I breath in the fresh Hawaiian air. Its good to finally be on vacation. I sigh as I skip down the steps. On the second last step I jump onto the ground and make a dramatic landing and bow. 

“That was amazing!” A voice exclaims from behind me. 

I jump and swivel around on my heels, almost falling face first. My cheeks go warm and my mouth drops open in awe. 

There stands a boy who looks around my age. He has sandy blonde hair, lots of freckles, dimples and green eyes. He wears blue and white bathing suit bottoms and a lime green short sleeve shirt. “Hello!” He waves his arms. 

That snaps me out of my trance. “Sorry, um..I’m Carmen, Carmen Creese,” I stutter. 

“I’m Daniel,” he gestures. 

“So, do you live here?” I ask. 

“Nah…I’m just on vacation, how about you?” He replies. 

“I’m here on vacation too, doing some diving practice, I have this huge diving competition when I get back to Vancouver,” I blurt. 

He smiles, “I live in Vancouver, too. His white teeth glimmer in the sun. 

“Really? Why haven’t I seen you around?” I question. 

He opens his mouth to answer but stops. A voice calls his name from somewhere in the distance. He looks into the ocean and the looks at me. “Maybe I’ll See you later,” he says, winking. 

“Yeah,” I answer dreamily. 

He jogs off and disappears behind my beach house. 

I turn to the ocean and start to walk along the shore. I dig my toes into the wet sand and then dip them into the ocean to get the sand out from under y toe nails. I face the sun and let it wash over my face. Waves of pain roll up my leg as I hit my toe on something hard. I curse and grab my toe. I look down to see my toe isn’t bleeding but I can tell it will probably bruise. I notice something else that makes my breath get caught in my throat; what I hit my toe on. A chipped off piece of a sign made of rock. 

I bite my lip and pick up the object. I toss it from one hand to another inspecting it. I decide to take it home. 

As if my mothers read my mind, I hear her calling my name. 

                                    TO BE CONTINUED....