When he got home he put his bag down and slumped on to the sofa, letting out a big sigh. He reached down the side of the sofa and flicked the little switch which raised the front of the sofa up to lift his tired feet.

He looked at the time and groaned; it was ten past nine already. He hauled himself out of the sofa, went to the kitchen of his small flat to get some water. It was little more than a few steps before he was in his bedroom and lying on his bed. Arnold could feel his limp tired body finally relaxing into his soft mattress; he looked up to the ceiling and sighed he really need to do something about his growing problem; loneliness. Finally he closed his eyes and let the pillow cradle his head.

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"Hey Arnold, over here, see if you can get it this far!" Arnold could see Gabriel, his best friend, raising his hands above his head and jogging backwards across the sand towards the sea.

"Go further!" Arnold laughed and took an exaggerated action stance, feet wide apart, knees bent and a determined scowl on his face, his body twisted backwards and spun fast and he released the Frisbee as hard as he could. At first it flew arrow straight and began to curve left and away from Gabriel, who ran through the shallow sea shore to dive and miss the Frisbee. He quickly jumped up, smiling and waded out to collect the Frisbee.

"Good effort mate, but you missed me" shouted Gabriel, laughing. He then quickly threw it to Jacob who was nearer. Jacob caught it easily in one hand and with a quick flick he sent it floating gracefully towards Joyce, he always was just a little cooler and more composed than Arnold and Gabriel. Joyce jumped and caught the Frisbee a little clumsily in both hands, landed lightly on her toes and spun it back to Arnold. She ran after it and towards him, kissed him lightly in the cheek and said she was going to get some water.

"Can I have some..." Joyce paused and looked though the menu again "some of that "fish stew" please?" Joyce looked up at the waiter hopefully.

"Yes of course. We will have your dinner to you soon." The waiter said and turned to walk away. Jacob finished his joke that wasn't very good but everyone laughed and Gabriel pinged a small olive at Jacob, giggling. Gabriel's deep barreling laugh rolled over the table. Suddenly there was silence Joyce looked at Arnold, looked Jacob, looked at Gabriel. Everybody jumped up and started to playfully fight. "I want the last drop of it!" "No! I will have it!" "You all know I deserve it more" "I will have it: the last drop of...WINE!!!!!"

"Perhaps this can be solved by getting another bottle, boys." Joyce suggested helpfully and with a smile on her face. She reached to pick up a piece of pitta bread and some taramasalata and popped it in to her mouth and sat back in the chair with a satisfied smile on her face like she has just solved a one of the world's greatest issue.

They all laughed at her and the four glasses chinked over the table and twinkled in the afternoon sunshine

The twinkling of the sunlight reflecting off the calm sea had hypnotised him for a moment, but he felt the wind shift and the sail move. He blinked and looked up to see Joyce smiling at him from the other end of the boat. He let the sail out a little, set the rudder and waved at her to come and join him. He could see his smiling face in her sun glasses and feel her warm hand on his arm just at the same time she reached over the side and splashed up sea water onto his back and giggle.

He grunted and squirmed and rolled out of the way and more water splashed around him and he was running through the shallow sea shore to pick up the little ball. He gave it a light throw and then hit is towards Jacob with the wooden bat he held. The ball was hit back and forth between the two friends quickly and easily, rhythmically with a gentle tapping sound each time the ball met a bat. Occasionally it would be missed, collected and reserved. Arnold knew this was the friendly warm up and decided to liven things up a little by hitting the ball higher over Jacob's head. Jacob was forced o jump and reach up to hit it back, the ball came down to Arnold's knees but he was able to hook it back up to Jacob who sent it back fast and direct just beyond Arnold's reach. He was forced to dive and hit. The point was to make sure the ball could be reached to keep the game going, but there was no way the two friends were going to make it easy for each other – it was more fun that way.

Arnold missed the next time the ball came towards him and it plopped into the sea. He bent down to collect and stood up with a little pink plastic spade in his hand.

