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“Race you to the water!” Briar yelled as soon as they reached the edge of the sand. She took off immediately, dropping her towel and sunscreen without even thinking about it. Maddie shrieked and ran after her.
“That’s not fair! You got a head start!”
Briar just laughed as she pelted for the ocean. Maddie picked up her pace until her legs were moving at super-speed. She jumped onto Briar right at the edge of the water, tackling the girl and knocking her into the sea. Maddie burst from the depths and spurted out some seawater.
“It’s a tie!” she declared triumphantly. Then she glanced around for Briar, who was nowhere to be found. “Briar? Hey, helloo? Briar?” Mirror Beach was empty, and she didn’t see anyone in the ocean around her. Everything was strangely silent.
Then, Maddie felt her feet get pulled out from under her. As she slipped and fell on her butt, Briar surfaced next to her, laughing. “Got ya!” the princess exclaimed, before flopping down at a place on the sand where the water could only lap at her toes. Maddie scrapped herself up from the ocean floor to go join her.
It really was a beautiful day. The sky was blue and huge, and the sun was perfectly warm. Maddie just wanted to curl right up on the beach and go to sleep, but she also wanted to jump into the crystal clear water again and swim. There were just too many perfect options open for her right now. Then, her eyes alighted onto something further back on the sand. “Briar!” Maddie yelped, leaping to her feet. “Briar, come with me!”
She dragged the girl to her feet, and tugged her over towards a cluster of rocks, at the bottom of which was a huge tide pool that was crawling with life. Both girls gasped happily, dropping to their knees to examine the animals more closely.
“Look at that!” Briar pointed to a tiny turtle that was swimming in the shallow water. “And what do you think those are?”
Maddie looked to where she was pointing at some weird squiggly plants. She reached in to poke them, but despite their soft appearance, they were covered in little prickly spines. Maddie drew her hand back and, instead, threw her arm around Briar, holding the girl close. “I love the beach,” she mumbled, watching a slew of tiny crabs make their way down the rock into the pool.
Briar grinned and grabbed her hand, and the two sat for a while, watching the immense amount of life in the pool. Then, Briar stood up, and with a cry of, “Catch me if you can!”, raced towards the ocean. Maddie skipped off to join her, and the two played in the crystal waters for hours and hours, until they were too tired to stand anymore.