lochside

The water lapped the rocks with a murmur. Calming, whispering; an eternal conversation that all could hear, but none understand. She skipped a stone across the gentle waves. It hopped four times then skidded along the surface before sinking beneath. Her fingers snapped and she faked a pout.

'I can do better you know.'

'I know.'

The pout turned to a smile and her feet sank a bit in the sand as she looked for another skimmer. Pebbles and stones clattered as she tossed them aside, looking for that perfect smoothness.

'I said I know. You don't have to prove your skill to me.'

He threw a round stone, not bothering to skip. It hit the water with a satisfying plunk, echoing over the quiet conversation between the water and the rocks.

'I know you know. And I don't have to prove anything to you.'

He looked across the loch. The sunny haze cast a pastel filter over the mountains in the distance. He squinted, even though his sunglasses hung loose from his collar.

'Perfect.'

She held a smooth stone up to him, grinning from ear to ear. She held it like a talisman.

He lost count of how many times it skipped. Seven or eight - somewhere around that. The sun fell behind a cloud and the hairs on his arms stood up in the breeze.

'I can do even better.'

'I know.'

He watched as a sailboat tacked on the opposite shore, almost indistinguishable from the wings of the gulls diving around him.

She grabbed his hand hers and kissed his cheek.

'I know you know.'