The hot southern sun, which supplied the earth with heat and sultriness not so long ago, was quickly rolling down to the horizon. The day was drawing to a close. Crickets started performing their nighttime symphony.
The walk down to the sea was not difficult. The path went through a small town park. The warm southern air was composed of the fragrance of all blooming plants and flowers, but the aroma of the plants one passed by prevailed.
Bushes of jasmine and sprays of wisteria smelt particularly sweet. The fragrance was so thick, that it seemed one could drink it. You would like just to sit down on a bench and breathe it in…
The sea met the friends with an empty beach and warm water. Shingles, warmed-up by the day’s sun, generously gave away their warmth. There were small oases of sand on the beach, and our friends set to dig William into the sand, doing that with great pleasure.
When a small hill grew over the young man, Michael fell back down on it. William was silent and only closed his eyes to avoid getting sand in them, while Michael’s bulk gamboled on this hand-made hill.
The girls were slowly coming into the sea. Michael joined them, leaving William alone. The latter had complete freedom to decide how to get out of the sand.
Any splashes of water were followed by microorganisms’ glow. Bioluminescence was exciting and uncommon. Having pushed from the sea bottom, young people zealously stroked on the water with their hands causing impetuous glow of microorganisms and additional ripples on the moon path that had appeared on the water. Having become quiet, they slowly swam to the buoy and back.
Swimming on her back and viewing the stars that became brighter as it grew darker, Julia dropped slightly behind her friends. The night was quickly setting in.
The bright stars and the glow of the microorganisms that enveloped the swimmers created a magical picture of the night sea, so the phrase «Come to us!» said by someone, fell in with the magic of the night and didn’t surprise Julia. But when this phrase was repeated, and repeated more insistently, Julia looked around, but saw nobody, and quickly swam back to the shore.
Her friends, ready to go home, were waiting for her on the beach. They were briskly discussing the night’s sea-bathing. Julia attentively looked them over. Judging by their behavior, nobody had any relation to the voice she had heard.
«Most probably, it’s somebody’s joke», she thought, and joined the conversation. The young people were particularly impressed by the microorganisms’ glow in the warm water. Julia explained that such a phenomenon could be observed during only one month, when the water was at its warmest. Thus talking, they soon came back home.
Julia’s parents were waiting for them. They had a lot of questions for the young people, and all evening were asking them about their lives in the other town.
Nobody wanted to go to bed. Somebody switched on a radio at a low volume, and the boys began to light a fire from kindling in the barbecue. Then they put charcoal there, and, in a while, small pieces of meat.
The smell of frying meat and fat, dropping on the charcoal and burning there, filled the whole yard. The dogs knew that they would get their pieces too, and attentively watched what was going on in the yard.
The boys turned over the meat together – William was giving some light with a lantern to the pieces of meat, and Michael was carefully taking them with tongs, looking them over, and then moving pieces that weren’t done yet to where the heat was stronger.
