“What is it?” Heather asked.
“I’m not sure.” Vivien moved quickly toward the structure. The smell of the beach changed, now carrying a hint of decay from the rotted wood. She cut across the beach through the loose sand only to stop near the end of the metal skeleton. The walkover had served as a way to pass over the vegetation leading to the sand and did not make it to the water’s edge like a boardwalk. Her friends followed her. “I thought I sensed something, but I don’t know.”
The wood slats had decayed over time, though a few broken pieces still clung to the metal with old bolts. Someone had nailed a no trespassing sign on a falling rail, but it had faded to the point the lettering was barely decipherable.
“That looks like a great way to catch tetanus,” Lorna said. “I wonder why they don’t tear it down.”
“It’s been like this ever since I can remember.” Vivien walked toward the structure. “This is it.”
“Is what?” Heather asked. “A safety hazard? Yes. We should petition the town council to do something about it.”
“No, this is the place.” Vivien looked at the water’s edge. With the curve of the beach, her home was a straight shot across the choppy waves. She held her arm out straight and pointed the tips of her fingers toward her house. “This is where Sam was trying to take me that first night, only he cut across the water in a straight line. He wasn’t trying to drown me. He wanted to lead me here.”
“Why here?” Lorna asked. She shaded her eyes as she looked toward the nearest crowd.
Vivien closed her eyes, hearing the ocean. She remembered the sensation of twirling around as Sam spun her until she could no longer stand.
“Viv?” Heather prompted.
“Don’t you remember? This is where Sam asked me to marry him.” Vivien began to rotate, slowly at first, as she felt her feet shift in the dry sand. She lifted her arms to give her body balance.
“There is only us,” he had whispered as he kneeled in the sand. “Only our hearts. Say you love me. Say you’ll be mine forever. Marry me, Viv.”
“Yes,” she mouthed. Vivien twirled faster, just as she had that night. Sam had taken her hands and spun her until her heart pounded and she was dizzy.
She leaned back her head and opened her eyes. The sky moved. She imagined she heard laughter. It wasn’t long before her rotations became wider, and she stumbled to keep her footing.
Images and sounds of the past swam through her thoughts in no particular order—Sam laughing as he packed their van with blankets, the time they argued over grocery money, running across the street drunk and almost getting hit by a honking car, high school prom, a glance, a kiss, a tear, a scream, the doctor repeating the words they’d been too stunned to hear, and finally that last rattling breath from his chapped lips.
“Uh, Vivien?” Heather said, sounding concerned. “Are you doing that on purpose, or are you possessed? We can’t tell.”
“There she is.” Sam’s garbled voice sounded as if from far away. “There’s my girl.”
Vivien dropped her arms and lowered her head. She swayed on her feet as her eyes met Sam’s. The dizzying effect of spinning made it hard to focus. He seemed more sunlight than man, an almost translucent image of his former self.
“Should we…?” Lorna whispered to Heather in concern.
“Just wait,” Heather answered.
“He’s here. Do you see him?” Vivien asked, not taking her eyes from Sam.
“Yes,” the two women said in unison.
“How in the world are we going to be able to explain this if someone comes by?” Lorna asked. They had discussed the subject at length and had all agreed that none of them were ready to be publicly ousted as a medium. In the era of internet and camera phones, such a revelation would make life unbearable.
“That crowd is pretty far away. I think we’re good,” Vivien added, even though she didn’t turn to look down the beach. She didn’t want to take her eyes away from Sam for fear he’d disappear again.
“Yeah, I don’t think anyone else can see him,” Heather said. “Otherwise we’d be getting a lot more stares right now.”
Vivien stared at Sam for what felt like a long time. Deep inside she knew this would be the last time she saw him. A tear slid down her cheek. He seemed content, like a mirage waiting for the sunlight to release it.
“There is only us,” he whispered.
“Only our hearts,” she answered with a nod.
Heather touched her shoulder from behind. She felt her friend without looking to confirm which one it was. Empathy and concern flowed from Heather into Vivien.
“You have to say goodbye,” Heather said. “It’s time.”
“Sam, I—” Vivien began, but he disappeared. She gasped.
“There.” Lorna appeared next to her, pointing. “He’s there.”
Sam had rematerialized near the end of the metal skeleton. He pointed a finger toward the sandy ground near the base. His eyes remained steadily on her.
Vivien moved closer, torn between looking at him and to where he pointed. There was nothing on the ground.
“I don’t understand,” Vivien whispered as she reached toward him. Heather’s hand dropped from her shoulder.
Sam’s energy tingled as she touched his form, not unlike the flow of magic. She felt his love for her, love that had been etched in this very spot like an invisible signature only the stars could see.
“Yes, I’ll marry you,” her past words filtered through her thoughts, as if he wanted her to hear them the way he had the first time, with all the excitement and joy and certainty that they had felt at that moment.
He’d spun her until she’d fallen on the ground, and they’d ended up making love right there. They had been young and stupid, and it was only dumb luck that no one had seen them. Is that why he pointed at the ground? He wanted her to remember that moment with him?
Vivien nodded. “I remember, Sam. I remember all of it. I promise I won’t forget.”
Heather took Vivien’s free hand and must have held onto Lorna with her other one because Vivien felt both of them through the connection.
“It’s time, Viv,” Heather said.
Vivien nodded. “I love you, Sam. I always will.”
He smiled at her and again pointed toward the ground.
“I’ll remember,” she assured him.
His hand jerked a few times, repointing, as if biding her to look. Still, nothing was there.
As Heather and Lorna said the words to release his spirit, Vivien could only move her lips to mouth them. “Spirit you have been found pure. We release you into the light. Go in peace and love.”
“Goodbye, Sam” She nearly choked on the words.
Sam’s form blew into ash, scattering into the wind like the dying embers of a bonfire. Before he was completely gone, she heard him say, “Don’t give up. You have so much of it to give.”
This time his departure felt different, and she knew he had left her for good.
She took a deep breath. In many ways it felt like her first real breath in twenty years.
“He’s gone,” Vivien said. A feeling of peace settled over her where once sadness had lived. “For real this time.”