The beach was quiet at dusk. June liked to watch the families packing up, fatigue from the sun emanating from them like waves at the shore. She enjoyed the ritual, to be witness to these strangers' memories. She imagined little faces washed clean, grinning up drearily as they faded into sleep safely home from their ocean adventure. All of them were gone now, having left the beach before light faded over the horizon. The coast settled into stillness. June had made a ritual of her own, these meandering walks that started from her moms now empty house. She turned off the paved path and caught her footing on the weary old wood of the pier, the ocean swallowing up any sense of civilization around her. Sea lions called in the distance.

 

June reached the end and sat on a damp bench. It was well past dusk now, the sea and sky had turned dark enough that it was difficult to tell where one started and the other began. She listened as the waves batted into the planks below, the sea lions still calling out somewhere. It had been Three weeks since the mystery call, since a stranger blurted out the news, since her mother had suddenly collapsed. Three weeks without her laugh, her sigh, her smile. June inhaled the frigid air and tried to quell the sob rearing up her throat. It wasn't supposed to be this way. This was her last summer at home. She wasn't supposed to be dealing with wills and estates. She pulled at her sweater, a futile effort to increase its effectiveness, and grew colder by the minute. The waves rolled in and out.

 

A noise perked her ears, so faint she wasn't sure she had correctly picked it out at first. She furrowed her brow, trying to make out anything unusual in the dark shadows. She stared for a moment holding her breath, but nothing appeared. June stood, deciding to call it an early night and make her way back to the lonely house when she saw it. A flicker of movement below the other bench, nearly halfway toward dry land. She approached cautiously and when she was about twenty paces away she lowered herself down. The shadows below the bench shifted and June caught sight of what had invaded her usual solitude. A small white dog lay there, tucked behind the bench leg peering back at her.

 

June smiled, her face felt unused to the expression. What was she going to do with a dog though? How would she get it home and besides, Mom- June cut off her thoughts. Mom's gone. She sunk back and clutched her knees, fully giving into the outpour of despair. She felt the tears sting, then something warmer touched her icy cheeks. She looked up to a dirt streaked furry face. She sniffled and the dog cocked its head, examining her. She reached out and spoke to it. "Hi buddy. You having a hard night too?" It approached June again, this time butting its snout into her palm. She fluttered at the unexpected affection it gave her so freely. After the funeral there were hugs from relatives, but it had all felt so cardboard. Nobody had been there to mourn with her, to help her sort it all out, to pack up all the carefully chosen possessions that no longer had a curator.

 

June let the dog investigate her and went on as if this were a normal conversation, "You know, I've been coming out here for weeks. Trying to get out of my head about this whole thing. I don't really know what I'm supposed to do right now. " She let out a heavy sigh, her exhaustion seeping into the night. The dog dipped its head and nuzzled into her suddenly demanding attention, its wariness vanishing. She stroked the gritty fur of this unexpected listener. "What are you doing out here though?" June disentangled herself and the dog didn't jerk away at the movement, but let her shift and stand.

 

She smiled down and a sense of relief she hadn't felt since before the tragedy settled over her. "Good talk." She joked, "I have to head back now." She hesitated, unsure if she should leave. There was nobody waiting for her at home. She ran through all the whys and why nots, and by the time she reached the end of the pier she had made a decision. She hurried back toward where the dog had sat. But when she arrived, the pier was empty. June hunched down searching under benches. She hummed, whistled, and even peered into the icy water. "Oh well." June thought, at least now she wouldn't have to add taking care of a dog to the responsibilities already crushing her. Knocked out of her stupor, she again felt the bite of the night's air. She hugged her arms to her chest and set off alone.