My lifelong friend, Avery, lives in Malibu, an ideal vacation destination.  I have been out to visit her several times over the years.  We always have a grand time together.  In April, I flew out to LA once again, looking forward to the different excursions we had planned.  One afternoon, she took me to Point Dume, where we walked along the cliffs overlooking the sparkling Pacific Ocean.  While we were admiring the ocean panorama, we spotted a playful whale in the water below.  We watched with delight as it cavorted in the surf.  In the piece below, my character, Grace Martini and her sister, Charlotte, have a similar experience which brings some nostalgic memories to the surface.

 

Grace followed her sister up the steep path.  Both sides of the track were lined with yellow coreopsis.  The rampant wildflowers danced in the ocean breeze beneath a bright blue sky.

Some lines from Grace’s favorite poem popped into her mind.

William Wordsworth would certainly appreciate this view at the top of Point Dume.

Charlotte paused a few steps in front of Grace.  She shaded her eyes with one hand and gestured at the panoramic scene with the other.  “There’s Zuma Beach,” she said, taking a swig from her stainless steel water bottle.

“It looks the same.  Just as stunning as ever,” Grace observed.  She pulled her camera from the pocket of her linen capris to take a picture.  “I wish Elizabeth Ann were here.  She always loved this hike when she and Edmund were little.”

“Remember how they used to race each other up the path from the boardwalk?” Charlotte said, setting her bottle on the sand beside her.

“With Harold right behind.”  Grace smiled at the memory of her dignified husband galloping up the bluff like a kid.  Harold was spending this morning on the golf course with Charlotte’s husband, George.

Charlotte stretched her arms up in front of her.  Reaching for the sky, she pressed her palms together in a graceful mountain pose.  “This would be a perfect spot for a yoga class.”

“Why don’t you take some of your students on a field trip?” Grace joked as her sister lowered her arms and grinned.

“Maybe I will.  Let’s keep going to the overlook platform,” Charlotte said, picking up her bottle and leading the way along the edge of the cliff.

Grace snapped one more picture for her daughter and hurried to catch up with Charlotte.  When she joined her on the overlook platform, Charlotte beckoned eagerly.  “There are dolphins playing in the water.”

Scanning the deep blue expanse of ocean, Grace clapped her hands when she spotted three dolphins diving in and out of the surf a few hundred yards off shore.  One suddenly leapt into the crystal clear air,  momentarily silhouetted against the horizon before slipping neatly underwater again.  “Did you see that?”  Grace turned to Charlotte, who’s eyes were gleaming with pleasure.

“Amazing,” Charlotte murmured.

The sisters watched the frolicking dolphins for several more minutes.  They laughed and exclaimed over their antics and Grace managed to take a couple of photos.  As the dolphins moved further out to sea, she sighed.

“When the twins were about eight years old, Edmund was obsessed with dolphins and whales,” Grace reminisced.  “He convinced Elizabeth Anne that they should both become marine biologists.”

“And today, Edmund is a history professor and Elizabeth Ann is a restaurant critic,” Charlotte said.

“I know.  Apparently, childhood dreams don’t always come true.”

“I suppose not.”  Charlotte brushed her wind-blown hair back and once again led the way along the coastal hiking trail. “But I believe life usually turns out the way it is meant to.”

As they carefully descended the bluff taking the path that would bring them down to the beach, Grace decided her sister was right.  She wouldn’t trade  her own life with Harold and their two children for anything.