Summer Brothers

Being off road in the summer wasn't what Clay remembered, but then the last time they'd been off road in the summer he'd been – what, ten years old? And even then, they'd been in Tennessee. None of the boys had been old enough to drive the last time they were in California, so Clay really didn't know his way around. Clay was pretty sure that no one was going to recognize him since this was America, and on the off-chance someone might, it’d be difficult, given that Clay didn’t have any of his brothers with him. He didn't want to feed a cliché, but he and Bob were twins, and despite Dan being a fraternal triplet, he and Bob were Clay-and-Bob, and Clay felt a little…hollow and exposed without his other half.

That was probably how he ended up sitting alone on the edge of the sand at Venice Beach, doing his best to ignore the bikini-clad girls who zoomed by on rollerblades and the muscle-bound oafs pumping iron beneath the sun. Clay had a beat-up old guitar across his knees and was trying to figure out the chords to some of the songs he used to sing with his brothers. Music was comfortable, familiar, and if he closed his eyes while he sang, he could pretend Bob was with him.

The sun on his face was warm, tingled on his skin, and he wondered idly if he’d end up with a tan. He remembered surfing in Hawaii with his brothers while they laid down tracks for their final album, and suddenly he itched to go into the water. Summer was about laughing and dunking Dan off his board, teasing Scott while he tried to flirt with hula dancers at bonfires on the beach in the evenings, daring Bob to shin up a palm tree and bring down coconuts.

Summer was brothers.

Clay opened his eyes and fished his cell phone out of his pocket. Then he dialed.

“Hello?” Bob sounded sleepy.

“Hey, Bobby.”

“What’s up, man, are you all right?”

“Yeah. Just...wanna help me write a song?”

He could practically hear Bob’s smile. “Yeah, yeah. I’d love to.”

Summer was sitting on the beach in a circle, Bob tapping rhythms on his knees, Dan keeping the harmony, while Clay and Scott squabbled over the guitar hook.

It’s just another phase that I’ll go through. This time I’m sure I’ll lose you.

(410 words - lyrics a blatant snatch from "Submodalities")