Eternal Friendship

The little child sat in the sand just beyond the shoreline playing contently with her toys. She was building a castle, one for the many creatures of her imagination to live in and play just as contently as she was now.
Her father Joseph, a tired man, sat just beyond his child glancing sadly at the divorce papers in which his once beloved wife had placed in his hands not hours ago. It was to be a quick separation but it would affect their only child greatly. She had only ever seen her parents happy and endearing towards one another, now everything would change.
Joseph looked up from the papers and sighed as he witnessed his child talking quietly to an invisible face. She had enough flaws to herself already and soon he and his wife would likely be adding another.The small child smiled at her friend then glanced to her father who remained in his seat, his head buried in papers.
“Most likely papers for work.” she told her friend.
When her friend had come to her approximately one year ago, she was without a name so the girl called her friend Water because of Water’s distinct exactness to the colour of the sea. Her hair shimmered dark blue and her skin shone a brilliant aqua. Because the girl much loved the sea, she was overjoyed to have some water of her own.Water frowned when the girl mentioned her father’s work.
“He’s always working” Water said and pushed her finger into the castle to create a window.
Water liked her new friend Luna partly because her name was associated with the moon and water liked the moon but it was also because Water loved her untamed self to be bossed around and Luna was just the person to do so.
“More windows.” Luna demanded and Water did as she was told.
Luna didn’t want to be so demanding but somehow it helped to heal the constant ache of neglect within her. Each weekend, her father would bring her to the very same beach but never once had he asked to play with her or to swim with her. Today it did not matter though for she had Water to play with and the weather was overcast so she did not feel the need to swim amongst the sea creatures today. But the ache remained in her heart and whenever she looked up from her castle to her father, it would grow larger and more painful until it engulfed her entire chest.
“I want to leave this place.” she had often muttered to Water and each time she would receive an impish look from her friend as if to say, just wait.But Luna always dismissed this indication for she did not expect Water to be the type to take matters into her own hands.
Luna scrunched her nose tight as she felt a raindrop prickle it’s tip. A wave crashed just at the tip of her toe and she smiled at the cool, wet feeling. Luna leaned back onto the wet sand and looked at the gloomy sky. More raindrops fell onto her face. Another wave crashed on the shore line, this time crawling to the base of Luna’s knee. Luna frowned. The sky had shed itself of it’s grey and was now the colour of an unnatural cerulean blue. Luna turned her head to ask Water if she noticed the colour but her question was pushed away by the familiar impish look dangling off of Water’s lips.
“Are you ready to leave this place?” Water asked, her grin widening.Luna attempted to push herself up from the ground but found that her body would not move.
“Let’s go swimming.” Water said as she got up from the ground and after smiling at her new eternal friend, she dove into the waves and disappeared leaving Luna laying in the sand.
Joseph sat still in his chair holding his cell phone and arguing constantly with his lawyer about the divorce. His fists were clenching in and out as his lawyer carried on with the list of items his wife was claiming.
A sigh escaped from his lips as he listened, his eyes fixed on his signature placed on the line of the divorce papers. Some things never live happily ever after, he thought to himself but as he did, a sound enveloped his body, a sound that tore his heart apart. It was the scream of his daughter.
Joseph looked up from his papers just in time to witness the foaming fingers of the ocean grabbing his daughter and pulling her out to join it. The scream stopped.All that remained on the shoreline was a bucket and a ruined kingdom. Luna was now able to demand her friend Water’s attention day and night as she called her tide in and out to play.
An eternal friendship.