" When Marimba rhythm
Starts to play
Dance with me
Make me Sway
Like a lazy ocean
Hugs the shore
Hold me close
Sway me more "

The soothing sounds of the tide kissing the shore welcomes us as we make our way down the sandy path.

The clear blue sky is shining with bright morning light but the sun still hasn't reached its scorching heated stage.

Wisps of white clouds float aimlessly amidst shades of baby blue and indigo backdrop of the sky while the rippling waves of water shimmer under the sunlight

A calm breeze blows by as the waves crash against the sand , producing a background melody.

Other than us, there's barely anyone at the seaside so early in the morning. An elderly couple are lounging by the beach chair while a few kids who I assume are their grandkids seem to be running all around the beach, shrieking with laughter.

A middle aged couple are walking by the shore occasionally dipping their feet in the water while they hold hands and gaze at each other with soft smiles on their faces.

On the far end , a group of young guys are ready with their surfboards on hand , waiting for the tide to rise so they can go surfing.

Sehar and I take hold of each side of a blanket and slightly shake it up and down before letting it softly fall down on the sand filled ground. Hreedhan drops all of our beach bags on the blanket and plops down in the middle.

" Oi scoot over . " I complain and nudge him towards the side so the rest of us can get space to sit.

" I'm so happy! We're finally at the beach ahhhhhhh! " Aleesha squeals with joy as she dances around our blanket excitedly.

" See lee - lee ? Everything happens for the best . If we came during the afternoon it would've been very crowded and we couldn't have enjoyed it properly. Now the beach is so serene and we can also have our space. " Hreedhan tells her with a smile stretched on his lips.

She nods at his observation and proceeds to sit down in our laid out blanket.

Sehar rummages through our bags and brings out the beach essentials. She passes around a sunscreen bottle and we each slather a portion over our face and hands.

" I'm hungry, what snacks did we bring? " Hreedhan reaches out towards the bag but Sehar pulls it away from his reach.

" Easy there. Leave some for us too."

They continue bickering back and forth and eventually the food is divided in appropriate proportions.
We sit and have our breakfast while chatting about everything and nothing.

While Aleesha and Sehar are admiring a Lady's floral dress and gushing about her outfit, Hreedhan manages to smuggle some extra snacks for himself.

I watch as he quickly stuffs them in his mouth and when his gaze falls on my watchful ones he just grims impishly, offering me one of the chocolate bars he had secretly taken from the bag.

I roll my eyes at him but reach out and grab the bar and set it down on my lap beside my plastic wrapped sandwich.

Silently sipping on the fruit juice in my hand , I stare longingly at the mesmerizing ocean water and take in the view along with the soothing sounds of the waves crashing by the shore. 

The moment is so perfect, I forget about all my worries and wish I could capture this experience through the lens of my eyes, storing it away in my heart to remember forever.

" Yeah, I wish I had brought some dresses for the beach. At least I have a bucket hat though -..." Sehar says in reply to something Aleesha said and starts rummaging around in the bag before pulling out her hat.

" I've got an extra one if any of you need it. But hey …where did the chocolate bars go ?! " She yells in surprise.

Hreedhan and I look at each other and before she can unleash her anger Hreedhan gets up, " Enough sitting around, we're at the beach! Let's go towards the ocean guys. "

He sprints towards the waves and I also promptly follow him as Sehar looks around in confusion.

Soon enough we're all running around the shore and splashing water at each other. Aleesha splashes a handful of water towards my way and I mock glare at her before throwing back more in her direction. But she ducks down in time and the blow falls on Hreedhan instead. He accidentally swallows some of the salt water and rubs his eyes with a small hiss of " ouch ! "

" Oops- " I squeak out as I notice his eyes glinting with mischief.

" Bring it on ! " He hollers as he swipes a huge wave of water towards my way. I receive only half of the impact as I pull Sehar in front of me.

She shrieks loudly and randomly splashes water all around. All of us keep running in circles and waving around our hands , randomly splashing water at no one in particular.

After we get tired we sit down in the sand and look at the ever stretching aquamarine ocean water.

The waves keep kissing our feet and shyly running away back towards the ocean . I can see small seashells scattered around the seabed under the crystal clear water.

We eventually get up and I dip my toes in the water back and forth and watch as the water splashes around.
I dig my feet under the drenched sand and in a few seconds the water rolls forward to clear the sand from my feet. The sensation of the natural massage is beyond comforting.

" Ay no ! That's my favorite flip flops!" Aleesha yells . I look towards the side to see one of her feet is empty and she's looking towards the water with panic in her eyes.

" I told you to leave your shoes behind. " Sehar remarks sympathetically as Aleesha stares at the ocean gloomily.

Her face immediately changes when she notices her flip flop among the next dose of incoming waves.

Hreedhan dives forward and retrieves it for her before putting it on his wife's feet, Cinderella style.

Looking at this scene , I rush back towards our blanket to retrieve my phone so I can capture this moment. 

We had enough of splashing in the water and now we decided to take pictures. Sehar goes on professional photographer mode and starts clicking all of our pictures. She takes some random candid shots before instructing us to pose a certain way.

Then I take Sehar's camera to take her pictures and some selfies of all of us together. At one point we ask one of the pre teen kids to take our group picture.

As the photo session gets over we once again return to our blanket and sit down.

We had collected some seashells and I dropped them all in a plastic bag before tucking it inside our beach bag.

Hreedhan and Aleesha decide to go to a nearby market to buy some souvenirs. Sehar tags along with them but I stay put in my spot.

I bring out the book I had brought along and settle down comfortably, resting the book on my lap and turning the pages with a content smile.

I was so lost in reading I don't realize when a beach ball starts flying in my direction. Before I can react , one of the surfer dudes rushes forward and redirects the ball towards the thrower.

" You okay ? " He inquires in a worried voice and I nod at him and thank him for his help.

At that moment Sehar comes back to our spot and joins us.

The dude looks towards her and shoots her a friendly smile before turning back to me.  " I just saw you reading this book and I remember my girlfriend gushing over how much she liked it. "

I make a surprised face before stretching my lips in a smile , " Oh she must have great choice then. "

He chuckles lightly and nods before continuing, " The thing is , I actually  want to propose to her but I'm blank as to how I should do it. All the regular ways seem super cliche you know ? I wanted to do something unique and was wondering if you ladies could give any advice? "

He had such an earnest and hopeful expression that Sehar and I happily agreed. I went through my Pinterest boards and gave him suggestions on decorations while Sehar put in dramatic gestures about the whole idea.

He nodded along and even brought out his phone to take notes of what we said.

We wished him all the best as he thanked us and jogged back towards his friends.  Sehar and I grinned at each other and connected our palms in victory.

" I wish I could see the proposal! " I exclaim with a dreamy look.

" For real. We should've taken his number and asked him to forward the pics . " Sehar agrees as she slumps down to sit next to me.

We notice Hreedhan and Aleesha walking back towards us from a distance. They're laughing and swinging their intertwined hands back and forth.

" Man, they're too cute . Mashallah. But not gonna lie, lately I'm feeling kinda single. " Sehar muses with pursed lips.

"I get what you mean . At least I have my book boyfriends. " I smirk , nodding down at the book in my hand and chuckling at Sehar's unimpressed expression .

The lovely couple finally rejoins us and Hreedhan hands flowerbands to all of us. He even bought one for himself and proudly took selfies wearing the crown on his head while I doubled over and laughed uncontrollably.

☠️

Here's a sweet and fun beach chapter without any disturbance from Mr.Neighbor. But maybe it's just the calm before the storm (: