Time Slows Down

They say that when you find the love of your life, time stops and that’s true. What they don’t tell you if that once It starts again, it goes extra fast to catch up.
Louise never thought that she’d find the love of her life. Granted, she was only 16, but that didn’t matter to her. She thought that the search was pointless and had seemed to turn into a heartless cynic. That’s exactly what she was thinking as she walked down the beach with her face turned toward the sky watching the thunder clouds roll in. She knew it wouldn’t matter if she wasn’t paying attention, because, really, she was the only person crazy enough to walk on the beach with a storm coming in. The waves were vicious and the sky was dark enough for someone to think it was already night time.
She was used to being the only person on the beach. She was grown up in the little town on the shore. It was a quiet fairy tale like town that no one came to unless it was tourist season. Even then almost no one came. As she walked down the beach she felt like she was being watched. She looked down from the endless sky. There was no one that she could see. She looked out towards the sea a she heard a clap of thunder. She anxiously awaited the next bolt of lightening as she continued to walk down the beach. She knew she should go home, but the vastness of the sea and sky amazed her as the skies opened up and the rain poured down.
She ran to get out of the rain and ran right into someone. She looked up into the eyes of a boy that would change her life. Her world seemed to stop as she continued to look into his eyes. The moment was over all to soon as he quickly apologized and left without another word.
Andy always dreamed about finding true love. His friends often described him as a hopeless romantic. He was on vacation with his family when he decided to take a walk. Though his parents warned him that it was going to storm. He didn’t mind. In fact he preferred it that way. He liked to be alone with his thoughts and day dreams.
He walked down to the beach of the ghost like town wondering why anyone would want to live there, let alone vacation. He looked out to the waves and saw a girl that looked about his age walking close to the water. He stood, watching her, mesmerized by the way she seemed so calm against the crashing waves. He quickly ducked away when he saw her looking around. He then walked down onto the beach, hoping to find a way to talk to her. There was a clap of thunder ad soon it started raining. The mystery girl started running and ran into him. This was his excuse to talk to her, but his mouth was frozen as he looked into her eyes. He struggled to say he was sorry, and out of embarrassment quickly ran away from her.
Both parties walked home dazed, confused, and soaking wet.
It took two years, that seemed to fly by, for Louise and Andy to meet again. In the same sleepy town, Andy came for his last family vacation before he left for college. Louise was working at the bookstore in town when in walked that stranger from the beach that she hadn’t been able to get out of her head for two years. She wasn’t sure if she wanted him to see her and was suddenly quite self-conscience. It made no sense to her, because, lets face it, who remembers crazy people they meet walking on the beach during a thunderstorm.
But, Andy did remember. He hadn’t been able to get her sea-foam green eyes out of him mind and had been certain, until that day in the bookstore, that he’d dreamt them. This time he knew he would talk to her.
And talk to her, he did. For hours upon hours the two spent talking about nothing and everything. Of course it didn’t seem like a long time to them. In fact, it was as if time had stopped, like it had that stormy day on the beach.
Eventually, then both had to go home. Or in Andy’s case, the house his family was renting for the summer.. They parted ways rather reluctantly and started on the seemingly endless journey home.
It went on like this for weeks. They would meet up at that bookstore and walk around town, talking and laughing until it got far to late for them to be out. The entire town saw the pair falling in love, but little did they know: Love wasn’t the only thing Fate had in store for them.
One night after the lover’s reluctant parting, Louise came home to find her mother on the couch with a tear stained face. Her father sat next to her trying to console the inconsolable woman. Louise couldn’t help but think just how much she wanted that kind of never-ending love, and knew that she had found in in Andy.
She quickly walked to her mother and asked what was wrong. Her mother responded, slowly and tearfully, that Louise’s blood work had come in and they had found something wrong: She had cancer. In that moment Louise’s heart dropped out of her chest and she began to sob with her mother.
The next day she met Andy she told him that she wouldn’t be able to stay as late due to her illness. It went on with her leaving earlier and earlier as Louise was getting sicker and sicker. Time seemed to speed up for the two and one day Louise didn’t meet Andy at all. He, being the worrying type, quickly walked to her home. Her parents were on the couch discussing something when he walked in and asked to see Louise. He was quickly ushered to her room where he found the love of his life lying in bed, pale and almost lifeless. He went to her side and grabbed her hand, thinking how terrible this disease was. She quickly told him not to worry. She knew she still would, but she wanted him to know that she wasn’t scared. As long as he was by her side, time was stopped and it was still that day on the beach. They smiled weakly at each other and he told her they’d be back on the beach soon.
Days seemed to be slipping away faster and faster as Louise became weaker and weaker. They never seemed to realize it until one day Louise told Andy she wanted to spend one last day at the beach. In that one sentence, they both realized that the cancer had taken their future away from them. Literally for Louise, and figuratively for Andy. His time had sped up so much in the past few weeks that he wasn’t sure If he could slow it down without her. She knew that while time had stopped when she was with Andy, everything else had sped up, including the rate at which the leukemia ravaged her body.
That day seemed to slip by faster than the rest. Except for the final moment as the laid on the sand and looked into each other’s eyes. Time had stopped, once again, and everything was oddly okay. Louise slowly closed her eyes and felt Andy’s lips on her forehead before he picked up her fragile body and carried her home.
That was the night the cancer finally got to Louise. They say that she died with a small smile on her face. That was a lie. She died with the biggest smile any of them had seen, because she knew she was surrounded by people that loved her. They say her parents never forgave Andy for taking her to the beach. That was also a lie. Her parents couldn’t have been happier that her last day was happy. What they say that is the truth it that the sleepy, little town of Dewey Beach had never, and will never know another love like Andy and Louise’s. They had the fairytale that everyone longed for. Even if it was cut short.