All Your Life

A small house sat up on a cliff looking out to the beautiful blue ocean. A young girl with stunning green eyes and long auburn hair named Evelyn Harris watched the sunset sink into the water. Evelyn was full of life around her friends, but shy around others. Especially when it came to a boy, she has known her entire life, Ryder Martin. The boy she admires for how kind, charming, and caring he is, not to mention he has been an amazing friend to her. Only thing is, he does not even see the girl who loves him, Evelyn. She is a dear friend but, to Evelyn’s dismay, he thinks that there is no one for him in the little town they lived in.

Evelyn stood on the beach, warm water washed over her feet, causing them to sink in the wet sand. A cool breeze played with her hair that she had elegantly pulled up into a high ponytail. The bangs she had brushed to the side were pulled over her eyes, preventing her from seeing the beautiful ocean before her. This was Evelyn’s favorite thing to do, stand where water and land meet while watching the sun set and the beautiful collage of colors fade into a midnight blue. The atmosphere was always so calming, peaceful, a perfect way to end the day.

“Evelyn! Mama said it’s time to come in!” Alyssa, Evelyn’s younger sister, shouted from the house.

“Alright, I’m coming!” Evelyn answered heading away from the dark ocean to her brightly lit home.

As she entered her house, abandoning her shoes at the door, Evelyn walked into the living room where her family sat.

“Evelyn dear, tomorrow I need you to go to town and get some groceries. I’ll have a list for you sitting on the counter.” Her mother said looking up from the book, she was reading.

“Yes Mama, is there anything else you need before I go to my room?” Evelyn asked.

“Yeah, a nice cold glass of milk and cookies ASAP.” Alyssa said snapping her fingers as a dismissal for Evelyn.

“You got two feet sis, get them yourself.” Evelyn said smiling at her little sister.

“Fine be that way.” Alyssa said returning the smile and walking to the kitchen.

“We don’t need anything dear, you can go.” Her mother said, a warm smile resting on her face.

Evelyn walked into her room closing the door behind her and grabbing her guitar, before sitting on the bed. Soft chords were coming from the guitar as she strummed, blending into a song. She had written the song one day while thinking of Ryder; she was describing him and the words just flowed into a melody. She would never sing it to him though, that would be embarrassing, especially since he is clueless about her feelings. While playing, Evelyn looked up at her desk seeing the jar of sand Ryder gave her so long ago. He knew she loved the beach, the warm sand under her feet, and the smell of the ocean as the wind blew. Evelyn was unable to get out of bed and to the beach when he gave her the jar, and she remembered it like it was yesterday.

A ten-year-old Evelyn lay in her bed with a hurt knee. The doctor told her to stay off it so the injury would not become worse and she could not use crutches very well, so she remained in bed. Her window was open and she could hear the ocean, its waves rising up and falling upon the land. She missed going to the beach everyday and with her knee the way it was, she would not see it for a while.

A knock came from the other side of her bedroom door, before opening and Ryder came walking into the room.

“Ryder!” A smile painted its way onto Evelyn’s face.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Ryder asked holding his hands behind his back.

“My knee hurts, but that’s nothing. What’s upsetting me is the fact that I cannot go to the beach.” Evelyn stated, a frown replacing her smile.

“Only you would be more upset that you couldn’t go to the beach rather than your hurt knee. Anyways, I figured you’d be upset about that so I brought you this.” Ryder brought his hands from behind him to reveal a jar full of sand.

“What’s that?” Evelyn asked confused.

“This jar is full of sand, but not just any old sand. Sand from the beach, from the spot you always stand. I knew you would be missing the beach and I thought this way you could always take a piece of the beach with you wherever you go.” Ryder handed Evelyn the jar, she looked at it briefly before setting it down and pulling Ryder into a hug.

“Thank you for my piece of the beach. You’re the best friend a girl could ever ask for.”

Ryder was not like that anymore. He was still caring and sweet, but he probably would not go to the beach just to fill a jar with sand. In fact, he did not go to the beach at all anymore. He stayed distant and to himself. He didn’t spend much time with Evelyn anymore unless they ran into each other in town and some time to spare, but if Evelyn even mentioned the beach he would come up with some excuse to leave. She didn’t understand what had happened to him, but he wasn’t the same Ryder she’s known since she was a kid and she would give almost anything to get the old Ryder back.