I was giddy, like a five year old practically hopping up and down in my seat. As we exited the highway and began going through town, my anticipation grew; everything was beautiful and glistening with the summer sun. Heat waves from the concrete licked at the car tires as we made our way through the furiously hot city. Up ahead a bridge loomed, and I was in such a hurry to cross it. We started moving up over the city and then, through the shiny window glass, I saw the blue-green waters, reflecting like a mirror to the sky. My heart soared; I was home.

With the bridge behind us I could see the splashing waters below, and my toes itched to dig into the warm sand. Pressing my fingers to the glass, I could feel the suns rays warming my fingers. I longed to roll down the window and let the dry air run through my hair, but I knew the others would yell at me if I tried. I just sat there feigning patience as I imagined how the bubbling water would feel on my skin. Finally, we came to the parking lot nearest to the beach and I flung the door open; the salty sea smell hit me and I smiled. I climbed out, and I hadn’t been wearing shoes so the concrete burned my feet, but I didn’t care. I was here; I was satisfied.

We took our towels and sunglasses down to the beach that was all we needed. I walked practically skipping with joy, as soon as my toes hit the sand I stopped and took it all in. The waves were sloshing against the shore and everywhere the sun reflected off the sand blinding me. Families congregated lying under beach umbrellas while children ran through the tides giggling and pressing their tiny feet into the sinking sand. Following the trend, we picked a spot, and I dropped my things. The minute I was free of my possessions I took off running towards the ocean. The frothy water tickled my toes as I waded out the waves. They soon tried to knock me down crashing around my legs angrily. I swam out deeper and soon got a mouth full of saltwater; choking I stopped to look around, my friends weren’t far behind me. We floated around splashing each other and occasionally getting caught up in the waves. I, however, was soon distracted by the horizon, the sky that seemed to be swallowing up all the water. I yearned to swim all the way to it like a child I imagined I would be able to touch the sky. For a while we all swam around day, dreaming until our empty bellies reminded of us of our lunch.

Walking out into the parking lot, our feet were practically sizzling with the heat. We reached the car and hurried to make sandwiches with our salty hands then, we devoured them sitting on the bumper of the car and quenched our thirsts with freezing sodas from the cooler. While waiting for the others to finish, I sighed and continued to soak up the summer sun as a breeze blew and dried the salt water on my skin. All around I could hear the seagulls as they tried to steal a snack from some unlucky beachgoers, and I chuckled thinking of how the children would try and chase them off, running after them and flapping their arms. Leaning my head back, I caught a glimpse of the sun right before it disappeared behind a cloud. With relief I thought, the day had been nearly perfect. Touching my shoulder I knew I would be taking home a sunburn as my souvenir. A few minutes later with us still enjoying our lunch it began to rain and warm summer raindrops fell on my face and arms, quickly washing away the memory of saltwater.