Lonely Oak Chapter 39
#6 of Lonely Oak Part 2 | The Siblings and The Lovers
The first thing Ket noticed was how thick the air was. As soon as he took his first breath he felt it not swelling in his lungs but saturating them; weighing his diaphragm and turning the exhalation into a laborious task. The sun was the second thing. It was bright, for there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It beat down, and he suddenly felt like an ant under the magnifying glass, feeling the heat prickling the skin beneath his fur as he raised his hand to shield his eyes. The hushed rush of the ocean was third. It sounded much like a large crowd of people cheering miles away; like the greatest sports play of every game happened simultaneously and everyone in the world erupted in a frenzy, and he was getting only the muffled fringes of the excitement. He couldn't place it, but the wet, musky vapor in the thick air was fourth. It made his eyes water a little with how concentrated the odor was, like if he had a little bit better vision he would be able to see particles of debris floating around. Last, but certainly not least, was how he began to salivate. Perhaps it was a reaction to the air, and the sudden intense heat that surrounded him, but spit began to swirl around his tongue and he became extremely thirsty. The back of his throat tickled, and when he swallowed it felt like he'd just drank a shot of warm, half-melted Jell-O. But then, he had never been to a coastal area in his life. There couldn't be anything bad or wrong about it, it was just different and he wasn't used to it. Plus, Emeral and the moms made no mention of it so he wasn't about to bring up any criticisms about a place he just arrived in and hadn't experienced for but five minutes. In preparation for the weather, he'd packed his shoes away and opted for sandals. He also wore his zip-offs for the second time, which his mom commented about. Emeral also showed off her legs, and also her arms as she wore a sleeveless gray top. She was surprisingly muscled for a girl; not as much as a boy, of course, but she did have a pair of triceps, Ket noticed. That was for sure. He was suddenly reminded of when he was put into a headlock. There was a tall building before them. Wooden steps led up to a floating boardwalk that served as the primary level of the blue-painted building. The footwear of the people walking upon it made a clunk distinct from any other, and when Emeral looked down between the cracks of the slats of wood that supported them, she got a bit dizzy. Inside, the wood continued uninterrupted. It gave a strange sense of vulnerability to see the flooring so open with gaps and even a chunk of it missing in the corner by the door. The inside was dim, but for the sunlight reflecting off the white sand far beneath their feet. This caste slits of light across the walls and the ceiling, pushing the level of atmosphere from strange to surreal. As the group made their way to the counter, the kids realized that it was composed of an actual fish tank, complete with live fish. There was a group of people already there, but after a few moments they left, and the kids could see into the tank. Sand swirled up and down as fish darted about, some big but most of them little. There was even a starfish but because it didn't move it was hard to tell if it was real or fake. There was a hermit-crab that looked fake until Emeral saw it wiggle and walk a few steps before its home sucked it back in. "RV or Tent?" The otter at the counter inquired, setting up arrangements with the adults. "Tents, two," said Momma B. Emeral was mesmerized by a very long fish that looked like it was stuck on the side of the tank. She called Ket over to look at it. The weird fish looked at them with a gigantic eye, rolling it around, while its big mouth--at least they thought it was a mouth--remained stuck on the glass. Emeral peeked around the corner to get a better look, for it was on the side-wall of the tank, and she could see the back of its throat wiggling in and out like it was a vacuum cleaner. When Ket tried to look at Emeral's insistence, the fish skittered away and went to a pile of rocks, disappearing. "All right," the otter said with finality, "You're all set. Please read the signs posted at your site and keep it clean." They bid thanks and went back outside, the sunlight blindingly bright to the point it physically made Emeral balk. Their campsite was actually very close by, only a few minutes' walk from the building. The ground was a mix of sand, tufts of grass, and a few rocks here and there. A picnic table was set up to mark the site, and on the side leading down to the ground was a plaque of wood with rules written on it:
- Tents must be at least 10 ft. Apart.
- No open fires.
- No fireworks.
- No loud music.
- Do not enter others' sites without permission.
- Lights out at 10:00 PM
- Report any ant beds / beehives / wasp nests.
