Page 57 of Big Island Neighbors
“Thank you for inviting us, auntie.”
Mahina waved her thanks away. “You’re family. You hungry?”
“Not just yet, thank you.”
“Well there’spokein the cooler. Rice, mac salad. You help yourself.”
“Thank you.”
By the time she got their stuff unloaded and their own cooler tucked next to Mahina’s in the shade, Kai was out of the car. She found him on his belly at the edge of the pier, peering down at the water and laughing when the wave spray hit his face.
Emma grinned and crouched down next to him. “Want to go explore?”
“Yeah!” He jumped to his feet and turned, then hesitated when he saw the closely packed crowd of campers.
“Come on.” She took his hand. “Let’s go down to the beach.”
As soon as they were past the crowd, Kai perked up again. They picked their way over the rocks and down to the soft black sand. Kai pointed and laughed at the big black crabs that scattered as they passed through.
The narrow beach stretched like a highway between the crashing waves of the ocean and the lagoon that shone on the opposite side. With the deep blue sea on her left and a solid-seeming wall of greenery to her right, Emma felt cradled in the arms of the Earth. She spotted sea turtles sunning themselves on the dark sand and paused to admire them.
Kai raced across the beach, and Emma jogged to keep up. He ran between the palm trees and stopped at the edge of the pond, wiggling his toes in the water.
The water of the lagoon was still, almost entirely carpeted with plants. Thousands of gorgeous purple flowers rose from flat green leaves that floated on the surface of the water. They grew in thick clusters, creating lavender towers spotted with purple and yellow.
“Can we get these flowers for our pond?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.” She was surprised to see tadpoles darting between the cover of plants. Not a saltwater marsh then, but a freshwater lagoon. “I don’t see why not. We can ask Liam about it.”
“Mama, look! Fish!” Kai fell to his knees and bent his face low to the surface of the water, watching the tiny fish that darted here and there. They were no bigger than her fingernails, flashes of silver that startled the eye and then disappeared into shadow.
Kai held his hands low in the water, trying to catch them.
Emma turned her face towards the sun and closed her eyes, happy that he was happy. Given the dark times that they had waded through after losing Adam, she would never take these idyllic childhood moments for granted again.
The sound of Kai’s laughter mingled with the crashing waves and distant chatter of other campers.
She breathed in the water-scented air and felt the warm sand underfoot, sinking fully into the moment.
“I caught one,” Kai shouted.
Emma opened her eyes in time to see a tiny fish jump out of Kai‘s cupped hands. He laughed in surprise and waded further into the water.
She settled down on the dry sand to watch him, letting the sun warm her back. The water was chilly in winter time, even on a sunny day, but that didn’t stop the kids from jumping right in.
Rory ran up, splashing through the water to Kai.
“You scared the fish!” he scolded her.
She peered through the water and then turned to him with a dismissive frown. “Were they big fish?”
“No, they were babies! And you scared them.”
“Uncle Kekoa is going to catch big fish.”
“I don’t care. I’m making friends with the baby fish.”
Lani came and sat next to Emma. She heard the kids bickering and shook her head. Then she lay all the way back in the warm sand and turned her face to the sun.
