One last goodbye...

The back of his neck burned. He had been walking for what seemed like forever down the familiar beach. He missed the golden sands, and the kiss of crisp ocean air as it grazed his cheek, piercing his nostrils. He looked down at his feet and couldn't help but wonder; if the tides had not wiped this gritty slate clean everyday, would he have walked in the same footsteps as her? Or even his own?

He shook his head, to clear it of such a nonsensical question. It didn't matter now. She was gone.

He knelt down, the surf gently flowing between his toes. His fingers sifted through the loose, wet sand being pushed by the calm, salty blanket creeping toward the shore. The soft, intoxicating whisper of the glossy waves drowned out the bustling city behind him. The crashing silence, broken only by one lonely seagull floating on the tired breeze. It came to rest on a rock protruding from the reflected sky lines, dancing across the ripples and tumbling over the shifting liquid moguls. The bird squawked awkwardly before taking to the skies, once again.

All the memories, from what seemed like an eternity ago, came rushing back all at once. This reminiscent epicentre began to quake and churn inside him. It was like nothing else mattered to him anymore. He could feel the void, he had once forgotten, begin to grow within him. He felt incomplete, and completely alone.

The cool water splashed up his shorts. The tide had come in to his knees. How long had he been standing there, he wondered. Looking down at his legs, mis-shaped and bent from the refraction of the water, he noticed a small crab. It scuttled underneath his foot and buried itself into the sand below. His eyes readjusted and a face came into focus within the wavy mirror. He didn't look his age, and was often mistaken for one of his younger siblings, but he felt old. He had worn himself out retracing the footprints of his past. Climbing the vast megalithic steps of his subconscious, in search of the wonderful treasures he had procured in his lifetime. The priceless, but ever fading, fractals of his former life dug deep into his soul. They filled the holes that have long since eroded permanent chasms of despair, and for a moment...he felt happy.

A warm gust of air blew through his short, clipped hair. Despite the hot and humid day, a chill caressed his spine. He quickly spun around, nearly tripping into the rising tide. His gaze locked onto the beach access he had parked at so many times before. Squinting, he forced his eyes to focus, on her.

There she was. He prayed she wouldn't notice him as he cautiously tip toed through the water, to avoid any barnacle covered rocks waiting to cut the soles of his feet. He never thought it would happen, but he had hoped it would. He wanted to feel the pain, to know this wasn't just a dream. He needed to see her one last time. Needed her to know how much he missed her. He needed to see her beautiful smile once more. But he knew it would never be enough.

He needed her now more than ever...
...but she no longer needed him.

He knew if he approached her, she would disappear like a mirage. Never to return. He wanted only for her to be happy. Even if it meant he would never be.

And she was.

He smiled, turning his back to her. Exhaling his last breathe, he descended into the now frigid, breaking waves of his final resting place. Nestled in the bosom of the one who held the pieces to his heart.

The ocean.