The Silver Sea

Present Day

Marny could feel the pins and needles prickling up his fingers to his elbows as he awoke in the dusty haze. He slowly sat upright, raised his arms above his head, and shook out his wrists to rid himself of the feeling. He couldn’t help but focus on the ember-embedded markings on his long, outstretched forearms; they were a constant reminder that he did not belong to himself. He was tethered to a life he had not chosen, but had decided long ago to be grateful knowing there could have been worse outcomes. He glanced to the ground beside him.

“Amerie,” he mumbled, still trying to wake himself. “It’s time.”

A tangled, freckled mess of limbs begrudgingly sat up beside him. Amerie wiped the sweat from underneath her eyelids and blinked rapidly to clear the dust from her pupils.

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “I was awake before you anyway. Why do you always think you’re the only one with some sense of awareness? I’ve been doing this for just as long as you have.”

Their customary banter continued for a few moments longer until the morning sun crested over the scope of the horizon. They watched it rise in unison. Amerie’s pale crystal eyes tried to follow it skyward and appreciate its beauty, yet she looked away after a few moments as a simultaneous apathy rose within her. She knew it was time for them to begin their tasks.

“Do you think the others will want to come with us today?” Marny wondered aloud.

“Why would they?” Amerie shrugged. “They won’t even sleep on the beach. What makes you think they’d even consider joining?” Amerie didn’t intend for her words to sound harsh, but she was frustrated with Marny’s daily hope for some kind of community. Whatever that was.

“It’s just the two of us,” she said. “You know that. I know that. And it’s not going to change.”

______________________

10 years ago

Marny covered his ears each time the sirens blared, but a daily drone of ringing never seemed to leave him. It was a steady high-pitched din that hung about his shoulders. For some reason, this wasn’t the case for his younger sister. It was like Amerie could evoke some magical power when the sirens went off and replace the screeching cacophony with soothing music in her mind.

“Does it really not bother you at all?” he once asked her, enviously.

“Not really,” she replied, looking up at him with a bit of a smirk. “But it definitely bothers you! You act like there’s a megaphone directly next to you every time they send out the signal! It’s not the end of the world, you know.”

Marny gave Amerie a playful shove as they walked the familiar path to the beach. They barely even had to look down, their feet sensing each dipped dune, each wave of seagrass.

“Well, at least I don’t act like I am going blind every time someone turns a light on,” Marny casually replied, hoping to get a rise out of his sister. Amerie’s steps slowed for a moment, but she didn’t say anything and just shrugged her shoulders. She quickly made the decision to let him have this one. It wasn’t worth getting upset, knowing he was only saying it to mitigate the self-consciousness he felt about his own sensitivity.

“I wonder what the tide brought in today,” she said, attempting to change the subject. “I feel like we haven’t really been able to gather as much as we used to.” Her brow creased slightly, giving her an air of mature dignity. Marny couldn’t help but smile, knowing he should be the one worrying about the situation, not his younger sister.

After a few moments, Amerie stopped and squinted, calculating the shoreline. She hoped to distinguish that faint glimpse of luminescence. The fervent rays of sun flashed down on the white sand as Amerie surveyed in all directions. Marny tentatively regarded his sister’s movements as his ears perked, discerning between the faint roar of the sirens and the sea.

“There,” she pointed. They were off and running.