Chapter 6

I immediately tucked myself to bed. It was such a long dinner and I could barely process what was happening. If only mom and dad were more careful when they researched the place, being one of the few residents here was giving me the creeps. As always, the beach was loomy and quiet, not a single soul wandered there.

Looking up at the ceiling, I blinked several times trying to fight the sleepiness that was engulfing me. I needed to think, and reflect on this whole trip; how was I going to face tomorrow? I'm so bored here it's getting exhausting. What's worse, we have no choice, we have to stay two more days here no matter what. We came this far… maybe this is a way for me to appreciate the different sceneries on earth and look on the bright side, for once.

The lethargy won, as I slowly closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

 ~~~

"Come on kids it's a nice day for a picnic! Hurry up let's go!" Mom called out to us as Jonathan and I ran towards her leaving holes in the thick sand beneath our feet.

It was a scorching hot day, the whole beach was lit up by the sun, it looked like it was the brightest day ever and I'd lie if I said that seemed true, everyone was just so happy besides dad not seeming to care about anything at all and mom panicking over our stuff. I could tell dad didn't want to be here at all. Mom still had her hand over her head even though she was already wearing a hat, the weather must really be taking a toll on us.

"Let's play hopscotch Lucinda! I want to play!"

"Not now Jonathan maybe later. Besides how are we going to play in this large crowd? There's hardly any sticks and empty spots. Let's just build a sandcastle OK?" I narrowed my eyes at my little brother who was stuffing his feet in the sand. For some reason it just made me anxious, sure it's just sand but what if he loses his balance and falls..

A loud thump erupted behind me. I said it too soon.

My little brother was now laying flat on the sand, particles covering his face, it was such an unnerving sight, I could just imagine him accidentally swallowing them, that would be a problem, for mom at least. She was walking briskly towards us with her blue and white striped beach hat and cocktail in her hand. As always despite already wearing a large hat, she still had to cover her forehead with her hand. I was prepared for her to start lashing out on us, even though we or I to be exact, never asked to be here in the first place. Why were we here? Seems like dad wasn't having it either. There wasn't any clear explanation for this and the crowd, just too many people it was hard to move around. Poor Jonathan he really wanted to play some games, too bad there wasn't an ideal spot for us, seems like we just have to build a sandcastle after all.

I thought hard, and remembered. Mom wanted to come all the way here because of some special event which featured a boat ride that we had already booked to the middle of the ocean ahead of us. A sight – seeing trip with other people on the boat. Honestly speaking, dad didn't see a need to come to the beach today and the boat ride really wasn't anything special. What's more concerning is the fact that we'll be in the middle of the ocean in a small boat and having Jonathan around who was still running around hecticly would be dangerous. Not sure if dad's point came across to mom but considering the fact that I forgot about it meant mom unfortunately did too and now we're stuck here.

"Kids be careful we don't want to create a mess here. Our ride's in forty – five minutes so don't go around creating a ruckus." Mom told us sternly.

I nodded and went over to Jonathan who was making footprints in the sand as though nothing happened.

We sat down and started moulding the sand together to form a mount for the castle. Jonathan grabbed a stick and started carving the details on the sand mount, he was really invested in his work. Once the drawings were done, our castle was ready until –

Spoosh!

He smashed it with his tiny little fists. I watched as he started throwing a tantrum. I knew he wanted something and that required one of us to take him somewhere to find that particular thing.

My little brother started gesturing for something, he started pointing at the toys the other children at the beach were playing with and than back to the sand. Oh he wants those! It's a shame we don't have his toy shovel and tools today. The only option was to get a new set, there were a few stores not too far away from shore. I looked at Jonathan who was now squinting at the sand and wondered if we could perhaps take a walk before our ride.

Now mom was standing there wearing shades, admiring the beautiful view in front of us. I decided to approach her, sure half an hour wasn't long but maybe just maybe we could return on time, even if Jonathan doesn't get to play with his toys he could always do that after the boat ride.

"Mom, can I go to that store we saw just now? I'm taking Jonathan with me I think he wants to get something."

There was a moment of silence followed by an abrupt pause before she finally answered me. She just told me watch where I'm going and hurry up because we didn't have much time left. So I took off and hurried down the walkway looking out for cyclists, joggers and making sure my grip on Jonathan's hand was tight.

The wind blew as the leaves were lifted off the ground and carried to the lowest feats of the sky like a spiral. This was going to be a nice and relaxing walk.

 ~~~

We got to the store shortly. Jonathan immediately let go of my grasp and made turns and rounds at the different sections of the store. Soon we came to a stop where the stuff he wanted was.

