The Long Goodbye

My fingertips scratched at the coarse gray sand, as I waited patiently for a answer to my declaration:

"I think, this is goodbye, isn't it."

Jack had said nothing and only watched me quietly with those bright blue eyes, so reminiscent of the seascape I grew up with in my early days of life. Suddenly, it seemed like our entire lifetime together was running through my head. All the moments that had come and gone, that had shaped me into being, played one by one in a methodical rhythm just like the rise and fall of the tides.

I never wanted to say goodbye, ever - and especially never to my best friend.

But as Jack once put it plainly to me:

"Nothing is forever."

I glanced sideways, only mildly surprised that he had chosen now to speak up. His eyes dropped to the sandy blanket on which we shared, and suddenly it was his turn to fidget. He pressed the soft, black fridge between his fingers and toyed with it sadly as he spoke,

"This has been a long time coming. Even I knew that."

I thought for a beat and then blurted out,

"Did you know when? When it would be time for this?" Jack shrugged.

"Not really. Not anymore than when I would come into your life. Truth be, told - I always expected it to happen much sooner."

"Not three days before the big 35?" He chuckled at that, momentarily lost in his own thoughts.

"Everyone grows at their own speed," he answered softly. "Telling an oak to grow in a day isn't going to do much for anyone."

I smiled at this. Mostly comforted, if only slightly embarrassed by my slow life's progress.

"It's nothing to be embarrassed about," Jack said aloud, as if reading my thoughts. Then he looked at me with those gentle blue eyes, and reached for my hand. I gave it willing and for a moment we sat in silence.

"I'm just glad you finally got yourself straightened out," he said at last.

"I couldn't have done it without you," I replied. He blushed and shrugged sheepishly, still unable to take credit for anything.

"I think you could've had," he admitted. Then he grinned and winked mischievously as he added, "of course, you wouldn't have had nearly as much fun without me!"

"Oh, of course not!" I said rolling my eyes. We shared a laughed as the sunrise rose higher over the glassy sea.

Then, taking a deep breath, he pulled me in close by the shoulders and wrapped his strong arms around me. I closed my eyes and melted into his embrace for one last time.

"If you ever need me again..." he whispered, before uncharacteristically trailing off. I nodded, not wanting him to finish in the first place.

"I love you, May-Bell," he sighed. Then he pecked a kiss against my cheek and stood up from the blanket. I kept my gaze on the ocean, fighting against the stinging at the backs of my eyes as he walked away along the beach. My voice cracked slightly as I said to no one:

"I love you, Cracker-Jack."

A few moments passed and I watched as the morning tides rolled closer and closer to my place on the beach. When the cries of playful children began to swell from the dunes near the main entrance, I took a deep breath before standing up to dust off my blanket. I glanced sideways, already wondering where Jack was off too now.

As I sauntered back to the beach house a child's cry rang out:

"JACKYYYYY!"

I whipped around to find a pair of kids, brother and sister perhaps, chasing each other gleefully toward the rising blue waves.

I felt my heart falter slightly, then turned back around and started my trek back to the beach house, the long stretch of sand before me perfectly untouched.