They Come with the Rising Tide

An end and a beginning.

They Come with the Rising Tide

Azriel Estrada

 

It was a day just like this, do you remember?

The day you asked me.

The sky was white with clouds and the ocean was moody and gray just like it is now. The light seemed to come from everywhere, like we were in a dream. Those were always my favorite days. The days where it was just you and me and the big gray sea.

Of course, I said yes. We sat on the beach all morning drinking that 6 pack of Hamm’s we stole from your grandfather’s garage, do you remember? And you held me so tight against the chilly air. I remember the warm smell of the beer on your breath and the gleam in your eyes as you told me the stories your grandfather used to tell you about the ocean; about sea monsters, and shipwrecks, and lost cities under the waves. It was always so cute how you would deny believing them; that those silly stories were just for kids, but I always knew in your heart you wanted them to be true. I knew someday you’d tell those stories to our kids. I was a silly girl, wasn’t I? Silly to believe it would stay that way.

I used to trick myself sometimes; whimsical thoughts to pass the time, you know? I used to tell myself that the memory kept fresh its smile and that you didn’t leave�"that everything that happened after that was all just a dream. Even after I married Tim and had the boys, sometimes the day would be like this and I’d take myself back all those years and I’d pretend we were on the beach with all our lives in front of us and that you didn’t go.

They told me it wasn’t you I saw yesterday but I knew as soon as you looked at me. They think my mind has gone, but here you are.

I kept your ring, see? I keep it on this necklace next to my mother’s wedding ring. Such a pretty champagne pearl. You knew I never wanted a diamond. I never told Tim where it came from, but then he wasn’t the type that would have thought to ask.

Don’t get me wrong. I was happy, you know. The hole you left got smaller over time and I was able to move on�"I’ll admit going on dates was hard; I never did get the hang of them but those first few were the hardest. This is such a small town�"it was impossible to avoid everything that reminded me of you. After a few years though, it did get easier. I met Tim when I was 25 and we were married a year later. Then I had Alex and Nick not long after that. You know I always thought we’d have a girl first, you and me. Now the boys have grown and moved along; Alex makes sure I’m taken care of here, but they’re living their own lives now.

It’s not so bad living here, the people are friendly, and I get to come to the beach every day, but I can’t remember the last time I didn’t feel alone. The wind finds my bones too quickly and the nights seem to close in around me. Memories that used to comfort me only remind me that everyone is gone now. Everyone but you.

Help me up now, Johnnie.

It’s time to go home.

 

As A.J. Landsman walked to his front door, he took a moment to prepare himself. He already knew what the man who waited on the other side would tell him�"he’d known for a few days now. Even if he hadn’t admitted it to himself, some part of him knew. He opened the door.

“Hey, Mike, come on in.” Glancing at the badge attached to the man’s belt, he stepped out of the way for the man to enter.

“Thanks, A.J.” Mike pronounced it “Age” with a warm familiarity. He struggled to maintain eye contact as he entered, his eyes flicking up to A.J.’s face before returning to the floor ahead.
“Coffee?”
“No thanks, I can’t stay long.”
The formality was a little forced, the tension between the two men a silent acknowledgment of the inevitable. As they sat down in the kitchen, Mike spared him another moment.
“We go back quite a way don’t we, A.J.?”
“Fourth grade little league, if memory serves. Jeeze, that’s been almost forty years now.”
“Time flies doesn’t it?” The two men stared at their hands for a moment.

“Listen, I’m just gonna say it. The sheriff called it this morning.” Mike stared at A.J. his face a blend of impotent frustration and sorrow. “We did everything we could�"" A.J. stopped him.
“Mike, I understand. We were all out there. If we were going to find her,” he paused, the unspoken ‘on land’ hanging there for a half second. “We would have.”

They resumed their stoic inspection of their hands. Oddly, the tension had dissipated once they’d gotten it over with. Now it was just two old friends taking a moment to accept a hard truth.

A.J. sighed heavily, his voice cracking just a bit as he spoke.
“In a way, I hope she’s at peace. Since dad died, things have only gotten worse for her.” Mike nodded his agreement before rising.

As A.J. walked him to the door, Mike suddenly laughed to himself and shook his head.
“You know, your mom dated my cousin way back in the day. In high school I think, maybe just after. I guess they were pretty in love. Of course, this was years before your dad came along.”
A.J. stopped, genuinely surprised. He’d never heard this before now.
“It doesn’t surprise me you didn’t know. Nobody ever really talked about it. He was my grandfather’s oldest brother’s grandson or some such, but I heard my aunt talking about it last thanksgiving and I just remembered. His name was John. Or Johnnie. I guess he and his old man were fisherman and they didn’t come back one day. They searched and searched but with the technology back then…” He let it hang there a moment, realizing this might not be the best time for this story. A.J. waited for him to finish.
“Anyway, my aunt was telling a story that he had told her when she was just a little girl. A story about these people that lived under the waves and how sometimes they would take in those lost at sea to live with them. She was saying that it gave her some comfort that maybe Johnnie wasn’t really lost at sea. Maybe he’d just gone to live with the people below the waves.”

As he watched Mike’s cruiser pull away, A.J. fought back tears but he surprised himself when he realized he was grinning as he cried. His name was Alexander Johnnie Landsman. He’d always hated his middle name and its seemingly erratic spelling. His mother had insisted on it.