Gemotions

The salt spray kissed Elara’s face, a thousand tiny needles against her skin. She had the distinct feeling of teetering on the edge of something immense. Beside her, Liam was recounting the day they'd built the sandcastle, the day that had always felt so important to her.

He remembered the gale-force winds, the frantic scramble to keep the towers from collapsing. He spoke of the biting cold, the almost unbearable chill that had driven them to huddle together. Elara found herself speechless. Her memory of that day was of sun-drenched warmth, the sand a comforting embrace. Her hands trembled slightly as she looked out at the ocean.

"I just remember the colors," she finally whispered, her voice barely audible over the waves. "The sky was impossibly blue, and the sand…golden." A memory flickered – Liam's face lit up, not with cold, but with pure, unadulterated glee. Had she invented that?