The girl stood on the shore with her long rustic hair blowing in the onshore breeze as she spread her arm's wide and closed her eyes with the sea lapping around her bare feet.
She smiled and breathed deeply of the brisk fresh air as she listened to the sounds of the waves crashing on the rocks in the distance. Behind her, on the beach, the people were enjoying the late afternoon sun as it glowed in the deep blue sky.
Opening her eyes, the girl looked over her shoulder at the people. Some wandering alone, others with companions, most in family groups sat on the golden sands looking happy and content. She gave a faint smile of regret for the world and those in it seemed at peace with themselves.
Her attention was drawn to a group of children playing and splashing in the shallows a short distance to her left without a care in the world. She looked down at her feet and wriggled her toes in the wet sand as the tide went out to rush back in again a moment later. Each trouser leg of her dark grey uniform was rolled up and she turned to pick up her boots that she had left on the sand behind her as the device beeped behind her right ear.
She turned and raised her hand to shield her eyes from the bright sun looking for him. Where was he? The beep turned into a whisper and the whisper told her he was close.
It was then she saw him. Standing slightly away from a group of other children and adults.
The girl grinned when she saw he was looking up into the sky with his arms spread wide. She was certain it was him as she slipped on her footwear and walked towards him.
"Hello," she said as she knelt down in front of him.
The boy turned and looked at her with a frown on his chubby face. "Who are you?" he asked.
"Oh, just someone," she said to him, "A friend."
The little boy lowered his arm's and turned to face her. "Do I know you?"
"No," the girl replied as she looked into his brown eyes, "But you will do. One day."
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."
The girl nodded. "That's good advice. Just remember, I won't be a stranger forever."
It was then she saw a middle-aged woman and man approaching her. The girl stood up and looked down at the boy. It was obvious they were related in some way.
"Ah," said the woman, "Can I help you?" she asked as she took the boy by the shoulders and hugged him to her. The man was behind her fiddling with a device of some sort. He took a few steps back, raised the small black box to his face and pointed it at them before he let it hang by the strap around his neck.
The girl shook her head and smiled. "Oh, I was just saying hello to your little boy. He's a charmer."
The woman visibly relaxed and looked down at him. "He is that. I'm sorry but I don't think we know you and I've always told him to be careful who he talks to."
The girl nodded. "I understand. It was nothing. I just had the urge to say hello. I'd best be on my way. Nice meeting you."
She gave the boy a short wave and watched as they made their way back up the beach to where their chairs, baskets, and things were laid out on the sand.
"What is your name?" she called after him.
The boy stopped and looked up at his Grandmother who nodded. He stepped forward a few paces. "Harry Watts," he called to her, "My name is Harry Watts and I'm six years old!"
The girl stared at him for a moment. This little boy who would come to mean everything to her in her future. She raised a hand as she felt the tears sting her eyes.
"Till we meet again, my love," she whispered.
The girl turned away to walk back along the shore and from whence she came.
***
The music slowly faded away and all that was left was the sound of silence and those special words hanging there in the dark.
It was a silence filled with so many things. Anticipation. Expectation. Even fear. Fear of disappointment. Fear that three years of that anticipation and expectation wouldn't be met.
The auditorium held its collective breath as I glanced along the row at my friends sitting to my left. Friends who had been on the same journey as I had. A journey that had taken six years to complete and here we all were at the end of it. After today, everything would just be nothing more than a memory. Something to look back on and say we had been there.
The moment had arrived as I felt my heart thudding madly in my chest.
Then the world exploded into a cacophony of light and sound as the fanfare blasted out and everyone began to clap and cheer.
"STAR WARS: EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI"
Like everyone around me, I sat there with a stupid grin on my face as the story began to unfold before my eyes. It was May 25th, 1983. I was eighteen years old and all was right in my world.
***
Three hours later.
"Teddy bears," said Barney around a mouthful of double cheeseburger with everything on it, "Are you telling me a bunch of fucking teddy bears kicked the Empires ass?"
The Burger bar was rammed packed and the four of us sat huddled together in a far corner on the ground floor as Benny and the Jets rocked from the old style 50's jukebox next to us.
"Leia was hot," said Duggie as he contemplated his extra large hot dog stuffed with fried onions. His eyes had practically bugged out of his head when he saw the Princess wearing that skimpy slave outfit.
We all nodded and mumbled in unison. Yeah. No doubt about that. Hot didn't even begin to cover it.
"You'll have to buy Debbie that get up for Christmas, Harry," laughed Wade as he gave Barney a nudge, "She might be into all that kinky bondage stuff."
I gave him a look. "Sure," I grunted at him sarcastically, "Like she would ever wear something like that, you dope," Which was true enough sadly. She may have been the potential apple of my eye but that girl had been born a nun.