He attempts to say something multiple times, but he keeps wheezing and cackling. "R-ready to – call it – quits?"
I'm struggling to catch a good breath, so with the air I have remaining in my lungs, I surrender. "Mercy!" Harry's tickles continue, his smile beaming, eyes twinkling. "Mercy, I said! M-mercy!"
Finally, the unbearable tickles cease, I can finally inhale a deep smell of the ocean, and slowly let my eyes fall on Harry's garden-green ones. And by the time the water pooling around us merely turns to miniature ripples, the brush of his skin on mine is too much to handle. With a nervous sigh to cover up the Mount Everest of uneasiness beneath, I start to stand with the intention of pulling Harry up with me, but instead of increasing the space between us, Harry does the exact opposite.
His hands grip my forearms tightly, holding me down on top of him, a hard expression on his face, and a stubborn murkiness in his eyes. I'm wondering what he's thinking about, staring so sternly, that every second that passes sounds like the overbearing slamming of the world clock's hands upon the earth.