The water branching in hundreds of white bubbling veins swirled below me.
My bare feet dangled as I held my daughter on my lap to bask in the beautiful sunshine with me. Her little feet were bare too. Her toes spread to really soak in the sunshine threatening to burn them.
We had taken the ferry to be here today, just to enjoy the sounds of the swirling water slapping the rocks, feel the salty spray in the air, and smell the earthy coffee grounds being squeezed for all it was worth through the squealling machine in a nearby Cafe.
It was nice to just get away from all the sounds of town and just hear nature. Even without sight, my little Wren still found herself overwhelmed at how loud and confusing it could all be.
Today was our day. We were going to enjoy the water and the surrounding breakwall stretching alongside a sliver of trampled sand home to little brown seabirds darting across it.
"Daddy?" Wren pressed her head against my chest as her glasses pointed up to me.
I smiled down at her, squeezing her middle to let her know I had heard her little voice.
"What's it look like?" she pondered innocently.
My smile slipped as I saw hers form.
What did it look like?
"The water" she giggled when I moved mine to cause hers to as well "what's that look like?"
I looked down at it, seeing both of us reflected in the bobbing surface splashing up against the edge of the pier we sat on.
"It's like how everything is for you" I kissed her forehead "it's dark and seems to go on forever. There's bubbles too; small ones like when you get excited deep insideand that feeling makes you want to jump and make noise. There's big ones too; like the ones that crawl up into your mouth when Daddy goes down a steep hill in the car."
Wren giggled at my description, touching her lips gently.
"The hills make me feel funny inside" she commented.
"Me too, Baby" I grinned at how precious she was.
At least I knew she wasn't going to be a thrill seeker when she was older.
"What about what we are sitting on?" she slapped the wood "what's that?"
I slapped it too, hearing the solid thunk chime back from the force.
"This one is swirly" I wrinkled my nose up at the grain my fingers trailed around "it runs round and round in all sorts of circles. It's the same as the squishy dirt at home when it rains, but it's also got more mixed in, like sand."
Wren frowned at me, confused.
I held my hand in her lap for her and placed her palm into it so her fingers could trace the rough surface notched with cuts from labour.
"That's like sand" I closed my fingers over her hand "the dark water you see; it's brighter than that."
"The sun is bright! " she piped up excitedly "you told me that!"
"I did!" I chuckled back and held her middle as she stretched upwards to point "but the sun is so much more too."
Wren fell back, looking at me.
"It is?"
"It is" I touched her nose to make her swipe at it and laugh "the hotness you feel in the air is from the sun. It's even hotter than when Daddy hugs you and keeps you warm."
I wrapped my arms around her to show her the radiation between us.
"The sun is even brighter than sand. It's so bright, you can't even look at it. The heat that makes your skin tingly and hot? That's what white is. The sun is so bright it looks white. It's what you feel when Daddy turns on the light for you in the morning after being in the nice, cold, quiet dark."
"White is mean" Wren huffed.
She didn't like it when the lights came on. Though blind, she could still feel the differences in light and the way they made her eyes hurt in response.
I tried to be as gentle with them as I could, but there was only so much a standard bulb and switch could do.
"White can be nice" I reminded her "the sunshine today is very nice. Every time there is a breeze to cool your skin, that's white. It's in the clouds in the sky that make the rain and blow the breeze."
Wren reached up again, scrunching her hands.
"Do the clouds feel wet too?"
I felt a smile bubble onto my face that burned under the sun.
"They are too high to reach. They could be wet, but to me, they look like fluffy pillows."
I forced a dramatic yawn and stretched one arm outwards before snoring loudly.
"Daddy!" Wren laughed out at me. She shoved my arm, snorting "wake up!"
I kept snoring, grinning at my daughter's struggle.
I needed to get her into the shade. The white was starting to make her turn red.
Forcing another yawn, I pulled Wren from my lap and placed her on the pier so I could slide back and get to my feet.
Scooping her up, I made a quick dash with her for the shade of the ferry terminal.
The relief was instant. The coldness of the shade wrapped itself around our crisped skin to try and soak relief into it.
"That's black" Wren chimed to the sensation washing over her "soft cold is black."
"That's shadows" I beemed back "they keep us out of the sun when we need it."
Wren was excited at her discovery and grinned proudly.
"And red is what we both will be for a while" I laughed "the sting on you? That's red. Red can be angry and hot, but it can be soft and bubbly too. Love can be red."
Wren pressed on her arm, wincing when the sunburn seared at her touch.
"I don't love sunburn" she announced, making me laugh.
I was so lucky to have such a wonderorous child like her to fill my heart. She made me see the world in an entirely different way and embrace things I normally disregarded now as an adult.
Her little hand in mine and complete trust in my guidance made me melt hopelessly.
"How about we grab some icecream?" I offered.
Wren gasped and jumped about on the end of my arm.
"What colour will that be?" she asked.
"Whatever colour you want it to be."
The cool breeze flitted across our path and played on the water lurching under the terminal.
The scent of freshly roasted coffee was only enhanced by the warm sunshine and its whispers of wildflowers in the air.
Wren's fingers stroked my rough hand as she pondered her decision.
"I want mine to be sand" she grinned cheekily and laughed.
I laughed with her, savoring the fluttering of her little fingers exploring the new texture in curious silence.
Sand.
That was the best colour of them all.
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