Tanya circled the fire to where Josh sat with his legs crossed. He stood and they walked down the beach together. I turned and saw that they'd wandered about a hundred feet. Farther down the beach were the outdoor seating areas of the Hastings Street bistros. The tables and chairs were sheltered from the onshore winds by clear tarps suspended from a metal frame. The tarps rippled, capturing and dispersing the candlelight from the tables and the floodlights beneath the awnings. In the heavier gusts, the entire tarp filled with a flash of light, and in the flash I could see Tanya and Josh standing face to face. Josh had his hands in his pockets and Tanya's hands hung at her sides. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but Tanya worked her foot down into the sand as though she was talking and Josh nodded his head as though he was listening. When they separated, there was no embrace, no long impassioned kiss. The moon sparkling over the South Pacific, the candles and the starlight couldn't have been more romantic, but what they shared wasn't romance, but the terror of having heard God's voice. The awe and burden of the sound. That, and an agreement: Being together was God's plan, clearly revealed, as unstoppable as a flood. A cloudy Brisbane morning, our last day on campus, Hannah and I went for breakfast in the youth hostel where I ate the morning of my arrival. I wanted the summer to end where it began. Fried eggs and bacon, and a grilled tomato I vowed to eat at every meal for the rest of my life. Afterward, Hannah and I walked across the Botanic Gardens toward campus. The grass was heavy with dew and when we stepped onto the footpath my shoes and socks were soaked through to the skin. Water squished beneath the arches of my feet. Hannah slipped off her flip flops and walked barefoot until her feet dried on the warm sidewalk. Her small footprints grew fainter with each step, and soon she left no trace behind. I was grateful to spend this last day with her, grateful for her company. We'd developed a sweet platonic friendship that was harder to come by than romance. She had a good loud laugh and freckled skin that turned plum colored whenever she
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