[ Had he still been hunched over behind his desk, he wouldn't have seen (or heard) her at all.
But since he isn't - still curled up around the all-important text in his arms, seated in a hollow of warm sand, instead - the sound of her indignant shout carries, and he looks up into the blinding afternoon sunlight. A simple boat like that shouldn't have come so far across the ocean (the thought that she might be from the island, herself, doesn't so much as flirt at the edges of his addled mind), but there's little time for contemplation, as she starts up the slope of beach toward him almost as soon as she's made her slightly awkward dock with shore.
With equal grace (which is to say, none at all), he stands up in the neat little wedge he's carved out of the sandy drift, itchy in his socks and stifling fatigues. If it weren't for the weight of the book in his hands, he might have forgotten he was holding it at all - does, for a second, in his surprise. But that's pretty ordinary, isn't it?
A stranger showing up on his lonely stretch of beach is a sudden enough shock to warrant a little forgetfulness. ]
his life is a bad luck theme okay
But since he isn't - still curled up around the all-important text in his arms, seated in a hollow of warm sand, instead - the sound of her indignant shout carries, and he looks up into the blinding afternoon sunlight. A simple boat like that shouldn't have come so far across the ocean (the thought that she might be from the island, herself, doesn't so much as flirt at the edges of his addled mind), but there's little time for contemplation, as she starts up the slope of beach toward him almost as soon as she's made her slightly awkward dock with shore.
With equal grace (which is to say, none at all), he stands up in the neat little wedge he's carved out of the sandy drift, itchy in his socks and stifling fatigues. If it weren't for the weight of the book in his hands, he might have forgotten he was holding it at all - does, for a second, in his surprise. But that's pretty ordinary, isn't it?
A stranger showing up on his lonely stretch of beach is a sudden enough shock to warrant a little forgetfulness. ]
...What happened?