Today’s post will be a long one! For those who may have missed the #TellMeAStoryChallenge on Instagram, I’ve compiled my posts below. Together, the seven posts make one short story. And why release it now, you ask? Because, this short story is a flashback that serves as a suuuuper early prequel for Worthy in Love!

Alright, without further ado:

1. Setting

We lived in the city, so the beach had a mystical feel to it. A place where people could walk outside without shoes on, and eat ice cream at any time of the day? It was like a dream come true.

This was twenty years ago, mind you. My dreams were a little simpler then.

We got there right at the beginning of summer, when the gulls were still skittish and hungry, and the waves were still unexpectedly cold. I took one dip in the ocean and decided that was enough. No swimming for me, thank you, no matter how much the lifeguards tried to convince me that the water would warm up as the months went on.

Besides, we had work to do, my brother and I. Going to the beach wasn’t a vacation; it was a career move. He worked on the boardwalk every night, and so did I. Most likely I was breaking some kind of child labor law, but even at six, I knew so many magic tricks that people were too dazzled to think about rules. And when they did, they learned that one of my best tricks was the “disappearing girl.”

In any case, you aren’t here to hear about boardwalk magic, are you? No–you want to hear about my grand scheme that summer. I can tell you the exact moment that it began . . .

2. Introductions

I didn’t start out with a scheme in mind, of course. The best schemes always come in the heat of the moment, with that little thrill of possibility.

And it was the heat, actually, that started everything off. Even with the breeze from the ocean, summer evenings on the boardwalk took forever to cool down. I’ve never been a particularly patient person. Especially with problems I know I can fix.

“Ryu,” I insisted, three nights straight, “it’s so hot I’m going to melt into a puddle just like an evil witch. Then you’ll have to explain to everyone how you refused to take care of your little sister!”

But because my big brother Ryuko is *almost* as stubborn as I am, it wasn’t until the fourth day that he finally caved.

“Look, Sakura,” he said finally, crossing skinny arms over his striped uniform, “I *know* it’s hot. I’m out here too, okay? And you don’t hear me complaining, do you.”

He might not have complained, but he’d admitted a weakness–and six-year-old me knew it. “You’re hot too! You can’t go on working all summer pretending that you’re not!”

“What do you want me to do about it? I can’t leave my job with the games department just because my baby sister doesn’t like it,” he returned.

The exasperation in his voice proved I was on the right track. I aimed my response like a mallet coming down on a wedge. “You could take breaks. You’re at a ring toss booth, not a prison.”

Ryuko tugged self-consciously at his blue and white shirt. He might have had five years on me, but that was just enough to know that sometimes, he couldn’t win.

“Fine,” he said at last, with a quick glance around the boardwalk. For the moment, all was quiet. “I’m guessing you have a plan?”

Oh boy, did I ever.

3. Desires

My brother Ryuko will tell you that I never do anything without a devious plan or ulterior motive. That’s a little unfair. What am I, some kind of scheming villain or snake-oil saleswoman?

Maybe these days. Depending who you ask, of course. But at the time, I was just a cute little girl on the beach. The plan was as inevitable as sunburn.

“I know where to go,” I told my big brother, tugging at his hand. “C’mon, follow me.”

“I have to tell my boss first,” he complained, digging in his heels.

Pulling someone in flip-flops is just asking to be tripped on, and at twice my height, Ryuko would have squished me flat if he fell. I reconsidered my strategy. “Why, are you hoping to be employee of the month or something? Come on! He won’t even notice you’re gone.”

Ryuko hates medals and awards and, really, just being noticed in general. He made a face. “At least let me put up a sign . . .”

“Hurry, before they run out!” I insisted.

“Run out of what?”

I didn’t answer. He’d see for himself, soon enough. Like the little boats guiding big ships on the bay, I towed him behind me, hardly noticing when his taller frame struggled to fit through gaps I navigated easily. Waves of beach-goers went by, loud clothing and sandy feet. That summer, the boardwalk seemed to stretch on for miles. But I knew exactly how to get where I wanted to go.

We skidded to a stop in front of a table sandwiched between a surfboard shop and a firstaid stand. The blue tablecloth sported neon letters at just the right height: “Miss Penny’s Treats.” Behind it, a woman deftly moved between an icebox, a gleaming machine with a lever, and best of all–a spinning stand of bright, sugary accessories. A sign standing on the table finished the picture, announcing, “Penny’s Featured Treat: The Sun- and Sand-filled Sundae, Now With Edible Sparkling Sand And Collectible Toy Ships! Limited Quantities!”

Ryuko took in all of this in .2 seconds, as big brothers do when they disapprove. “Ice cream, Saki? Really?”

4. Danger

“Not just ice cream,” I told Ryuko, cross in the way that only a six-year-old girl can be with her older brother. “The Sun- and Sand-filled Sundae, of course!”

Ryuko made a face at me. I expected him to say something like ‘how are you going to finish a whole sundae by yourself’ or ‘but you’ve never been into collecting little toy ships,’ both of which were valid objections. Not that I cared about either. Have you ever seen something that’s just so cute, you want it even though you’d never given things of its kind a second thought before? That’s how I felt about Miss Penny’s tiny ice cream-topping sailboats.

“Saki, those cost extra,” Ryuko said, derailing my train of thought.

I deflated like a sail in the doldrums out at sea. Of all the arguments I’d prepared to have, this wasn’t one. And it wasn’t one I was likely to win, either. I knew from experience that Ryuko took his responsibilities as big-brother-sole-(legitimate)-earner very seriously.

