Daniel was about to take his surfboard out to explore the crazy waves that the Silent Coast had to offer. With its sparkling blue waters and pearly white sand, Daniel considered this to be his own personal heaven.

Funnily enough it was called the Silent Coast owing to the fact that nobody ever visited it. But it was far from silent. The waves crashed and splashed about in a frenzy and the water got so high that when it came crashing down it echoed throughout the lifeless beach. Nobody had ever dared to venture out to investigate the source of the thunderous crashing. Daniel had yet to see another adventurer come to visit The Silent Coast.

The waves here were higher than he had ever seen and thanks to the rockless expanse of coast, it was a perfect destination for surfing.The sun rose high and cast its gleaming rays all across the bright cerulean waters. The water sparkled and glistened so much that one would have thought that someone had strewn a thousand gems across the water. Daniel quickly grabbed his camera and snapped a few photographs to remember this flawless day.

'Lucy would have loved it here' thought Daniel, staring at the camera. And for reasons he knew all too well, he thought back to the day he had decided to leave West City which was one of the most dreadful days of his life.

Daniel had just gotten back from his afternoon run and was about to text Lucy to ask her if she wanted to binge watch the next season of 'Beachy' (their favorite comedy series) when he ran into Mary, Lucy's mother, throwing out the trash.

"Oh Hi Mrs Gray! I almost didn't see you there," exclaimed Daniel.

"Yes, hi Daniel," Mary angrily replied.

"Is... is everything okay, Mrs Gray?" Daniel asked upon seeing Mary's angry expression.

The next sentence changed Daniel's life and he remembered each and every word as well as the sharp and biting tone they came with.

"No. But it will be soon," replied Mary.

"Now listen to me Daniel, I am ordering you to stay away from my daughter. Lucy wants to have nothing to do with you and John and I think you are a distraction for Lucy. And so I am telling you now, stay away."

And with that, Mary Gray quietly returned to her home.

Daniel had never felt such a stabbing pain in his chest.He never thought he would hear such horrible and cruel words from a woman he grew up next door to. Looking across to the Gray's house, he got a sinking feeling that perhaps Lucy had figured out how he felt about her. Perhaps Lucy did not feel the same and was disgusted by his feelings of adoration and love for her. He did not know for sure. But one thing was for certain, he had no idea how he would ever be able to face Lucy now. He had no idea what Lucy thought of him but if it was bad enough for Lucy's mother to tell him to stay away and not Lucy herself, then he definitely had messed up.

It was at that moment that Daniel decided to leave. He would leave and find a place to call his own. He quickly wrote his parents a letter, explaining what he was doing. He showered and grabbed a few sets of clothes and his surfboard, got into his car and left.

He drove for hours. Crashing on friend's couches and after making them promise not to tell anyone where he was, continued on his quest. He had no idea where he was going, but he let his heart guide him and that seemed good enough for him.

Two days later, Daniel found the Silent Coast, and decided to stay. He found an abandoned beach cabin and spent the next few months renovating it with the money he had saved. He attended the community college in the next town and got a degree in Business. He opened his very own surf shop a year later however, business was slow as the Silent Coast was not very well known.

Six months later, he opened a photography store in North City which grew successfully and allowed Daniel to live happily and comfortably. He planned to live out his life peacefully, on the Silent Coast. He made occasional trips to the other cities, where he planned on opening new stores but even with his success and wealth, Daniel still always felt a huge void in his life and he knew that no one would ever be able to fill the Lucy sized hole in his heart, except for Lucy herself.

Feeling saddened enough for the day, Daniel grabbed his long time blue surfboard and, leaving his emotions behind, headed out to the surf.