Daily Flash Fiction Challenge

Reflections

Most times it was hard to just switch off.

To drift off to mindless places and remain in that dreamy state for countless hours.

There was always something pressing to be done, somewhere important to be, someone special to contact.

And so to sit on the balcony of the Turtle Beach Hotel and gaze over the Java Sea towards Lombok was an experience so alien and yet so comforting that all the problems of life back home just melted away.

The sun cast it’s evening gold glow across the water and for once the world was at peace.

Some tourists snorkelled in the shallows amongst the corals and sponges clearly excited by the myriads of colourful fish.

Ricky sipped his ice cold beer and watched as a butterfly settled on the balcony railing.

He smiled to himself at the simplicity of life around him and reflected on his own busy existence back home.

Life wasn’t just about making money and keeping up with the Jones’s.

It was moments like this where he needed to look in the mirror and ask what was more important to him.

A hand rested on his knee and he turned slowly to look into Julie’s eyes. Older now but still beautiful.

They snuggled up to each other and watched as the younger ones left the water carrying their fins and masks.

Ricky put an arm around his wife. “Do you think you could live here?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“I know,” Ricky said. “It’s all relative isn’t it? We cherish their laid back lifestyle and they want more than fishing and tourism.”

“They seem happy,” Julie sighed.

“Yes,” Ricky replied.

He sipped his beer and stared across the flat sea as the sun touched the horizon. “And that’s all that really counts in the end.”