My first impulse was to stomp and cry, and to reproach Ryuko for trying to act like he was all grown up just because someone had given him a boardwalk uniform. But then a new idea occurred to me. If Ryuko was so determined to be an adult, and Miss Penny was an adult who sold ice cream . . .

I tugged at Ryuko’s shirt. “They won’t cost extra if you get Miss Penny to like you. I bet there’s a friends and family discount!”

“I’m not friends or family,” Ryuko protested, pulling his shirt away. “I’m not even likable.”

“Then you’ll be lovable,” I said, with the thrill of a pirate laying eyes on an open chest of gold. “We have to get Miss Penny to date you!!”

“Saki, you don’t know the first thing about dating. Also–“

“I do so too know,” I interrupted. Just that morning, I’d watched a sweaty man put up posters for the night fair, with pictures of couples kissing under the stars. “You have to get her to go see the fireworks with you tonight!”

Ryuko was so fed up, he wouldn’t even look at me. “And how am I sposed to do that?”

“Come on,” I declared, determined not to let his mood get in my way. “Follow my lead!”

5. Victory!

Honestly, to this day, I could not tell you what I said to Miss Penny, the ice cream lady. I could make something up, but then what’s the point of memory? The fact of the matter is that sometimes when I’m in the thick of a scheme (as Ryuko calls them), I just take each new inspiration and roll with it immediately, no thinking involved.

Now, you might ask, ‘what about poor Ryu?’

And you’d have a point. In fact, my big brother has often compared me to a steamroller.

You might also say, ‘but Saki, isn’t that a bit reckless?’

And I’d tell you that sometimes reckless is the only way to get results.

So, there we were, my brother and I, standing in front of Miss Penny’s ice cream stand. The setting sun was so hot across the waves that, had it not been so waterlogged, the old wooden boardwalk might have caught fire. And I had that life-saving, adorably ship-sporting ice cream within my sights.

“The fireworks show tonight, you mean?” Miss Penny was asking, looking curiously between my brother and me. “That’s the show you want to take me to?”

I stared lasers at Ryuko until he nodded.

“Well, aren’t you just the cutest,” Miss Penny declared with a little chuckle. “I’d be delighted. And in the meantime, how about a treat to tide you over? On the house, of course!”

6. . . . Victory?

Ryuko said for sure I was going to give myself a brain freeze eating that sundae, but I did not. I sat on the pier and savored it to my heart’s content. For a moment, as I leant on the old wooden railing and played with my new tiny toy boat, I had a feeling that it wasn’t so bad spending the summer at the beach, after all. Of course, I still didn’t want to live there all year round–perish the thought. But the heat and the salt and the strange, constant noise were all much easier to deal with when combined with ice cream.

By the time I was done eating, the fireworks were about to begin. So, I joined the crowd and went to see how Ryuko was doing–if he was charming Miss Penny properly on their date. I knew exactly where they were, of course. I’d been keeping an eye on them the entire time. Not because I’m nosy–although I am–but because I had a vested interest in getting more free ice creams.

Ryuko and Miss Penny were standing to one side of the boardwalk, just to the left of a hermit crab vendor. They were half in shadow, as though the strings of lights overhead knew their tide was ebbing out. I took up a post behind a veritable tower of cotton candy and kept watch. Once or twice I thought I saw Ryuko looking over, but I always managed to hide.

. . . Or so I thought. Turns out, big brothers have a sixth sense when it comes to hide and seek. As the fireworks show ended, I turned around and there he was, standing right behind me.

“You’re supposed to be on your date,” I informed him.

“I was,” Ryuko said airily.

His manner made me suspicious. “Well, how’d it go?”

“Good.” He looked down at me from the corner of one eye, grinned a little, and said, “Really good, actually. Really really good. In fact, I decided I’m going to live here now, at the boardwalk, and go on dates all the time. Forever. For the whole rest of my life, I’m not going to go home–I’m staying here, and it’s all thanks to you for getting me to make friends!”

7. Conclusion

I waited for Ryuko to finish, my mouth agape. Stay at the beach forever? Never ever go home? Live with the peeling sunburn, the itchy sand, the horrible heat and the garish crowds for the rest of our lives??

“You can’t do that,” I protested. “You can’t!”

“I can,” said Ryu, with a gleam in his eye.

“You just think that because you have a sugar high from all that ice cream. Or maybe the sun bouncing off the waves scrambled your brain–“

“No way,” he protested, still grinning. “I’m perfectly fine. It’s because of you and your advice about that date, Saki, don’t you see?”

“Okay, fine, I’m sorry!” I wailed, startling some tourists as they passed by our alley. “Is that what you want to hear? I never should have put you up to it in the first place. I don’t want to live at the beach!”

Ryuko didn’t say anything. But he did make a noise . . . Like laughter.

And suddenly I realized: the gleam in his eye, that grin–he’d been teasing me the entire time! Why, he probably hadn’t hit it off with Miss Penny at all. And I had to admit, I was very relieved. Even if it meant we had to pay for our ice creams all summer.

“You’re the worst,” I declared, hugging him.

Fortunately Ryuko was adept at interpreting little-sister-speak. “I tried to tell you,” he chuckled, ruffling my hair. “The whole idea was silly. Setting me up on a date would never work.”

“Maybe not,” I agreed. But privately, to myself, with my own little gleam in the eye, I added, “This time, anyway.”

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