The surf is forever.
We could be archaeologists together, together all the time, digging in the sand for ancient relics.
STARTING AGAIN BY LINDSAY SMITH 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 136
INT. BEDROOM
In the dark Aster on the bed listens to the waves crashing on the beach, a dull roar like distant thunder. She pulls a sheet up over her, and clutches it, with her knuckles touching her chin. A curtain flaps. The wind moans through the weatherboard cladding of the house. A door slams.
ASTER
Darling?
Harry falls onto the bed and takes some of the sheet for himself. He jostles Aster, seeking the warmth and softness of her naked body. And after a moment he lies still.
HARRY
In the mirror I looked like a ghost.
ASTER
Oh that bathroom neon. We can get the neon changed.
(she turns over and talks into a pillow)
Darling, you can’t expect everything to be perfect from the start.
Harry tugs at the sheet.
HARRY
Why do they even put a neon in the bathroom?
The surf booms on the beach.
HARRY
Listen to the surf.
ASTER
Like thunder.
HARRY
I could lie here like this with you listening to the surf.
(puts an arm across Aster’s bare back)
Like this, with you Aster, forever.
ASTER
(her face buried in a pillow)
Such a romantic, ha ha.
HARRY
It would be forever.
ASTER
Things change.
HARRY
Yes I know.
ASTER
There’s no forever.
HARRY
Yes I know that.
ASTER
That’s the reality.
Harry stretches his body along Aster’s back.
HARRY
But the surf.
The surf booming on the beach.
HARRY
The surf is forever. Aster?
EXT. BEACH
A wave hisses up the beach and soaks into the sand at their feet.
HARRY
Any moment now.
Suddenly the full moon rises and rushes towards them over the ocean. The glowing foam surges across the sand and fills their footprints.
HARRY
This is like that time. When we first met. Instead of going back to the conference we walked along the beach and the moon came up over the water just like this.
ASTER
I had never walked on the beach in a full moon.
HARRY
Never before?
ASTER
Not before you.
Then Aster sees the shadows of dolphins hanging in the waves, and she stops still.
ASTER
Do you see them?
EXT. BEACH
They come to a sandhill. Aster’s eyes glint.
ASTER
Race you to the top.
She sprints up the sandhill.
HARRY
Hey wait.
At the top Aster sinks down.
ASTER
Oh, I’m winded.
She slips off her T-shirt and shimmies out of her shorts. She lays herself out on the sand, her naked body etched hard in the moonlight.
ASTER
The sand is still warm.
Harry scoops sand over her.
ASTER
All over.
He scoops some more.
ASTER
Bury me.
HARRY
I’ve never felt so close to anyone before.
(digging deep)
With you.
ASTER
Oh stop! The sand is freezing when you dig deep.
HARRY
We could be archaeologists together, together all the time, digging in the sand for ancient relics.
ASTER
Not too deep.
HARRY
Or run a corner store together.