An afternoon at the beach

Minna and Max are walking along the beach together.
They left their shoes in the ship, so they can walk in the shallow water. It's nice to feel the wet sand and the salty water on their feet.
Minna likes to jump over the waves coming from the ocean.

It's a long beach and everywhere are people.
They are swimming in the water, lying in the sand or playing some games.
And they don't wear a lot of clothes.

I'd also like to swim.

Swimming in the ocean can be dangerous if you're not an experienced swimmer.

I can swim. There are some lakes around my village after all.

I still don't think it's a good idea.
The waves are huge today, and you might drift out to the sea.
So I wouldn't recommend it.

I get it.

Minna is sad, but she accepts it without any resistance.
Walking along the ocean is already pretty nice, too.

After a while, they notice a small group of girls playing some ball game.
Most of them seem to be only a few years older than Minna.

I know that game. They must be playing volleyball.

Would you like to join them?

Yeah, it would be nice, but I don't think...

Max already approaches them.

Wait! What are you doing? Stop!

But he's already there.

Hey, would you like one or two new participants?

Uhm, you and?

My little friend here.

Max points at Minna who shyly gets closer.

But if you think it's unfair if an adult like me participates...

The girl thinks about it.

No, it's fine. He is pretty...

All of us are good enough to handle an unexperienced guy like him.
Besides that it would be even less fair to have different team sizes.

That's what I wanted to say.

I'm Ella. And my friend here is Lucy. You'll be with us..., uhm...

I'm Max.

And these two are Nadja and Lina. Your friend is in their team.

Sounds good.

Minna goes to Nadja and Lina.

Hi, I'm Minna.

So everyone knows the rules?

Minna and Max nod.

Without much talking, they just start playing.
It's a lot of fun, and they are exhausted soon.
So they take a break.
The girls sit down in the sand and immediately start talking.

Max just sits down with them as if it was totally normal.
The girls don't mind, Lucy even changes position to sit close to Max.
Only Minna keeps standing around, not knowing how to act in this situation.

I think we should go swimming to cool down a bit.
Does anyone want to join?

Besides Lucy, who keeps sitting next to Max, all the girls get up and go into the water.

Nadja stops and looks back at Minna.

Don't you want to join us? You played well.

Sorry, I don't even have proper swimming clothes with me.

Oh, I've got an idea. We could swim somewhere else.

Nadja smirks at Minna.

But...

Minna doesn't want to admit, that Max doesn't want her to swim. She couldn't even explain why and would just come across as someone who always just does as she is told.

Minna thinks she gets what Nadja has in mind.

Oh, but I have to ask Max first.

Minna runs to Max.

Hey, would you mind if I walk along the beach with Nadja for a while?

No, it's fine. Just be back before sunset.

Okay.

And if you don't find me anymore, we'll just meet in the ship, okay?

Yeah.

You'll find back yourself, don't you?

Yeah?

Are you sure?

Yeah! I'll find back.

I think I can trust you. So have fun with Nadja.

See you. And have fun with Ella.

This is Lucy. But I'm sure, I'll also have fun with Ella.

Max and Lucy laugh.

Minna doesn't want to think about Max now.
He just goes back to Nadja and leaves before Max overthinks his decision.

You called your friend Max before.
So he isn't your father, is he?

Minna can't tell her everything. Can she?

No, he's just a friend. My mom knew him since he was a child, and now she allowed me to accompany him on a journey.

You're lucky to have someone like this. I've been living in the same town all the time.

Until a few days ago I've been living in a small village myself. I knew almost everyone there.
At least everyone around my age.
You're lucky to live in a place with so many people.

So we're there! Look!

Minna looks around and sees a bunch of naked people.

We're at the nude beach. Just get naked and you can swim. Nobody will complain.

And you?

I'll get naked, too.

It's weird to Minna, but she just gets naked.
She's in public. Everyone around can see her like this.
She's in front of a bunch of other people.
At least most of them are naked, too.

And Nadja already got naked.
Nobody seems to mind them. And Nadja also doesn't look at Minna too closely.

They put their clothes down, further away from the water, and then walk back to the water.
It feels pretty normal to be naked when everyone else is, too.
But maybe she's already used to it after being naked in front of Max a lot.

