"You know she's dying. Cancer. It's gone into her bones."
"Hm."
"Supposedly he took up cigars so that he could get it too and then he wouldn't be left alone."
"Yeah?"
"Sort of beautiful in its own way I guess. They're like one. Terrible way to go though."
"Mm."
There was a long silence as they sat and thought about the image. They were facing the ocean and watching it as it ebbed and flowed on the shore. There was nothing but the roar of the ocean, and the distant calling of a group of seagulls, and they sat, and the silence told them both more than conversing between themselves could ever tell. After a long period, they broke the silence.
"Where do you think we go when we die? What is it like?"
"Probably just nothing."
"I can't imagine that. It is hard to imagine."
"There was nothing before we were born and there will be nothing after we die."
"Maybe we just don't remember. Do you remember before you were born? Do you even remember being a baby?"
"..."
Just then a pack of seagulls drifted overhead, glowing white in the sun. Below them, the ocean surged.
"Just look at the ocean. Look at the seagulls. There's always life. Where do you think they are headed?"
"Probably North. But I don't know enough about seagulls to know for sure."
"But they'll always be back. They always come back."
"..."
"Let's go inside and get drunk. And then come back out and watch the ocean for a little longer. I like the wind and the sun."
She went inside to fix some coctails, closing the slider behind her. The less moisture inside the better. He turned to open the slider and saw the reflection of the ocean before him. Something glinted amidst the water and he turned to see what it was. The sun, he thought. He opened the slider and went inside. Air conditioned stillness. The slider closed and the roar of the ocean died and there was only the soft hum of the inside.
But the roar would be back.
