The air was warm, a pleasant change from the receding autumn (fall (whatever I’m Aussie)) chill. The wind smelt like salt and there was the slightest sound of water lapping against the shore, the waves illuminated by the light of the full moon beaming down upon them. Most of this would have made for a pleasant, quiet night and other day of the year. However most of it was drowned out by the party going on not five hundred metre behind him. As it stood now music blared, its volume challenged only by the voices trying to speak over it and the crackle of fire.

The salt in the air was drowned out by the smell of smoke and burning wood. The light of the moon paled in comparison to the bonfire raging. The turnout looked about the same as last year. It was a tradition, every year they had a big party on the beach the night of the first full moon of spring. Chase remembered his father telling him it used to be a very sacred night amongst the original inhabitants of the land. Somewhere along the line it became a bit more… “Chase! Get your ass over here!” Commercialised.

The boy glanced over his shoulder and smiled slightly before he abandoned the quiet water’s edge and quickly ran back towards his friends waiting for him. “Dude! Best night ever or what?” Mason said as he threw a beer to him. The sacredness of the night may have changed slightly, but the descendants of the first people of this land were still in charge of organising the party. As it was, that meant him and his friends usually. They’d all known each other since birth virtually, so they were more like brothers than anything else.

Chase merely smirked and shrugged as he put the drink down. Sometimes it did feel like they were doing this wrong, disrespecting their ancestors or something like that. Never did that feeling overwhelm him more than when he looked at the moon. So he usually made a point of avoiding it as much as possible on the night. Having spaced out for a few moments he missed Mason’s next comment and the sudden shove he received caught him completely off guard and he stumbled before he collided into someone and the boy quickly turned, catching them before they feel.