Dying Embers

Cara stood on the beach and stared up at the sky, head cocked to one side. She looked silly.

"Whatcha lookin' at, sweetheart?" I sing-songed, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

She didn't answer, and I ended up caught in that awkward moment where expectations are not met.

"Cara?"

"Hm?" she intoned, her gaze not breaking.

"I threw your book-bag in the lake."

"Good place for it," she murmured.

I massaged the bridge of my nose.

"It's the sunset," she finally told me, her eyes only now meeting mine. "It just struck me down with its perfection. It made me think about all the things I used to love, but that I burned away."

I laughed. After all, this was Cara, everyone's favorite party girl. Her chief concerns were boys, fashion, and popularity, in that order. But now she almost sounded... philosophical.

She sighed, and shook her head, her gaze darting briefly back in the direction of the horizon, which glowed like the final dying embers of a campfire.

"Don't worry on it, Hannah," she assured me. "It won't happen to you."

I followed her back towards the music, only vaguely wondering what she meant.