Page 62 of Reaching Avery
“Is here okay?”
Many seconds passed where I could only stare at him. Too afraid to look elsewhere. The water against the dock sounded, as did the occasional dinging of the buoys farther out. In my head, I pictured the dark water waiting not too far away; hiding what lurked beneath the surface.
His hand squeezed mine, and his gaze was unwavering.
Finally, I looked away from him and to the area he’d taken me.
The large slab of rock was big enough to where I could sit several feet from the edge and not feel like bolting. The closeness to the water still had me in a slight frenzy, but it was bearable, as if Mav had pushed me out of my comfort zone just enough to challenge me, but not enough to push me too far.
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
Maverick sat down and gently pulled me down too. One side of me said to let go of his hand because it was beginning to feel way too familiar, but a bigger part still needed him. So I kept holding on.
“Can I ask why you’re afraid of the water?” His voice was barely above a whisper. “It’s cool if you don’t want to tell me.”
It was as if the silence around us forced a quieter volume. Like when it snowed and all the noise was pulled from the air. That’s what it felt like; except for it was an eerie ocean instead of a field of snow.
“Not exactly sure,” I answered, noticing how loud my voice sounded compared to his. It was a bit unsettling; being so loud in an area that remained so silent. So, I took my volume down a few notches. “The ocean seems never-ending, just a massive stretch of deep water. The unknown scares me. And it’s a bit ironic too. A man can get lost at sea and die of thirst because the water is like poison.”
Maverick brought his knees up and rested one arm on them while still holding my hand with the other.
“I feel that way about space,” he admitted, staring out over the rock. “I know it’s not exactly the same thing, but the idea that space is infinite, that you can go up there and travel for years and years and still not reach the end… I don’t know. It just creeps me out. Maybe it’s too advanced for my brain to understand.” He looked over at me. “Nothing can just go on forever, can it? All things end. Eventually.”
I thought on his words.
Could anything truly be infinite? People grew older, buildings crumbled and turned to dust, and the flowers that blossomed in spring died in winter.
“Twinkies,” I said, sharply turning my head toward him and smiling when his eyes met mine.
His lips twitched. “What?”
“Twinkies are infinite. They last forever.”
When Maverick laughed, it was like the world slowed around me. All I knew was the rumble of his laugh and the sight of his eyes as they crinkled around the edges. The warmth of his hand in mine.
“I think you’re on to something,” he said with a smile in his voice. “Twinkies will outlive us all.”
I grinned and averted my gaze from him.
I realized how opposite we really were: he was afraid of what’s above and I was afraid of what’s below. Maybe it was why we worked so well right in the middle, in between space and the depths of the sea.
Just two boys sitting on a rock and holding hands, talking about the immortality of Twinkies. Night and day couldn’t co-exist. However, right before light was shrouded by darkness, there was a moment when dusk reigned.
That’s where we were now, in that speck of time. And although I knew dusk wouldn’t last forever, I saw the beauty while it did.
