#HHGHSHFH PERFECT

[ellohcee]

:)

“Come on, it’ll be fun!”

“I dunno, Davey, it doesn’t look that easy to run on."  Despite the brunette’s words, David could see the other kid’s wide grin.  Oh, so he thinks he’ll have this race in the bag just ‘cause he’s got on a weeeeird, soggy, smelly coat on?

As if!

David points out over the beach, the small sandy dunes dotting their course to where the finish line meets the big, black boulders at the other end.  

"We start here, and run aaaall the way over there!  No pushing, we just run!”

“If you say so!"  The other boy stretches up towards the sky as David leans forward.  "I’m just sayin’ - it’s not gonna be easy for you.”

“Stop bragging!"  Even with his complaint, David is grinning with excitement as he announces the beginning of their race.  "On your marks, get set, go!”

The two of them are off like a shot, but only for a moment.  David’s shoes sink into the sand and he finds himself pushing harder into the unstable ground to keep his momentum up.  Meanwhile, Jasper practically glides across the sand, his bare feet barely even kicking up any sand as he runs across the beach as if it’s second nature.  He growls as he tries to speed up.

If there’s one thing that David knows about himself, it’s that he hates losing.  And, while, they said no pushing, he never said anything about a little grabbing.  He manages to catch up a little to the other kid and reaches out to grab onto the coat flying out behind him.

…Eeewww, it’s squishy and feels like wet dog!

David shrieks and yanks his hand back, letting go of the coat and shaking off his hand.  However, his shriek is enough to startle the other kid, and David watches with wide eyes as the kid trips into a small sand dune and tumbles head over heels onto his face.  He stumbles to a stop besides the other boy and drops to his knees.  Oh boy, this can’t be good.  As if on cue, he hears sniffles coming from the kid.

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh no he’s gonna be in so much trouble.

“Hey- hey!"  He gently shakes the brunette’s shoulder and sees a pair of watery blue eyes look up from the sand.  "I’m sorry, please don’t cry!  Um, uh,” he looks around for an idea, and only one pops into his mind, “you can push me over!  So that we’re even!  See?  You don’t gotta tell anyone that I made you fall and stuff.  I’m sorry, you can push me and make me fall too!   Please don’t tell your mom on me!"  

For a while, the boy doesn’t answer him.  Instead, he slowly pushes himself up onto his knees and keeps his gaze firmly on the ground.  David’s about to start off another round of apologies when an arm shoots out and pushes David over.

But it’s not rough.  He lands on his back with a light "oof”, and when he looks over to the boy, he sees the brunette grinning mischievously as he blows a raspberry at David.

“Cool thing about my coat, broseph!"  The boy pushes himself to his feet and starts running again.  "It’s wet enough that I can make fake tears!”

“You’re a LOAD of HOOEY!"  David shouts after him, scrambling to his feet as he chases after the brunette’s carefree laughs.  By the time he reaches the finish line, the other boy is grinning with his arms folded behind his head casually.

"Guess I win!”

“Yeah, by cheating.”

“You cheated first!"  

David sticks his tongue out at the other boy, who responds in kind.  They both stop for a moment to just stare at each other before breaking out into giggles.  Once they finally calm down, David nudges the other boy playfully with a wide grin.  "You won, what do you wanna do?”

“Hmm…"  The brunette taps his chin thoughtfully before grinning and running towards the ocean’s crashing waves.  David chases after him and falls to his knees just as the other boy does.  The wet sand is speckled with bubbles and holes, and the brunette starts to dig frantically at the spots with holes.  "We’re gonna dig for clams!”

“Why?"  Despite his question, he starts on his own digging, spying another hole opening up nearby.  

"Because I like eating them!”

“Gross.”

“They’re not gross, you’re just picky.”

“Still gross!”

As piles of wet sand build and get washed away with the waves, the two of them manage to find small handful of clams that the boy shoves into the pockets of his trunks.  A voice calls out to David somewhere, and he groans loudly.

“Aww man, I gotta go.”

“Really?"  The other kid looks sad, like genuinely sad.  Seeing him sad makes David sad too.  It’s not often that he gets to play with kids his age, nevertheless a kid who actually WANTS to play with him.  Quickly, he grabs the other boy’s hand and grins.

"Don’t worry about it!  We can play again another day!"  David tilts his head to the side with a realization.  "By the way, what’s your name?  I’m Davey!”

“Jasper!"  

"Okay!"  He grins wider and hugs Jasper quick, pulling back quickly to run towards the stairs.  "I’ll see you again, okay?”

“Okay!"  Jasper waves from where he stands for a moment before turning and walking towards the sea.  The odd direction has David pausing to watch, wondering if the brunette is going for a swim.  It’s pretty cold for a swim in the sea, which was why he turned him down earlier.  But that doesn’t seem to bother Jasper as he wades deeper and deeper into the waves before ducking underneath the water.  

When he pops back up, a little grey seal head pops up instead.  David nearly screeches when the seal turns around to wave a flipper at David before disappearing underneath the waves.  He quickly runs towards and up the stairs to claw at his mom’s jacket.

"MOM!"  He points at the beach, trying to get her to look at the place he last saw Jasper.  "MOM, I JUST SAW A KID TURN INTO A SEAL!”

“Oh, David."  She kneels down to his level and pinches his cheeks, making him try and swat her hands away.  That hurts!  "You and your imagination.”

“No but- I saw a kid turn into a seal with my own eyes-”

“David, that doesn’t happen and you know it.  You’ve been reading too much of those… um, what are they called?  The books with the kids transforming into animals on the covers.”

“Animorphs, mom,” he huffs, before shaking his head and refusing to let his thoughts derail, “but I’m serious!  I saw a kid turn into a seal!”

“Alright,” she chuckles lightly and takes his hand.  “Next, you’re going to tell me you saw a bat turn into a lady.”

“But-”

“Come on, let’s go home.”

As his mom tugs him away from the beach, David looks over his shoulder one last time.

He swears he saw it happen.

But… then again…

His mom is usually right, right?

He chews on his lip and thinks back on Jasper and the seal.  It’s not like Animorphs are real anyways.  That’d be reaaaal scary if that was true.

…Yeah.  Maybe his mom is right.  It probably was his imagination.  He shakes his head and follows his mom’s lead.

Yeah, probably just his imagination.  It’s not like something like this is going to bother him in the future, anyways.  

“What’s for dinner?”

“Fish and chips!”

“YEAH!”