Summertime Poem Novels & Stories

Chapter 37: The Names the Sea Keeps The summer that followed was the kind people remember in fragments years later: heat that pressed against the skin like a second body, cicadas that sang until the air itself vibrated, nights so clear the Milky Way looked spilled across black velvet. Veronica and Ethan lived those days with deliberate slowness, as though each one might be audited by time itself. They rose with the sun, brewed coffee on the terrace while dew still clung to the lavender, walked the cliff path before the heat thickened, returned to shade and open windows and the slow turning of ceiling fans that stirred memories more than air.

It was, like most human things, something in between. July arrived and with it the particular quality of a settled summer — not the tentative warmth of June, which still carried traces of spring's uncertainty, but the full committed heat of a city in summer that had stopped apologizing for itself. Aria liked this quality of July. She liked the commitment of it, the way it made no promises about cooling and instead simply was what it was.

Summer said, her eyes gleaming with the prospect of new adventures. "Or we could just sit on the lawn and look at the stars. Seems like a good way to start adapting to the new rhythm," I suggested, imagining moments of peace and reflection. "It's like we're starting a new chapter, and each page is a new adventure," Summer commented, with an excited tone. "Let's fill this chapter with amazing memories."

"O-Of course. We're friends." Satisfied with my response, Bethany finally let go of my arm and followed me inside. I opened the door, but the office was pitch-black. "Dad, these are the friends I mentioned, the ones coming to work here for the summer," I said cautiously. Before I could introduce them, they pushed past me and crowded into the room. "Hello, Mr. Parker. We're here for the summer jobs. May I know what the pay is like? Is ten thousand dollars a month okay? Oh, and I'm not really into factory work. Can I get an office job instead?"

His face was all pout, and my heart flipped. “God, he’s such a menace,” I muttered. Summer leaned over to peek. “Damn. That man is weaponized. How do you say no to that face?” “I don’t,” I admitted shamelessly. *** The next morning, Summer had already left by the time I woke up, but she’d left a note: He’s probably already outside waiting for you. Wear sunscreen, bitch. – S

“The master is waiting for you.” Samson turned to glance at the bloody towel on the ground again without being aware of it, and for some reason, he felt a pang in his heart. ‘Sum... ‘It’s snowing. ‘It’s snowing in Sea City.’ Summer was born in Country M, and she had never seen the snow in Sea City. Summer had always wanted to witness this scene, and it pained Samson to be standing amid the snow right now. It was snowing very heavily, and the snow lasted all night.

she replies, smiling. Oh, wow, that went better than I thought it would, “Promise? You aren’t just saying that?” I question, “Promise. We are on the same page.” She answers. I instantly relaxed, knowing we were thinking the same, for now, but there was a chance my recent thoughts would reappear, but I will just continue to fight them for the rest of our time because after the summer, we go back to our lives and possibly not see each other. “What do you want to do today?” I ask, “Or do you want to write some more?” I added.

She would always tell me that it was her favorite poem and represented the love she had for me. It went like this, Come to me in your summer time, when our laughter is as the daisies in the grass. Come to me in your winter time, when you feel as if ice freezes your heart and blood. For I am your shelter, your guardian, your forever home... always with an open door, the key always in your pocket, and a love that is always yours. At that age I never understood the deep meaning of the poem but now I do. "For I am your shelter, your guardian, your forever home"

I stared at him, alive and well and handsome, as always. The leaves fell down around us. The summer sun’s heat pierces my skin but I couldn’t care less. The sunlight bathed everything with that fairytale glow. The sweet breeze blew. The kids walking hand in hand as they ate their ice cream sort of brought me back into the past. Today was like the day I met him: Me, riding a bicycle and him, walking down the pavement.