~Because there's nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline, no matter how many times it's sent away.~
-Sarah Kay-

The sand felt cold under my sweat shirt as I laid down on the shore with my arms folded under my head and looked above into the sky. A million stars twinkled down on me, making me feel trapped in a magic ball adorned by unlimited pearls. It almost felt as if I was in the center of the Earth for real. The sea breeze blew over me, caressing my bare arms and flowing through my hair. I had a strong urge to hold the sand and let it blow off into the air. I had been doing it for years now. My eyes traveled towards the water that reflected the moonlight as if it was the mirror and moonlight was Cara Evelyn.

I turned my head to my left where she sat with her arms around her bent legs, her head turned upwards as her impossibly bright eyes explored the night sky. Her chin rested on her knees and her shoulders moved up and down in a slow rhythm as she breathed the sea air slowly. The expression on her face was quite dreamy. I could feel her starstruck emotions flooding out of her midnight blue eyes which were sparkling as water reflected in them. I found myself wondering what could be more beautiful than this delicate girl with a dream catcher crowning her hair which shone as silver as moonlight itself? Miracles do happen.

"Have you ever been on a stargazing date?" Her lips spiraled the words lightly. I had never been so caught up by anyone before. It frightened and excited me at the same time. The night was dawning upon us with every passing moment and the universe sprinkled magic with every breath inhaled. I never knew I could be enchanted by the mere sight of feathers hanging down a dream catcher and kissing her cheeks and neck like she was made of soft cotton.

"Have you?" The words came out before I could think of something better.

"It's one of the most beautiful things I can recall in my life." Her eyes explored further into the sky and I felt as if I was missing something really fascinating out there. I had a bad feeling that she could see all the galaxies and milky ways beyond the skies and I was just a normal human being with ordinary eyesight which could only reach our sky.

"I thought you didn't compromise anything over sleep." I chuckled lightly as I recalled how she had sprung up from the mattress a few moments ago on the mention of sea. Shoving me out of the study, she had changed into a navy blue cotton frock that reached her knees and trotted out with her flip flops hanging loosely down her fingers and the dream catcher resting on her head in a vaguely cute style. I had asked her what she was going to do and she had corrected the she to we before telling me that we were going to meet the sea.

Upon her great insistence, I had pushed open the back door of the study and both of us had descended the three steps of stairs before setting our feet on the soft sand. She had immediately dropped the flipflops by the stair steps and had run wildly out to the sea with her arms open wide and the feathers of the dream catcher trailing behind her. The night air had once again rung with her laughter as she danced on the sand under the wide sky decorated with sparkling stars.

I had made a hurry to capture this enchanting sight somewhere in the back of my mind because somehow, I didn't want to lose the feeling of that ethereal moment. I tried to recall the name of that book which I had read on the train three hours ago but in vain. I was afraid of how badly this girl was snatching my sanity slowly from me and I had no control left over it. I never knew that it took only three hours after midnight to change one's entire life.

"Look around, Aaron. Hear the waves crashing against the shore. Hear the rush of the wild water. Absorb this beautiful sight of reflecting moonlit liquid in front of you. Think about the remnants of God knows how many shipwrecks resting under the depth of these waters." My thoughts drifted to Titanic as her voice lulled me to internal peace.

"Ponder over the wonderful marine creatures floating under the sea. Look above and see those stars." She pointed a finger towards the sky. "Look at those soft clouds hanging around the full moon. See the canvas of the night sky painted with all these fascinating objects. Drink this universe, Aaron Troy, and tell me if you'd put this heart grasping feeling over sleep?" She turned her head towards me for the first time since what I felt like forever and a bright smile lit up her face that reached to the ends of her eyes and poured the happiness of her heart into them. I so wanted to get up and kiss her right there, right then.

"Is that why you love dream catchers?" I heard my hypnotized voice lost deeply in her awe. Everything was spiraling out of my control and the most frightening thing was that..it felt so good to me.

"What's the connection?" Her face twisted into a light frown as she looked down over my face with confusion dissolving in her eyes.

"You talk in such a way that I feel like I'm walking in a wonderful dream with all the bad thoughts filtered out. That's what dream catchers are for. Are you a dream catcher?" I finally told her what I had been feeling all that time.

