Jasper felt light as air as he stepped along the path. The cobbles beneath his feet barely made a sound as his feet found their way forward. He didn't know necessarily why he had chosen this path. Perhaps the beach was something he found fun – and so far this had not been fun at all. Something pulled at him though. A hint of sorrow – like a wound in need of tender kisses. His decision was certain almost from the moment Juni had given the choice.
The path proved to be longer than expected. Jasper soon found himself bored, his eyes wandering and ears pricked for any trace of anything interesting. The woods surrounding him seemed to repeat themselves as he passed the many thick tree-trunks. Each light seemed to lead to a new lamp, in endless cycles of repetition. He felt like he was reaching out, and the further her reached the more futile his efforts became. He was on the verge of giving up and heading back to the warmth of the campfire when he looked up and saw the sky shifting from the black of night to the greyish dawn of a cloudy day.
The light banished the darkness of the wood, silhouettes becoming shapes, becoming forms, and as he walked the trees thinned and bracken lessened in it's density. Before long, he had left the woods behind altogether.
The path led slowly upwards, and as he crested a hill he paused to look around. The roar of waves against the beach could already be heard, but absent was any sight or sound of wildlife. The woods rose high behind him, and though he could see the path tracing it's way back into the treeline, it was impossible to see any further behind. Instead, Jasper looked forwards, spying the crest of another hill beyond which he was certain to find the beach. He walked onwards.
It had been a lonely walk to the beach, and it's loneliness was only compounded by the sight which met him. The beach was a deserted, stony affair with little in the way of sand and nothing in the way of vegetation. The grass gave way in a smooth line to the shore.
Off in the distance there was a steep rise to some cliffs, atop which an observatory building stood firm against the waves. The path continued to the foot of the rise, before ending abruptly. The waves rolled and washed against the shore, and Jasper found himself torn.
