Clearing Smoke [Black Heart - Cody and Caris]

There wasn't much Cody could do since the fire. He was limited to walking and any movement like sitting down or standing up, became too painful for him. So he decided to catch a boat ride and go to one of the islands. Sunshine Island, ended up being the one he picked. The name sounded nice, so he thought it might make his day slightly better than it already was. 'Sunshine' was a possitive term and often used for endearment. Maybe this place would be like the name implied.

Nothing stood out to him though as he walked around the beach. It was like the one in Forget-Me-Not Valley, only the sand was a different color. He could go around town and see what it was like. There weren't many people on the beach afterall, it was lonely and desolate. Like him right now. Atleast it was better than laying on his stomache all day long.

The water was cool, a sure sign that Fall was approaching fast. How long had it been since the fire? Not that long, maybe a few days or so. Luckily, Caris had only gotten away with too much smoke-inhalation and her voice was just gruff for a few days. She remembered waking up to Michael hovering over her and how he had saved her. She didn't remember that part of course, but she had figured it out. Caris collapsed in the sand. The ocean today was murky and the sky itself was cloudy. Was it supposed to rain? Caris stood back up and stretched her arms. "This is no time to be getting depressed!" she declared placing her right hand on her left bicep. "Caris Lynn LaTona doesn't get depressed! HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!"

A figure on the beach had caught Cody's attention. Something wasn't right with the girl though, becuase she loudly stated that she didn't get depressed and was laughing about it. It was unusual behavior and Cody was going to leave the girl alone, but something seemed oddly familiar about her. For a moment he closed his eyes and then realized where they met.

"Hey," Cody said walking up the the short hair brunette. "You were in the fire, right?"

A lot of people had been asking her that question lately. "Yep!" She said offering the man a smile. "I remember you! You're the man with the tags that took off your shirt!" Caris laughed. "How are you doing? Your name us Cody, right?" Caris picked up a seashell and examined it. For a brief moment she wondered if any mermaids might be around.

"Yeah," Cody said a small smile cracking at the corners of his lips. Never would he had guessed that she could be this energetic for his memory of her before was her collapsed in the burning building. Now what he saw was that same girl laughing and curiously picking up a seashell pondering. He didn't think that taking off his shirt was that funny. It ended up being covered with someone's blood as a temporary bandage.

"You probably know that if you put your ear next to it you'll hear the ocean, right?" Cody question because the girl was looking at it strangly. It was as if that one tiny seashell was the key to a locked door or something. To him it was kind of cute.

Caris looked up at him, her jaw dropping open in amazment. "Seriously!?" She had never known seashells could do that! Was it some kind of mermaid magic? Eagerly, Caris placed the shell to her ear. "I CAN HEAR IT!" She exclaimed. "I never knew you could do this! This is so awesome!" Caris giggled uncontrollably and bounced up and down. "New discovery! New discovery!" Caris twirled around laughing until she tripped over her own two feet and fell butt-first into the sand. She paused for a moment, looking up at Cody, then burst out laughing again. "I want to keep it! Can I? Can I? Please!?"

Was this girl really serious that she had never lifter a seashell to her ear before? Cody had been doing that since he was a little boy, so it was hard to believe. Not everyone got to travel to the beach though. Perhaps many people didn't know of the simple phenomon. Part of him was tempted to tell her that it was just the noise of the blood moving in her head, but he didn't have the heart to break her fun.

"You don't need to ask me," Cody said looking down at the girl who had fell in the sand. Her behavior was unusual, but sort of refreshing. "You found the shell so whatever you decided to do with it is up to you."

Caris's eyes lit up. "REALLY!? Then I want to keep it!" Caris stood back up and brushed herself off. "You know, I really like you~ You've introduced me to new things and you seem the care a lot about people! Hey hey, perhaps you should come with me sometime to meet Jackie the pastry-eating bear! I've only met him once, and I haven't been able to find him yet. But I'm sure He'll turn up!" Caris started to spin in circles again, this time reciting a riddle as she did so. "There was a green house. Inside the green house there was a white house. Inside the white house there was a red house. Inside the red house there were lots of babies. What is it?"

Caris's eyes light up in excitement as she held the shell as she stood back up. The girl seemed so carefree and so happy, but also naive. At first Cody wasn't quite sure what to think about the 'pastry-eating bear.' Was the girl messing with him or something? Or could she have gotten hold onto some wine by accident? "A pastry-eating bear," he questioned alound, but it was too late. The girl already started on another topic.

"How can one house have so many houses on the inside?" Cody asked aloud. The colors didn't make sense to him too. Confusing him, the girl looked up at him expecting to know her riddle. "A doll house?" he asked uneasily about his awnser.

Caris stopped spinning and tilted her head to the side. "Nope!" She said smiling. "Sometimes it's better not to question or over-think things too much. Otherwise, the answer it right under your nose! That's what I was always told, anyway. The answer is--a watermelon!" To Caris, messing with people was so much fun. Caris sat down on a rock and gazed out onto the ocean. "By the way, Jackie is a bear with whipped cream around his mouth I met while stalking someone I thought I knew once. I haven't seen him since, but I'm sure he's happy and well~" Caris held the seashell up to her ear again. "HEYITHINKICANHEARMERMAIDS!"

By now Cody thought something was seriously wrong with the girl or she was an incrediable actor to be able to keep up with it right now. Just talking to her already made him feel like he ran for five hours or just flat out exhausted. She'd jump from topic to topic and Cody honestly, had no clue where he should start talking at all. "Ummm... I don't think mermaids exist," Cody said getting ready to hear the girl's response. For all he knew Caris could start bawling or slap him for it.

Caris looked displeased. "Aww, that's no way to talk. What's the fun of legends if there's no one to believe in them. hey! Here's a fun fact! There's this guy who makes mermaid carcasses out of fish and animal remains! Pretty cool, huh? Also, have you ever seen that picture of that dead mermaid? Y'know, the really famous one? Turns out, it was just a fishtail and a dead monkey sewed or glued together. Wow, people are crazy." Caris continued to examine her seashell.

"No, not really... I wasn't into those kind of things when I was little," the idea of a guy who created mermaids by combining animals sent a shiver down Cody's spine. Good thing Caris didn't say anything about that man doing anything like that to humans. Some lines to Cody shouldn't be crossed and tampering with living beings was part of that. By no means he was a vegitarian, no he loved meat, but he knew that there was a boundry between what was too far.

"Yeah," Cody chuckled agreeing with the girl's final statement. "All of us are... I guess."