Page 84 of Tangled Up In You

“What are you doing?”

“Em, well,” he said, and then laughed. “I don’t know if I’m higher than I’ve ever fucking been or what, but I could swear I saw bits of neon blue sparkles in the water out there.”

Sophie was tempted to tease him but opted instead to help him understand what he saw.

“You did see it. It’s bioluminescent phytoplankton.”

“What are you on about?” he asked with a laugh.

She laughed too. “No, really. Christian was just telling us that they had a swarm of it a couple of days ago. Apparently, they’re tiny plants and they bloom if a colder current gets pushed up to the surface in warm climates. We missed the best of it. He said the whole surface of the water was glowing bright blue, and he even went surfing in it and came out looking like Tron.”

“Fuck me. What a trip.”

“Yeah.” She watched the ebb and flow of the water for a few quiet minutes. It seemed the marijuana didn’t make him chatty. “Hey, let’s see if we can find the spark.”

“What’s that?”

She hiked up her sundress and fell to her knees. “The spark. Christian said the phytoplankton can live for up to a day in the sand and that if you dig in the wet part you might see a spark of light. That’s them.”

Digging with both hands, she stared into the small hole she was making. When a tiny spark flashed, she laughed out loud. It lasted less than a second but was a thrill nonetheless.

“That’s madness,” Conor said and moved to his knees beside her.

Soon they were both digging and pointing out sparks to each other and laughing excitedly. After a time, they stopped digging and worked to catch their breath.

Sophie moved toward the drier sand and started pushing it into a small, slightly inclined mound. Then she made another next to it. She stretched out, using the mound as a sort of pillow, and gestured for him to do the same.

Conor settled next to her and they looked up at the sky. The moon was a sliver and the stars shone brightly without nearby city lights to dim them.

“It’s amazing here,” she said with a sigh.

“You know any constellations?”

“Hmm . . . Big Dipper?”

“Can’t quite see all of it in this hemisphere,” he said softly.

“Oh, yes. Of course, you’re right.”

“Look there,” he said, and pointed.

She followed his direction but wasn’t sure what he was indicating.

“See those four?” He pointed at four spots and the pattern of a giant square became visible to her eye. “It’s part of Pegasus. The winged horse.”

“I see it!”

“The story goes Pegasus was formed when a few drops of Medusa’s blood fell into the sea and mixed with the foam.”

“I never knew that.” She glanced at him, but he was still looking upward. “What else do you see?”

“How about that one there, the very bright blue one?”

“God, you can’t miss it, can you? Not once you’ve actually focused on it.”

“It’s called Vega, and it’s that bright because it burns something like six or seven times hotter than the sun.”

“Amazing.”

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