Flowers at the end of summer

Summer in the village seemed to have its own rhythm.
It was not like the city, where the days were swallowed in a constant hurry.
Here, every morning it was born like a slow flower and every evening it fell like a whispered promise.

Ren began to get used to it.
He got up early, helped Aunt Hana with the garden, had hot bread with homemade jam for breakfast... and then, inevitably, he would find Aria waiting for him in some corner of the village.

She seemed to be part of the landscape, like the wind or the smell of salt.

"Come on!" She always said, grabbing him by the wrist and running away before he could even ask where.

It was impossible to say no to him.

**

On any given Tuesday—if there was "any" in the summer—Aria took him to the secret beach.
Not the large, touristy one, but a small cove hidden behind a pine forest.

The path was steep and rooted, but Aria jumped swiftly like a deer.
Ren, behind her, stumbled and snorted, wondering how anyone could have so much energy.

Finally, they arrived.

The sight took his breath away.
The beach was a corner forgotten by time: white sand, soft rocks, transparent water that stretched until it was lost in an infinite blue.

The sea whispered in a low voice, as if telling secrets.

Aria took off her sandals and ran to shore, laughing as the water licked her ankles.

"Come!" She cried, turning to him with open arms.

Ren hesitated for a moment.
The city had put up an invisible wall between him and simple things.
But here, under the boundless sky, that wall seemed to be tottering.

He put his shoes down in the sand and walked toward it.

**

They spent hours there.

Aria collected strange shells, some spiral-shaped, others shining like tiny mirrors.
Ren sat on a rock to watch her, feeling time melt in the salty breeze.

"You know?" Aria said, sitting down next to him with her hands full of marine treasures.
When I was little, I believed that shells kept people's dreams.

Ren glanced at her sideways.

"The dreams?"

She nodded, throwing a shell into the sea.

"Yes. Every time someone gave up on a dream, the sea picked it up and hid it in a shell.
Thus, no dream is completely lost.

Ren smiled, something in his chest pounding.

Aria always had a way of making everything sound prettier, more important.

"And you?" he asked, not quite knowing why.
Have you given up on a dream?

Aria was silent for a moment.
The wind played with her hair, tangling it like a picture painted by the breeze.

"Perhaps," he said at last, lowering his gaze.
But I still have a few that I don't intend to let go.

Ren wanted to ask him which ones.
He wanted to know everything about her.
But he did not dare.

Sometimes, silence was also a form of promise.

**

That afternoon, as the sun was setting, Aria challenged him to a competition:
see who could find the rarest stone on the beach.

They ran, laughed, stumbled.

Ren, focused on his search, didn't see a wave that came unexpectedly.
He stumbled backwards and fell into the cold water, letting out a gasp.

Aria let out a luminous laugh.

Ren, soaked and humiliated, looked at her with feigned anger.

"Don't laugh," he said, crawling awkwardly out of the water.

But she kept laughing, covering her mouth with both hands.

Ren couldn't help it: he laughed too.

The sound of both filled the cove, mingling with the distant song of the seagulls.

For an instant, the world was perfect.

**

When tiredness overcame them, they lay down on the warm sand, watching the sky slowly turn purple.

Aria turned her head towards Ren.

"Do you like it here?" He asked quietly.

Ren took a moment to answer.

The murmur of the sea filled his ears, like the beating of a gigantic heart.

"Yes," he said, finally, with a sincere smile.
A lot.

Aria closed her eyes, as if her answer had eased an invisible weight.

The red thread was still tied to his little finger.
Ren wondered if she felt it too.
That invisible loop, gently tugging at their hearts.

**

At nightfall, they began to return to the village.

The road was dark, barely illuminated by the crescent moon.

Aria walked beside him, silently, but without looking uncomfortable.
From time to time his shoulders brushed, like waves touching the shore.

When they reached the central square, where the lit lanterns drew warm circles on the ground, Aria stopped.

She turned to him, biting her lower lip.

"Ren," he said, as if every letter was important.
Thank you for coming today.

He looked at her, surprised.

"You don't have to thank me.

She smiled, but her eyes seemed to shine in a different way.

"Sometimes... I feel alone here.
Not many understand this place as I see it.

Ren felt something squeeze into his chest.

"Then," he said, in a voice firmer than he expected,
I'll keep coming.

Aria blinked, and then laughed softly.

"You promised," he whispered.

And, before he could react, he stood on tiptoe and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

It lasted barely a second.

But it was enough to make Ren's heart burst like a sunflower in the sun.

She ran away to her house, laughing quietly.

Ren stood there, touching his cheek, as if he could still feel the warmth of her lips.

The red thread shone for a moment in the moonlight.

A heartbeat.
A promise.
A summer I could never forget.