THE BEACH AT night compared to daytime has a whole different vibe. The ocean is more ominous, the sand biting at our feet. There are no families, no people sunbathing, no kids wading in the water, or surfers in the distance. The waves have settled, lapping at the sand like the shake of a bedsheet floating on air before settling onto the mattress. The water twinkles like a dark beast winking at me, begging me to come further in and find it.
Keelin grabs my hand before I can get too far into the water, pulling me back. “It’s not real,” he tells me, as we walk further away.
“You see it too?” I ask, wondering if it was just me.
He doesn’t answer. Instead, he sits down on the sand, pulling me with him. The sand holds memories of the sun beating on it all day. Keelin grabs a handful and filte