Jonathan spent minutes staring and fiddling with the blue toys that he wanted to build his dear sand castle with. I didn't know what to say to him, it seemed like he wasn't so sure now, he might change his mind and we couldn't spend the whole day here. My little brother brushed the blue toy shovel that was right in front of him again and bit his finger in curiosity. Adorable!

I bent down a little to match his height which didn't startle him as he was aware of my presence the whole time.

"Do you want these?" I pointed at the toy shovel which was wrapped in a fish – net like kind of bag with other toys in it. Basically a set of equipment needed to build a sandcastle at the beach. Perfect for Jonathan since it had all that he needed for today although I did feel like getting something else for him since we already had these at home and they were still in good condition. My heart hoped he would walk over to another isle and find interest in something else, I wasn't comfortable with the idea of getting the same exact thing.

Luckily he did, my little brother hopped to the other shelves. I knew he spotted something that peaked his interest. We had only half an hour left so I wanted to get something for Jonathan as soon as possible. Mom would surely be frustrated if she heard we came all the way here for nothing and left her panicking back there because of the boat ride.

Speaking of the boat ride, I didn't feel good about it and I don't know why.

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard Jonathan jumping up and down with a toy making squeaky sounds in his hand. It looked like some stress reliver toy for children.

"Ooo found something Jonathan?"

He nodded and showed it to me confidently revealing an orange squiggle monster, a name I thought of right away the moment I saw it. It had goofy eyes, a spikey body and a trunk like an elephant's.

"I want this!"

 ~~~

We walked back to the beach area. There wasn't much time left so we head to hurry. Jonathan was walking briskly with the toy in his hand, he really seemed to love it.

Closer, Jonathan stopped in his tracks and looked at the view in front of us. Even though the weather was scorching hot, there was still a nice view laid out in front of us. We admired it for a while before Jonathan started walking towards the waves in awe. His sudden move startled me that I almost tripped on the damp sand and hurried after him, telling him to stop because it wasn't safe, especially for him.

I watched, still standing beside him making sure he didn't wander off further. For now he was still within my range on land, as long as he doesn't move towards the water, we'll be alright, but I was so wrong.

He ran towards the waves and grabbed a rusty old bucket that was washed up.

"Jonathan stop! Don't touch that!" I ran after him as he slowly scooped up something from the water, ready to show me once I got to where he was standing. "I need to hold him wherever we go when it comes to the beach or he'll always do things like this!" I nagged to myself.

My legs quivered, and I felt every inch of my body fall stiff at what I saw in the bucket he was holding.

A Jellyfish.

Not some washed up lifeless body of an animal, but a live jellyfish swimming in the bucket oblivious to the fact that it was trapped in a bucket, a bucket held by my little brother.

"Look at my new fwend!" Jonathan giggled and stared at the luminescent creature in the bucket he was holding. I just wanted to snatch it away from him but now I was stuck in a situation that could end in two ways. One of them being the "that was close!" ending or the other which I didn't want to think about where something goes terribly wrong if none of us, perhaps make it three since it's also deduced by the jellyfish if handled poorly.

Of all things it had to be the exact same creature that haunted me in my nightmares and this was taking place again in the same setting.

"Jonathan can I see it? Come closer to me." I wanted him to see my curiosity and earn my trust to be closer to the jellyfish which I'm sure he already has. Once he gets too engrossed by me 'admiring' the creature I will relentlessly take the bucket away from him, there was no other option, whether I get stung, as long as Jonathan's safe and that same scene wont be replaying in my head ever again.

My chest tightened, I had only one chance to do this. Jonathan stepped closer to me, I was surprised he didn't try to touch the calm creature, his arms were wrapped around the bucket after all, perhaps he was too focused on his findings.

Now that he was standing beside me, letting me view the creature that I couldn't stand seeing at a time like this, I used this chance to quietly slide my hands against the side of the bucket, slowly, latching onto its surface before immediately lifting it up from Jonathan's grasp. A sigh of relief escaped from my core as I hugged the bucket tightly and explained to Jonathan everything about jellyfish. I wasn't sure if he understood but at least I got my point across. The confused look on his face devastated me, he was so young and was already exposed to this horrific accident. I didn't mean to upset him. It would've been nice to let him admire the creature with precaution for a while, but it's the root of the cause of my dreadful and unhappy relationship with the ocean, that may take a longtime to cure.

"What about Jellyfish?"

"Maybe next time."

I walked towards the splashing waves, ready to release the creature until I saw-

More.