From Comfortable Distances by Jodi Weiss

didn’t want to lose.
    She walked through the
gates of the Bergen Beach Yacht Club across from her house and followed the
gravel path onto the wrap-around wooden dock. Most of the boats on the private
docks were still covered with canvas. Tess imagined it was too cold out on the
water for any of the boats to set sail just yet. Beyond the wraparound dock
were backyards, each of which had stairs leading down to the sand where the
wraparound deck could be accessed. The waters of Jamaica Bay glistened green
with slimy algae. And yet it was nice to be by the water—sometimes it didn’t
seem possible to her that behind all of the houses there was that body of sand
and water.  She had worried years back if the houses could float away in a
storm, but it hadn’t happened in the last 30 years. When Prakash was a toddler,
they used to sit by the shore, Prakash tossing pebbles, mesmerized by the
splash. Staring into the water now, Tess felt as if she were moving towards
something. The tide drifted in, slowly, surely, and drifted away. Tess tossed a
stone in the water and saw her selves in the rippled effect. So many different
Tess’s in her image. The surface resounded as she tossed another stone, then
another. She didn’t know what she was sending away from her, but with each
toss, she became lighter, freer. Circles opened where the stones had vanished,
like little black holes.
    “Are you trying to wake
up the fish?”
    Tess turned toward the
voice.
    “Neal.” Tess smoothed her
hair; in the cool early-morning dew, her curls were frizzy and tight.
    “It’s nice to see you out
so early. I was beginning to think I was the only one in this neighborhood who
was up early.”
    “I didn’t think anyone
came out here,” Tess said.
    “The sea gulls were
circling above; I came to see what the commotion was about.”
    A flock of sea gulls,
gawking and moving round and round, as if in a whirlpool, were overhead. Tess
hadn’t heard them until now. As quickly as she noticed them, they flew off.
    “There they go,” Neal
said.
    The early morning mist
was rising off of the water like a curtain between pulled up. In a few moments,
the sun would rise.
    “It’s a beautiful morning
to be out walking,” Tess said.
    “There’s something to
being out before the world comes alive that’s always appealed to me. I’ve never
seen you out here,” Neal said.
    “I can’t remember the
last time I was out walking in the morning. Probably over 30 years ago. I’m
usually busy,” Tess said.
    “What made today
different?”
    He wore a white thermal
long sleeved top just tight enough so that she was able to make out the outline
of his muscles in his chest and arms. He was in good shape.
    “I’m not sure. I just
felt like I needed to be outside,” Tess said.
    Neal bowed his head. “I’ll
leave you to enjoy your morning.”
    “No. I mean, you’re
company isn’t bothering me. I was on my way to walk.”
    Now that he was there
with her, Tess realized that somehow she had wanted to see him again. Neal
started to walk and she fell in line beside him, the two of them making their
way from the dock and back onto 66 th street.
    “I drive around this
neighborhood so much, but walking it is a whole different thing. There are so
many things you don’t notice while you’re driving,” Tess said.
    They moved beside one
another in silence. Every now and then Neal glanced behind him, as if he was
worried they were being followed. Tess glanced behind her as well: no one in
sight.
    “Everything okay?” she
asked.
    “Fine,” Neal said. “Everything
is fine.”
    Spring had already begun
to transform the neighborhood: tulips were coming into bloom in the gardens in
vibrant hot pinks and pale yellows and reds. The shrubs were rich and full in
deep emerald green. It was magical the way everything came back to life with
spring.
    “How long do you plan to
be visiting Mill Basin?” Tess asked.
    “Why?”
    “Just asking,” Tess said.
She pursed her