The beach turned to stone, the dunes turned to cliffs, and everything got lonely and quiet. Except for the terrified sobbing, that he could hear very clearly. He rounded a large stone and there she was, crouched and sobbing, with her cloak wrapped firmly around her shoulders. He purposefully kicked a rock to alert her to his presence, he didn’t want to scare her any more than she was already.

She whirled, sobs cutting off like a switch. There was no recognition in her eyes for ...