The cool breeze whispered a faint tune through the open window. Yet a warm feeling coursed through my body. It was late, far later than I realized, for my alarm clock screamed for me to go back to bed. But I couldn’t get them out of my head. Them. Gosh, two years had passed since the last time we were together. Tonight, it was all I could think about. The games, the laughter, and their faces rushed back, tugging at the old memories. I had never known anyone else from the West Coast, but my goodness if all people from there were like them, there was no better place to live.

The day we met, I stared at the plain white shoes that encased my feet. Back then, when two girls walked toward you, there was not much else to do. Despite this, we hit it off, spending a short four days of fun and excitement together. Next summer came, and we found ourselves together again. Four days stretched to a week. And then, the following year, to two weeks. Those two weeks nearly locked my face into a permanent smile. I never wanted to leave. I never wanted them to leave. But now, as I sit here, heavy eyes threatening my consciousness, one memory holds them ajar.

It was a beautiful, crisp night. The water lapped against the dock, bringing with it a watered-down odor resembling fish oil. On the patio a crackling campfire cut through the crisp night. Best of all, the sky sat above like a dark canvas painted with red, green, and blue streaks exploding in the sky. Seeking to capture the moment, I maneuvered to the pontoon boat next to the dock. And there sat Bella. She stood about five feet tall (no more than an inch shorter than me) and had blue eyes that could melt even the hardest criminal.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” she remarked.

Yeah, like you, I thought. We were all just friends, but there was something about Bella that captivated me. Sure, she was pretty, but it was more than that. Bella was wild and fun. I was cautious. She wanted to do tricks on the tube. I wanted them to stop trying to get me to jump off the dock. She was one year younger and lived on the other side of the country. I wish she lived thousands of miles closer.

“Yeah, it really is. I love the way it looks at night,” I mused.

“Rae, come over here. Hey, why don’t we all meet up tonight, say one o’clock? C’mon, sis, it’ll be fun,” nagged Bella.

Bella and Rae were sisters. They bore the same last name, and that was where the similarities ended. Rae stood as tall as a redwood. Brown specs danced around her face, tracing the black frames that hugged her eyes. Rae was great, and she and I shared many similarities. She was the piece of the puzzle that made our trio perfect. And true to form, we were both uncertain about Bella’s idea. But soon enough our apprehension was gone and the planning began.

That night I rose from my bed, cool air beckoning from the open window. And I waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing. No beam of light signaled for me to come out into the welcoming simplicity of the night.

It wasn’t until the sun had climbed into the sky that I learned Bella and Rae had fallen asleep and that they were sorry. I wasn’t mad. No, I was sad because it was then that it clicked. I had a feeling that that was the last night I would see them. Sure enough, just as the flame had gone out from the campfire, so had my incredible summer.

Now, two years later, it was this that kept me up tonight. It was what made me do the very thing that we had not done three years before. I slithered out of bed and headed for the door. If not for the screech of the door, the dark outline of my body, and my clumsy feet, the single bead of sweat that dripped down my face never would have been produced. But there I found myself, lying on the hard, unforgiving wooden surface that kept me above the water. All around me was black nothingness. For all I knew, I was one ill-advised turn away from a late-night dip. But it was worth it. Looking up, a small crescent cut through the darkness, outdoing the other, smaller specs.

They would love this, I thought. And suddenly, there she was. Her extraordinary blue eyes shone ten times brighter than the moon. She reached out, and when I extended my hand in response, she was gone. But it left me with a warmth that only the sun could bring. I soon forgot about the realtor’s sign out front that all but branded my favorite place – the one I had been coming to since I was a baby – sold.

Wave after wave, breath after breath, I imagined them here again. I imagined them peering around the corner as if to be sure that we were alone. I imagined the night that never was.