Barely There

5 - The Awakening

The days began to take on a rhythm, a secret cadence that only Alex knew. As the sun rose each morning, he would go through the motions of family life—listening half-heartedly to his father’s lectures, feigning interest in Emily’s relentless piano practice, helping his mother with small household tasks. But no matter how much he tried to pretend, his mind was always elsewhere, counting down the hours until he could slip away.

The beach beyond the lighthouse had become his refuge, a world apart from the rigid expectations of his family. Each visit was a small rebellion, a step further into a life that felt freer, lighter. At first, he had been timid, lingering at the edges, observing but keeping his distance. But the people who gathered there—so open, so unguarded—had a way of drawing him in. They spoke to him not as an outsider, but as if he belonged, as if he were one of them.

There was Peter and Margaret, the older couple who had first invited him to sit with them. They seemed to take Alex under their wing, gently guiding him through his initial discomfort with a kindness that felt almost parental. Then there was Jonas, a wiry man in his forties who worked as a photographer and saw beauty in everything, from the curve of a shell to the lines on a stranger’s face. He showed Alex how to see the world differently, how to find art in the ordinary. And there was Elise, a university student with wild, curly hair and a laugh that carried over the waves. She was fearless in a way that Alex envied, unafraid to speak her mind or challenge the world around her.