Waves of Regret | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Waves of Regret | Previous Challenge Entry
By Cindy Duncan
08/09/16
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Waves of Regret

None of his friends thought it was a good idea to take his wife to the beach, but Michael had promised her too many times to let her down now. She was already in the passenger seat of the car, and he placed the bag of snacks on the floor in front of her. He knew from life with Caroline that no road trip was complete without snacks, so this one would be no different.

He had purchased all her favorites: chocolate chip cookies, lemon drops, and those gummy candies with the sour coating. He hated those things. He tried them once, and they made his lips pucker and his eyes water. Just when he was about to spit the candy out, it turned sweet, so he finished it. Caroline used to compare him to that stupid candy. She said sometimes he was so grouchy and mean that she wanted to get rid of him, but then he would do something sweet, and she decided that she would keep him.

Michael climbed behind the wheel as the sun was just beginning to climb over the horizon. It was a long drive to the beach, and he wanted to get an early start so they could spend some time on it before dark. It was the least he could do considering how long he had put off taking her.

“Babe, I’m sorry I’ve delayed this trip for so long. I wanted to take you, it’s just that I was always so busy in the summer, and the kids were in school the rest of the year, and you know, things just happen.” Caroline didn’t respond, and he knew those were flimsy excuses, so he quit trying to justify himself, and he put her favorite country music CD in the stereo. It was one of his sweet moments, because he preferred rock. Country music was just too whiny and sad for him.

Michael could’ve taken Caroline to any beach, and there were closer ones, but he had decided to take her to Cocoa Beach. She had gone there as a child, a couple of years before her parents had gotten their divorce. She told him that it was her last memory of a vacation with her family happy and together. “I would love to go back there someday,” she had said, at least a hundred times over the years.

They were making good time, but after four hours of driving, Michael was ready to eat. He wanted chicken, but he knew Caroline loved burgers, so he pulled into her favorite burger joint, and got in the drive thru line. He bought the food and was back on the freeway in less than fifteen minutes.

Michael talked to Caroline the entire trip, but Caroline didn’t say a word. But then nothing much had changed in that department, he thought. She had always been such a good listener, even when the subject he was talking about didn’t interest her in the least. He vowed to be more like her, and really listen to people; instead of wishing they would be quiet so he could talk.

Finally, Michael saw the “Welcome to Cocoa Beach” sign. He pulled over at the first public access parking lot, and walked around the car to open Caroline’s door. He grabbed some towels, and then he picked up his wife, and carried her to the beach. When they were just beyond the water’s reach, he sat her down on one towel, and spread the other one next to her. He sat down on it and began to cry.

“You were right, sweet Caroline, it is beautiful. Please forgive me for not bringing you here sooner. If I had it to do over, we would come here every year.” He looked at her, and his tears turned to sobs. The beach was deserted, probably because it was dinnertime, and there was a storm with lightening quickly approaching. He knew the storm would soon rob him of what little time he had left.

Michael opened the urn, and sprinkled Caroline across the sand, right at the water’s edge. He sat and watched as the tide came in, and one wave at a time, carried her away. The roaring thunder, and the crashing waves drowned his screams of grief. He stayed on his towel when the rain came, but even it couldn’t wash his sorrow away.

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