IN THE DUNES

FICTION BY ROBERT CRAIG

After an early dinner. Dirty dishes left in the sink. They head out toward the dunes, the screen door slamming behind them and the dog running out ahead. In a minute he's gone after the scents of the day. The sun, still warm on their backs, slowly lowers in the sky. The sunlight is changing, reminding them of the longer days ahead. The evening lingers. A light breeze off the land follows and whistles around them. 

Generations of paths wander and wind through the dunes towards the bluffs and beach. Roy follows a path instinctively after decades of traveling these trails back and forth. Old landmarks point the way and lead him on. Like a scrappy dead juniper still standing, an expanse of lichen, native heath growing in the shade and shadows of thick pitch pines dwarfed by the winds off the sea.

The trails are overgrown and Roy leads. Single file. Bruce follows while the dog runs ahead and circles back. Then runs ahead staying within earshot. Roy eventually takes a different turn, tacking south, leaving the trail behind. Bruce hesitates then follows. Up and over some dunes of grass. They reach a small weathered peak and from there they can see the ocean that stretches from north to south and endlessly towards the horizon. Bruce follows Roy down the other side and across and in between. Sand in their shoes. 

Roy finally stops. He's found what's he's been seeking: a little hollow protected from the wind on all sides. A lost bunker built of dunes and sedges, weathered trees and scrub brush. Hidden from the world. 

Roots clinging to sand and soil, a pair of old weathered and battered junipers offer shade and serve as sentry. Roy grabs Bruce's hand and takes him down into the carved out private burrow. Perfumed with the heat of the day. 

Together they lay in the shade. The open sky overhead. There is no need to talk. The wind through the grasses like soft prayers. Bruce puts his head on Roy's chest. Hears his heart and feels him breathe. He closes his eyes.

Tail wagging, the dog finds them asleep in the shade of the world.