vast

they rocked, and the bay's breeze blew in, and into that wind, he asked her though he knew how she would answer, as she always answered. she had been quiet almost all the day, and without intent of continuing that theme, of that he was sure, she pointed to the descending sun. the boat wasnt perfect for the open waters, he preferred the bays and intercoastals, but he spun the nose towards the bridge that arched the bay and pushed forward the throttle. it lunged forward as only smaller boats seemed to do. she swung her head to face him, and there he saw her first real smile of the day- that that he was sure was specifically hers- intimate and fragile, young and wonderful. she scooted up the seat towards the foremost part of the bow- her hair screamed out behind her, a long wail of brown.
he had told her more times than he could count that she was beautiful- but no matter how he assailed her- in earnest or in sincerity- those words never made it inside. he picked a line to follow, there were never any boats heading out this time of day, and in that easy path he swallowed all the things the wind would have kept him from saying anyway. that he thought her chin and neckline were perfect, and that the slim nature of her shoulders elegant even in that peruvian print bikini top. and while he assumed as all thinner girls tended to do, that she found herself lacking in so many ways- there was a long slim balance to her that he had always found so appealing. he considered resolving to try and tell her later but let those words slip from his memory, she had made her point in the score of days with her long silences.
he redirected the craft for a moment, to bounce over the diminishing wake of a retreating boat and threw out a casual wave as nautical courtesy, and then was off and under the bridge. bridges were strange things, at a distance so self evident that they hardly required much consideration. but passing underneath one the size of the sunshine skyway demanded one to wonder at how such things were made, and to marvel at the uncontainable will of men.
the churn of the engine became an endless refrain as they headed west, the individuality of every wave lost beneath the haste of their transit, the only sign of any passing time was the crawling of the sun to the horizon.
this is where he belonged, and he thought her too, chasing the sun in a voiceless joyful howl of wind, the long sunned brown of her limbs stretched out and his hands holding him upright at the center console, forever.
and then they were there, that place she always requested, and he pulled back the throttle, and watched the numbers on the depth finder shrink. he wasnt sure, though time would tell, if it was becoming or ceasing to be a key- and in a sad sudden realization he realized it didnt really matter, either way it would one day not be what it was now.
her feet hit the water, and where he would have trudged she seemed to skim out and away from the boat. a few yards away, where the depth came to the middle of her thighs, she stopped and stood. the water surrounded on all sides by transitioning sands almost ceased to move, laying flat and still like a mirror. almost exactly when she put her hands palms down onto the face of the waters the sun had reached that point where it cast its light over the sea, and the water ignited in oranges and pinks. she stood there as she preferred, silent and lovely, inflamed with the water.
it was quiet enough, that after some time he asked without having to raise his voice.
'why do you love this so much?' he knew already all the reasons he did.
she turned back to him, pushed a few uncooperative strands of hair back behind her ears. then she returned her hands to their resting place upon the sea.
with closed eyes she said, 'you know at night, when youre in a dark place, and you can really see the night sky, when you can see thousands and thousands of stars?'
'yeah'
'you know how small you feel? and maybe its scares you or saddens you or confuses you- or whatever, it just makes you feel really small?'
'yeah of course'
'here' she said, turning back to the sun, 'i feel endless, i feel vast.'