The Golden Hour Who: Michelle and OPEN What: Lying on the beach When: At the end of the day Where: Hawaii Warnings: None Status: Incomplete
Michelle sat on a towel on the beach in Hawaii, wine glass in hand. She wasn't sure which beach. It didn't really matter. The sun had just disappeared behind the sea, though the sky was still filled with pink and gold, edging toward purple and indigo overhead. Darkness would fall very soon.
She'd gotten up at the crack of dawn this morning back on Stroma. Cold, blustery Stroma, so much less pleasant than Hawaii. But it was still home now, if only because she suspected that The Powers That Be might have allowed them access to Hawaii and Iceland and elsewhere--but that they would ultimately be forced to return to Stroma in the long term.
Nonetheless, an organized effort to loot the other islands--had coalesced early this morning. Most everyone capable of creating a portal had been recruited to do just that, and everyone else willing to participate, had taken advantage of them to acquire anything and everything they thought remotely usable. There had been some effort at first to organize the haul, but eventually, mindful that their access could be cut off at any time--TPTB were mercurial--eventually it had devolved into simply dumping armloads (or wagonloads, or wheelbarrowloads of scavenged goods into heaps to be sorted later.
The effort had eventually wound down, and by mid-to-late afternoon, Michelle decided she'd done enough for one day. As long as she was in Hawaii, she was going to enjoy at least a little of it. She'd let someone know--no need to wander off without warning and worry anyone--and then walked to the nearest beach with a towel from a gift shop at one of the huge, abandoned hotels, as well as some wine and food she'd brought from Stroma and hadn't eaten for lunch.
She'd stripped off her clothes and weapons, swam a little--not going very far out, just in case--and then returned to the towel to lie in the sun and dry off before sitting up to eat and drink as she watched the sun set. All in all, it was little more than an hour, but she'd enjoyed it immensely. It had been a very long day.
She heard movement behind her. She turned her head to confirm that it wasn't a stranger or some other threat, then resumed watching the surf in the failing light. She sighed.
"I suppose it's time to get dressed and go home now, isn't it?"