About, Time and Grace--The Beach (A fragment 2)

Just a little conversation between two people who I keep hearing in my head.

Beck stood up, still holding Grace's hand.

"Let's walk," he said, heading north, away from the park.

They wandered closer to the water, where the firmer sand made it easier to walk. Beck was barefooted; Grace wore thin flop-flops, and neither cared when the small waves washed over their feet.

Ahead of them was just the slightly rolling lake, the brightening sky, and somewhere, Canada.

"Grace, look!" he said, pointing up and slightly east.

"A seagull? It's awfully big--we don't usually see them that big--" Beck cut her off.

"Not a seagull, it's a bald eagle," he said. "See the curved wings, and the way the tail fans out? And its head is a little lighter color than the body?"

"Oh my God! Are you sure?" Grace twisted around, following the bird's flight as it headed towards the sunrise, following the lake shore. "I've never seen one...in the wild, anyway. Wow. Wish I had my camera--it's beautiful, so graceful."

"They are." Beck pulled Grace along, out towards the very tip of the point, the farthest away from the resorts and the rides and crowd. It was even quieter here, and a stand of trees behind them hid the development from their sight.

"I love it here," he said. The breeze picked up, ruffling his black curls, blowing Grace's brown bob around. She smiled at him.

"Me, too. I love Lake Erie. Better than all the little lakes in northern Indiana. Don't tell anybody at home that."

"Secret's safe," he said, grinning at her.

"Beck, can I ask you about, um, your, ah..." Grace hesitated.

"My what? Family?"

"Oh. No. Not ye--not that. No, about your--eyes. I mean, I love them, but they're just so--different. Beautiful, but--strange. Sorry. I don't mean that in a bad way. I've just never seen anyone with two different color eyes. Only--" Grace stopped, feeling like she was bungling what could have been just a simple question.

"Only what?"

She looked down. "Well, I did see a, a dog once, a Alaskan husky, with two different color eyes."

Beck laughed. "No, I'm not a canine. And I know it's kind of freaky. But not unheard of. Runs in my family, actually. My twin sister has them too, except hers are a bright blue and a darker gray."

"Your twin?"