"Seems simple enough," Momma R. commented. "Why ten feet apart?" Emeral asked, pointing at the first rule. "Fire safety," Ket replied, to her surprise. "If the tents are too close to each other, fires will spread really fast." "Huh..." She said, a little amazed he knew such a thing. She was expecting one of the moms to answer. It was true, though. They were not the only campers there, by far. Albeit no one was really there at the time, that they could tell, but there were dozens of tents about them, their tops an arrangement of all different colors. Some were dark-colored, some light; some tents were domed, some were skinny like weird green hot dogs. "Ugh," Emeral groaned, "I wanna go on the beach. How long will it take us?" The moms looked at each other. "Hmm...she's kinda right," Momma B. said. "All that driving sorta makes me want to relax a bit." "Yeah," Momma R. agreed, "All that sitting, too. I say we can set up camp later and start our swimming for now--everything will be okay in the car, right?" "Sure," Momma B. replied. "How bout it kiddos? Should we just get our swims on?" Emeral leapt into the air with a yes, extremely excited...and a little nervous, too. In truth, she had been waiting for just a little while for when they would go out onto the beach for another reason besides fun. She'd gotten a new swimsuit since her old one she wore to the pool had gotten a bit too small. She was eager, and anxious, to show it off to Ket. They walked in what they thought were places that were okay to walk. It was hard to tell because tents seemed to be set up willy-nilly everywhere and there didn't appear to be any specific campsite boundaries. For all they knew they were trespassing across dozens of sites, but how else were they supposed to get to the car? Each opening their doors, they began digging in their duffel bags and backpacks to find their swimwear. Emeral was the first to find hers, for she knew exactly where she put it. She bundled it in with her towel to hide it, and waited while her mom and Momma R. got theirs. All three girls waited as the one boy still sifted through his stuff. "Where is it?" He muttered, his hands digging around like he was trying to find the heart of Frankenstein's monster inside its chest. "Having troubles?" His mom asked, stepping up behind him. "No I'm fine," he insisted, starting his search over on the left side of the duffel bag. "Could it be in another bag?" He shook his head. "No, the other one has night-time clothes and stuff, it'd be in this one." "Here, let me give it a try," "I got it, mom." "Did someone forget their swimmy?" Emeral asked, poking her head in from the opposite door. "I didn't forget it!" Ket snapped. "Hey, don't be like that, Ket," his mom scolded. "Yeesh," Emeral said, "sorry I asked." She stepped away, trying not to show just exactly how hurt she felt. She was just showing concern... Ket growled. "It's in here, I know it!" "Let me look," his mom said, gently forcing him aside. She sifted through his things, neatly pulling some of the layers out and setting them aside. In just a few moments she determined that, "It's not here. Let's check your other one." She placed his clothes back in the bag just as neatly as she had removed them, maybe even neater, and then moved to the trunk. Emeral waited, getting hotter by the second. She couldn't tell if it was the sun, or her own misery. It really hurt, the way he snapped, even if he didn't really mean it. She hugged her towel closer, beginning to pace back and forth. "It isn't here either," his mom said. "Is it in your backpack?" Ket shook his head again. "I just put car stuff in there." "Well then...looks like you forgot it." Emeral saw his shoulders drop shamefully. Her gloom dissipated as she felt a little bad for him. "So...what do we do?" He asked. It was Momma B. who answered. "We'll just have to get you one. I saw a rack of them on the wall where we checked in, let's just snatch one there really quick." His ears wilted. "Sorry, mom," he said. She rubbed his head. "Don't worry, Ketto. Just try not to be so snappy." They started walking back toward the two-story building and Ket thought about what his mom said. "Sorry, Emmy," he apologized. She shrugged her shoulders, her sadness all gone by now. "It's cool, I woulda snapped too." Back in the strange hut, the otter glanced at them again, and then readied to attend to the people that walked in behind them. They walked to the wall, where several pairs of boys and girls swimsuits were on display. Emeral looked at the girls suits first. She smiled; none of them looked as good as hers, she thought. They all had tacky little designs like flowers or dots, some were just a mishmash of colors like a kindergartener's finger-painting; no sense of style. She then moved to the boys trunks, where Ket and their moms were standing. "See any you like?" Momma B. asked him. Her son shrugged. "Fifteen bucks?" Momma R. said, looking at one of the pairs' price tag. "What, are these stitched with gold or something?" Momma B. chuckled. "They monopolize on people who forget their suits at home, probably." "Sorry..." Ket said meekly. "Aw don't worry," Momma B. said, "They do that stuff everywhere. Go on and pick one you like." He shrugged again. "Just get the cheapest," he said. "Get that one!" Emeral stated suddenly, pointing to a pair that was a little high. It was a black pair that had a line of red-orange flowers across the legs, except the flowers were boyish-looking, if that made any sense. They were more like four-pointed ninja-stars made out of molten metal than flowers. "That one's almost twenty bucks," Ket said, shooting it down. "But they look so cool!" Emeral insisted. "Those are twelve bucks, I'll take those." He pointed to a pair that were green and had a red-tinted lizard-scales design in several patches all over. "Eww, no, those look so ugly," Emeral protested. "I don't care, they're cheap." "Actually," Momma B. said, "I think she's right, those look kinda tacky. I'll get you these." She reached for the ones her daughter picked. "Wait, what?" Momma R. said. "I don't think so. You guys go get ready, I'll buy them." "Don't worry Micah," Garne said with a chuckle. "It's no big deal. I was going to buy this one anyway." She set the pair on the counter while the otter rang them up. "No, Garne, you got us the pizza last night. I gotta pull my weight." "Don't worry," Garne insisted, sliding her credit card over while the checker took it without hesitation despite the conversation. "You guys are here to have fun, it's all my treat." The card was swiped and the trunks were purchased. Ket took them. "Thank you," he said with drooped ears and whiskers. "No problem. Now let's change up, I wanna get to this beach I've been hearing so much about."