CHAPTER 21: RE-ENTRY
2:22pm – Monday, July 7th/2036
"Noah! Stop throwing sand at your sister." Tao yells, standing on the beach with his arm above his brow, blocking the sun. Noah looks over to him with a guilty frown, "Sorry, Dad." Tao sits in his chair, looks at his husband, Joey, and whispers, "Kids are evil." Joey smirks at him and rolls his eyes. Joey says, "They are children. Don't be a dick." Joey goes back to reading his magazine, and Tao sits back up to keep watch.
As minutes go by, the children play innocently, building their sand castles. Tao sits back in his chair and closes his eyes. Joey asks, "Did you want anything from the snack bar? I'm getting hungry." Tao looks over with a smile, "No thanks. I'm sure the kids want something, though." He sits up and yells, "Hey! You two! Do you guys want some lunch?" Noah gasps at Sarah and says, "FOOD!" They both drop their shovels and run to Tao. Tao looks over at Joey, "See? Told ya!" Joey laughs and says, "Okay, you guys want some hot dogs?" Sarah squints her little eyes, "Ew! No! I want french fries!" "I do! I want a hot dog!" Tao says, jumping up and down in excitement. Joey laughs at them and says, "Okay, let's go get some lunch!" "I want to stay here!" Sarah cries as she grabs his arm. Tao scoops up Sarah and sits her in his lap, "You guys go get food, and I'll sit with my little darlin'." Joey walks over to Noah and grabs his hand, "You, can come help me carry your sisters' food." Noah whines, but Joey picks him up and takes him to the snack bar with him.
As they walk away, Sarah hops off Tao. She starts walking to the sand castle, and Tao asks, "Hey, where ya goin?" Sarah sits beside her bucket and says, "To play!" Tao smiles at her innocence and lays his head back down against the chair. He looks into the sky, and a bird flies across the sun. When the shadow crosses his body, Tao remembers waking up from the hospital. It was like that exact moment. Fading into darkness when a bright light illuminated his world. His heart skips a beat, and he quickly looks at Sarah. She is scooping up sand and pouring it on top of her castle. Tao places his hand over his chest. His heart races from the shocking reminder of his near-death experience. He calls out, "Sarah!" and she looks back at him. Tao smiles and just waves. She smiles back and waves her shovel in the air. "I'm making it rain sand, Daddy!" She shouts. A surge of fear creeps up his body, and his smile fades. The bright blue sky in the distance behind the water slowly fades into grey. No clouds are in view, and Tao's brow lowers in mind-bending confusion. As he stands up, he looks down at his daughter, and the colour of her bright orange shovel disappears.
"Sarah?" He yells, confused by what he sees. She stands up and starts to scream. Tao, shocked, exclaims, "What?!" and turns around to see a giant golden sand cloud stretching up over him. He falls backwards onto the ground in terror. When he hits the grain, his head moves forward and wakes himself up. "Ahh!" He shouts, opening his eyes to the colourful beach before him. Sarah is playing with a little boy, and they look over at him. They giggle at Tao and go back to playing in the sand. Tao stands up and looks behind him. "It was a dream? Oh god. I must have fell asleep." He whispers to himself. Looking at the snack bar, he sees Joey and Noah standing in line. He shakes his head in relief and sits back down to watch Sarah play with her new friend. When he looks back up into the sky, he sees a bird flying overhead. In a panic, he looks away. Suddenly he hears Sarah scream. He stands up to see her holding her hand, crying. The little boy is running away from her, and Tao runs over to see what is the matter.
"What happened?" He asks as she sucks on her finger. "The boy! He hit me with his shovel! Ow, Daddy, it hurts!" Sarah continues to cry as Tao picks her up. He asks, "The boy HIT YOU? On purpose?" She nods her head up and down and takes a deep breath. When she pulls her finger out of her mouth, blood starts to pour all down the front of his chest. Looking down in horror, Sarah begins to scream. Tao looks down at his body and becomes furious at the sight of his daughter's blood dripping down his body. He looks over to where the child is running away and sees him chasing a seagull into the water. Sarah yells, "DADDY!" when he looks at her, she stares behind him. As Tao turns around, he sees a man standing on his beach towel beside his chair. The man is cloaked with a long trench coat and a brimmed hat. He is eyeing Tao wickedly and starts to run at them. Sarah screams, and as Tao backs up in fear, he trips over the sand castle and drops her into the sand. When the man gets close to him, Tao yells, "NO!". The man impales Tao with a long sharp wooden stick through his stomach as he lies in the sand. The man pulls the stick out of his body aggressively and yells, "YOUR FAMILY WILL BURN." Tao looks down to see his wound before his head rolls back into the sand. Sarah shrieks at the top of her lungs, and the man stabs her in the eye socket with the spear. Pulling it out, the blood drips down the stick overtop of Tao and falls into his eyes. As Tao's vision fades into darkness, the man disappears.
Unknown Time/Unknown Date
