It was the light that we came to see. Sitting in the cab of my truck, warm and looking through the spotted windshield, we watched the sky change. I cannot describe the colors we saw, there are no words for how the sun pulls back from the sea.

We came for the light, but the quiet was what we needed.

Parked at the end of the road, near the steps leading to the inlet, we watched the birds soar, dive, and settle onto water chopped by winds from the outer beach. There were fewer and fewer as the light drew back. Then, in that instant, when I could feel the sun had set, we were alone.

I could feel my heart beating. I could hear them watching. They had grown too big too fast. I wanted to go back, to see them in their car seats, to watch their mother playing hide and seek, to fill their spoons and play the game. But like the sun, I knew that time had passed.

So, I sat with them, waiting to leave and hoping we never would.

I am grateful for the light that drew us to the end of that road, but it is the quiet we shared that I will always remember.