"I said don't move, you make it more difficult if you wriggle. Don't think about the little creatures nibbling you, just stay still so I can put more sand on!"

"But it's cold and heavy and I can't move" said Gabriel

"Clearly you can move, so stop it. I am trying to carve you into a pretty mermaid mate, but if you carry on wriggling you are going to look more like an old walrus!"

Jacob and Joyce arrived, both carrying handfuls of seaweed. "Here, we found some hair for him" said Joyce, gently placing her load of wet sea weed around Gabriel's head, the only art of him visible above the sand.

Jacob laughed. "I think he needs a beard!" and Jacob put his seaweed on the spluttering face of Gabriel.

"Quick, get photos!"

"I have a couple now!" Shouted Arnold, and at that point the sandy mermaid turned into a flurry of sea weed, limbs and sand as Gabriel jumped up and started to chase Arnold. They ran across the beach and Arnold was tackled and fell laughing to the sand.

He lay on his back, the book resting gently on his chest, and he felt the warm soft sand under his feet and one of his hands, he let his fingers twiddle in the sand and raised his head to see his two best friends and his beautiful girlfriend walking towards him with ice creams in there hand. Arnold sat up and turned the alarm off. His bedroom was dark but he knew the warm bed was not the same as the beach in his dream...

----------#----------

He was tired after a long and difficult day in the lab. He was good at his job and enjoyed the challenge of the work he did but was frustrated that ultimately what did only made rich people smell better to each other, but he supposed it was OK. His legs were tired, his feet hurt a little form the new shoes and is eyes ached from squinting and the bright lights in the lab. But what he was most aware of was the noise of the laughter and chatter of voices in the pub he was passing. He walked on, turning towards home. He could still hear the laughter in his mind and felt the familiar sadness inside because he was sure he would never be sat in the café sharing jokes and drinks with friends.

As he walked past a café the door opened as two more people went in. The sound blared out; a hyena like laugh, loud playful conversations rising above the bee-like hum of chatter, and the chink of crockery as the waiters delivered coffee and plates of cake. Every day on his way home Arnold walked past the most popular café in the city, it looked lovely inside but he had never had the courage to walk in. He was so shy that even the thought of ordering a coffee would make his heart race, his mouth run dry and his hands tremble.

Arnold was probably the only person in the city who wasn't pleased it was Friday. The weekend meant two more days of solitude and loneliness. This year was his third year living in his flat in the city and yet he still felt anonymous. He already had his weekend planed out: on Saturday he was going to clean his flat and make his dinners for the week, and on Sunday he would take a walk through the city to a gallery he had not been to before to see their new exhibition. He would have his trusty guidebook in his pocket so he could find a different route home and discover the history still living in the streets and squares of the old city.

Arnold was lonely because he was shy and nervous around new people. Loneliness is like being trapped in a glass box watching the world go by but without being able to reach out and touch it. That's what Arnold felt like...all the time. He came to England to explore and to follow work opportunities but what he really craved was to create friendships that could not be broken but every month when he went back home to his family in France he went with no one.

Arnold was tired and he just wanted to get home and let them get on with their evening, but a flash caught his eye. He looked again and there is was, coming from the café table on the street. It was the afternoon sun twinkling through the white wine. The lady lifted her sun glasses on to her head, the same glasses he had seen his own smiling face in. He stopped in his tracks. She was with a couple of other people and he heard a giggle and a deeper rolling laugh. He had been here in another time and before he knew it he was standing next to their table.

"Um." This throat was dry and his voice cracked. He didn't know what to say, but he had to say something very soon. "Have you ever been to Crete?"

She had been looking at him as he walked over and she held his gaze and smiled at him.

"That's funny; we were just talking about going on holiday there because Joyce had a dream about it last night. Hey, don't I know you, I have seen you before, we live in the same building. I'm Gabriel, join us, do you fancy a drink?"