024: tide

Bess shivers, despite the navy blue fleece and heavy jeans keeping her from feeling the wind's bitter kiss. Leaning on an old wooden railing half-eaten by salt from the sea, she stares across the choppy open water. The rainclouds in the distance don't even cross her mind, nor does she pay the slightest mind to chill breeze tousling her short hair.

Bess, whose own appearance mirrors the endless gray sky and sea, simply stares and quietly sighs.

Footsteps break the silence, as a petite young woman pounces.

"Sorry I'm late!" she cries. "I missed you!"

Bess smiles.