In the ocean, they swim a bit. The waves are pretty high, so Minna doesn't feel comfortable to go in very far.
Minna can still stand on the ground, and when a wave comes, they have fun jumping.

But Minna is kind of scared after what Max told her, so after a while, they go out again and just lie down at the beach, very close to the water where they can feel the waves.
Minna notices many people walking past them directly in front of them.
Minna isn't really comfortable about this, though.

It's funny. Everyone who walks along the beach will be able to see us like this now. My other friends would never do this.

I also didn't think I would do this.

It's pretty exciting, isn't it? Look how they stare at our young bodies.

Most of them don't thankfully.

The men seem to enjoy it.

Don't talk about it, else I'll look for a better place.

Okay. But it's really relaxing here, isn't it?

Yeah, when not thinking about the people, it is.

I don't get to relax a lot.
It must be nice to live in a small place like yours.
Here everyday a different friend wants to spend time with me, and I almost never have time to relax.

Yeah, I can imagine.
In my place, there's not always a friend who has time for me.
Or I just don't want to ask one.

So you also spend a lot of time alone?

I just lie in my room and draw.

Nice, what do you draw?

Uhm...
Landscapes?

Nice, I'd probably draw some guy I like.

Really, you're just saying that?

Yeah, but I think I'd rather learn to play an instrument if I had the time.

Minna thinks about telling Nadja how she actually has been drawing some guy she liked.
But when thinking about it, she probably won't get close to him anymore anyway. She'll likely stay with Max from now on.

The sunset is very nice, isn't it?

Minna looks at the sunset directly in front of them.
The whole sky above the horizon is getting orange while the sun gets closer and closer to the water.

Then Minna remembers.

We have to leave! Max wants me to be back before sunset.

Minna gets up, looks for her clothes and gets dressed again.

So I guess, this is a goodbye?

Minna is getting sad.
She calms down. She doesn't want to leave Nadja alone.
Even if she only knows her for a few hours, she probably never had such a good friend at home.

Maybe she only thinks that because they're just getting to know each other, but she'd like to get to know her properly at least.

I can ask Max if you can accompany us on our journey.
You'd like that, wouldn't you?
I'm sure he would be fine.

I don't think my parents would allow that.

And what if we meet again tomorrow at least?

Oh, I had the impression you'd leave soon.

I can ask Max to stay for a while.

I don't have a lot of time in the next days. Maybe one hour at the evening. So it's probably not worth it.

Then I guess... it really is a goodbye.

I guess so. But I can try to be there for your departure.

Nadja gets up and Minna gives her a long hug.

This really was a nice afternoon. I hope we meet again one day.

Yeah, it was nice.

But I really have to go now. Sorry!
And if you want to find us, just look for our ship. Bye!

Minna already starts walking away.

Yeah, bye!

While Minna is running home, she notices Nadja doesn't even know their ship.
This means.... she'll probably never see her again.
But even if she knew the ship, it's unlikely that she visits her before they leave.

When Minna runs past the volleyball field she pauses.
But doesn't see Max nor any of the girls around, so she runs back to their ship.

When she's there, it's already dark.

She quickly enters it.

Sorry, I'm late. I hope you didn't worry about me yet.

Minna looks around and notices Ella standing next to the bed.

Oh, hi Minna. Don't worry. I think it's better like this.

Max turns to Ella.

So see you tomorrow, Ella.

Minna wonders why she is here.
It's pretty obvious what happened.

Uhm, before you leave, could you show Nadja how to find this ship? Maybe show her a photo?

Nadja? That girl from our game? Sorry, I don't really know her. We just met at the beach today.

Now all hope to see her again is lost.

Okay, then bye.

Bye!

Ella leaves them and Minna looks harshly at Max.

Why Ella? I thought you got along well with Lucy.

Lucy is just a bitch. Ella is much more athletic. She-

Maybe don't tell me any details.
So you want to stay until tomorrow because of Ella?

I just told her to come back tomorrow. Else she wouldn't have let me go. We'll leave tomorrow in the morning before she will come.

Okay, I already thought-

No, it's fine. Everything will go by plan.

Minna is happy and snuggles up to Max.
She doesn't want to leave him alone anymore.
It will be difficult to keep friendships to anyone when traveling anyway.
And this way he always knows what Max is up to.

She tries to ignore his little adventure.