She chuckled lightly, her laughter ringing once again. The perfect set of her teeth glittered like pearls in the moonlight as her face contorted into a heart throbbing smile. It was hypnotic.

"No. Of course, not. I'm not a dream catcher!" She patted my shoulder slightly. "I don't love dream catchers for such stupid myths, Aaron." Her eyes melted and her features became soft as she played with a feather hanging down by the side of her face.

"I love dream catchers because I can recall from my past, a very special dream catcher hanging by the window of someone I have adored all my life. I cannot forget the rainbow colors woven in it as it was the only thing that was visible in the night light when all else failed. I love dream catchers because this one dream catcher was my source of solace in my pain. I love dream catchers...." She stopped and sighed lightly. "....because they make me smile when I want to die." She became silent over here. I thought as if I had seen a ghost of her past wavering somewhere in her eyes during the time she had spoken all those words.

"You can always keep this one if that's what makes you smile." I nodded towards the purely white object adorning her silver hair. Deep inside my heart, her words were making me all gloomy. Why did she want to die so much? Who was this someone she adored so much? Why had she left everything in her past and met me on a strange journey tonight? How could she even trust me with everything? Was she crazy enough to walk away with any man she met in the middle of the night on a train? Where did she belong to? What was she doing here out of all the places? What had brought us together in this vast world of God?

A rush of questions but none had answers tonight. Maybe someday..but not tonight. I couldn't spoil the most perfect night of my life just like that.

"Don't look at me with that strange look in your eyes. I know you have your doubts, but that's what life is. A huge doubt. Isn't it?" She looked at me quizzically. "I think I'm gonna keep it then." Her fingers ruffled the soft feathers around her face.

"Yeah, it is. I think I'm gonna wait for the right time to remove these doubts. All I know right now is that it's not tonight." I sighed and looked away out to the sea.

"Tell me about yourself then." She pressed my shoulder softly so that I turned my head to meet her deep gaze.

"Me? Well..it's not something so special as your life. Nothing extraordinary." I smiled. "But here it is. My parents died in a plane crash three years ago when I was eighteen. That makes me twenty one at the moment. I've no siblings. We had a huge house back in town, I'll show you tomorrow. I had to sale it out 'cause no matter how well off we were, I couldn't handle the expenses of my studies. This library behind us," I pointed backwards, "is the ancestral library of my family. I'm quite lucky to have it since it's attached with this private beach where you're sitting right now. It's been passed on from generation to generation and I decided to shift here with our servant Robert. He lives here with me. I don't know where the heck he is at the moment, maybe sleeping back in his cabin but he's my best friend for life." I stopped to take a breath. Then I picked up from where I had left.

"So..he's been through everything with me, faithful as ever. He's a gem. Wait till you meet him tomorrow." I winked. She smiled as the sea breeze flew the feathers around her soft face. "At that time, this library belonged to my grandma but last year she transferred the possession to me. She lives nearby and often visits me here. You'll love her brownies." My eyes lit at the memory of her wooden basket filled with chocolate brownies that she usually baked on Saturdays for me. "Be prepared for a lot of prying, though. Handle it yourself since I know nothing about you except for the fact that you are Cara Evelyn who owns a pistol and is irrevocably in love with dream catchers." I rolled my eyes and she joined in my laughter with me. I stopped laughing and looked at her, stunned by what a lively sight it was!

"You make me feel like an almost spy, Aaron Troy!" She slapped my shoulder lightly and continued laughing until she came to a stop gradually and her eyes bore deep into mine.

"You know, you shouldn't look at me like that. It makes me feel as if I'm magical." She smiled softly as her eyes sparkled impossibly.

"That's who you are. Magical." I concluded dreamily.

"Wake up, idiot. Don't lose yourself like that often! Did you forget what I said back in the alley?" She frowned while shaking my shoulder a bit. I let out a hearty laughter in response.

"I guess I'm gonna use that advice from now on." I scratched my cheek lightly as I averted my gaze out to the sea for the third time in the whole night.

"So..you've been here a lot of times. This place is filled with your childhood memories?" She asked lightly while raking her fingertips on the soft sand.

"Yeah. My entire childhood is absorbed in this sand that you're playing with." I nodded while watching the stars above. I wondered if I'll ever be able to think so deeply like her.

"I miss it. My childhood." She whispered and closed her eyes for a moment as in pain. Then she looked away out to the sea.

"Life is all about missing. No?" I whispered back.

"How would I know? I've missed life." Her words broke as I realized she was sobbing quietly.

I sat up and extended my left arm over her shoulder as she leaned into me and cried silently, her body shaking with the effort. I shut my eyes tightly and kissed her silver hair as I felt the woven net of the dream catcher beneath my lips. Maybe I was a bad thought and the dream catcher wanted to filter me from her purity.

But if I was, then why me of all on such a strange night in that train? Why me? This is called fate and I wasn't going to ignore it for a million dollars even.

"You have me, you know." I whispered over the night air. It had been a really long night and soon it was going to be dawn. I looked out towards the horizon for a hint of light but found none.

"That's why I chose you of all." She sniffed and backed away from my hold. I instantly felt a deep feeling of emptiness rush into my heart as she distanced herself. I crossed my arms in front of me to remove it but in vain.

She stood up then. I noticed the tattooed rose on her right foot as she started walking back bare foot on the sand, her footprints embedded behind her. This was what she was doing to me, leaving footprints on my heart and I was lucky that I had no waves there to wash them off.

I got up and followed her, walking over her footprints. She turned around and noticed. A bright smile lit her face as she shouted out to me over the sea breeze. "You are a child, Aaron!" Then she turned and picked up her flipflops resting near the stair steps. She hadn't worn them even once.

"Look who's talking!" I cupped my hands around my mouth before shouting back to her. She sat on the stair steps and rolled her eyes. I rolled mine back while running towards her. Reaching her, I sat by her side on the third step.

"You shouldn't roll your eyes too much. I know that you have a brain back there that you are always trying to find." She chuckled lightly while taking off the dream catcher and placing it in her lap, the feathers caressing her bare legs.

"When I'm next to you, I seriously doubt that I have a mind." I smiled at her.

"Oh, you'll get used to my rants one day and then you'll get tired of my strange talks. You'll throw me out of your place that day and then I'll go on another train journey to find another person like you who would agree to shoot me for a hundred bucks!" She laughed and I got mesmerized once again by how melodious it sounded.

"I'll never throw you out. I promise." I replied back seriously as I shuddered at the thought of what she had said.

"I trust you." She gave me a light shove with her shoulder and got up to go inside. I felt as if someone had gifted me the entire universe in a single night. I stood up to follow her.

"It means a lot to me, Cara." I tasted her name and thought how wonderful it felt as it rolled off my tongue. Entering the study, I shut the back door behind me.

"I know. It's been a very long night." She spoke quietly as she walked over to the mattress and set her flipflops by the wall before laying down on it.

"The longest of my life." I whispered while walking over to the door to depart to my reading nook before the day started.

"Not for me." Once again, her voice sounded like melted honey. "I've had much longer nights before."

My hand lingered on the door knob before I opened it and stepped outside.

"Aaron?" A ghost of a whisper reached my ears over the sound of the waves crashing the shore. I peeked inside to hear what she had to say.

"Yeah?" My voice sounded full of expectations. I feared how much I desired that she might notice something incredible once again and take me out on an another adventure to the center of the Earth.

"Don't you ever forget to say goodnight." I smiled as I noticed she was almost asleep as the words slurred off her tongue.

"Goodnight." I said out to her still silhouette lying in the shadows, her legs crossed and her arm resting over her eyes like before.

"Goodnight. Don't let the bed bugs bite....." She was almost asleep as her whisper floated towards me lightly.

I smiled and shut the door behind me as I walked towards my reading nook. Laying down by the window, I looked out towards the stars and chuckled to myself.

"And she says I'm a child."

Author's Note

I hope you're enjoying this story 'cause I'm trying to give my best to it. :')

Umm..the song for this chapter is the same as previous one. Uncover by Zara Larsson. ♡ I've loved this song since the first day I heard it and imagined this entire scene in this chapter with it! ♥♡♥♡

Who thinks Caron is going to make it till the end? ;)

Honest reviews please. *-*

Much Love xX
Hazel ^-^