The Instrument Of Pure Joy. (Devyn&Molly)

[Molly Elaine McCormack]

Looking back at the surf shop where her friend worked, Molly sighed as she headed down to her usual spot. A spot that she’d fallen in love with ever since she’d first come to San Francisco. It was an area of the beach that was a bit rockier, so it didn’t attract as many visitors. She knew that there were other people who came there, occasionally there were foot prints, cigarette butts, and beer bottles left behind unclaimed.

Taking a deep breath Molly sat on a rock and looked out at the ocean. She’d spent a lot of time alone. Sure she went to school and lived in the dorms, but she hardly spent any time there. At first, the beach had been her refuge and as long as she had her brother and Des, she didn’t need anyone else. Now, though, she was becoming lonely. It was years of the same routine over and over.

Huffing a sigh, she reached into her bag, pulling out the product she’d just bought from Des. She would have stuck around and shared it with him, but a real customer came in and was asking about surfboards, so she decided to let him do his work. Carefully, she got enough to fill her bowl and began removing all the stems, though she wasn’t too careful about it. It felt like she was on autopilot and every moment that she got closer and closer to taking that first inhale she became more and more eager to numb some of this odd funk that she’d been in. Really, her life was going fine, nothing really to be upset about. She was just bored…and lonely.

Molly had never asked for much, she'd never really been in the position to. Usually she just minded her own business and tried to deflect anyone poking into hers. Many times she avoided getting friends because she didn’t want to tell them what her childhood had been like. It was always the same when she told people. “Oh, I’m so sorry, that’s so awful,” they would say, “I’m sorry for your loss, it’s such a shame, but you’re doing so well for yourself now!” She hated feeling victimized, when people said things like that, she just felt as though they were pitying her, they didn’t actually feel bad, they just didn’t know how else to react.

As these thoughts drifted through Molly’s head, she felt her cheeks heat up a bit in anger, despite the sun slowly making its way to the horizon and the ocean breeze picking up slightly, tossing her thin, pin straight hair all around her. She pulled her hoodie over her plain white tank top and found the pair of her small scissors to start cutting the buds, still on autopilot, completely lost in thought.

It wasn’t long until she was satisfied with her work, reaching into her bag one more time to pull out a small wooden box. Running her fingers over its smooth surface, she finally smiled just slightly, a Mona Lisa smile that anyone who knew her would know; it was the smile she used when studying something she was fond of.

Opening the box, she produced a completely yellow bowl and a nice Zippo lighter, it had been a gift from Des for her first birthday here in San Francisco.

Now, as she packed the bowl, she used more attention and care, the anticipation of it all creeping up on her. She lifted it to her lips, opened the lighter, and inhaled…

Aaah…after a few moments of letting the smoke burn the back of her throat she exhaled and leaned back against a rock, the fond smile still adorning her face. Her long, thin body relaxing. She had always been quite boyish with very few curves on her body, and she didn’t usually dress to show off what little she did have. Usually shorts and loose fitting tank tops would do, a lot of times she just wore her bathing suit under her clothes even.

Looking out again at the sun as it reached out to embrace the Earth in it’s warm glow, making the sky flicker warm colors before the darkness set in and stars poked through, Molly took another hit. There was absolutely nothing that could keep her from enjoying this…oh, shit…

She heard footsteps approaching and swore at herself. Quickly tossing the small plastic bag back into her rucksack and stuffing the bowl into her pocket. She blew out all the smoke in her lungs with a cough as she directed her eyes to whomever was intruding on her intimate moment with her instrument of pure joy. Her eyes already had a tint of red in them and were slightly droopy.

“Hello…?” she squeaked, suddenly afraid that someone might have followed her. Oh, who was she kidding, Des probably closed the shop early and was coming to make her share…

[Devyn Leanne Jameson]

The beach was Devyn's sanctuary half the time, she loved it there it always reminded her of home. She didn't care about the sand, seagulls, or the taste of the harsh sea water, It was one of the best parts of living in California. Though she always dreamed of moving to some beautiful place like Hawaii, where she could just live on the beach and never leave.

Most public California beaches were cluttered with litter, bottles, and cigarette butts so that the ocean could just wash them away and the trash could harm all the wild life of the ocean. She frowned as she walked down the beach and picked up trash as she looked for a place to smoke this joint that she had in her bag. She really wished more people cared about the environment, but she couldn't control others, so she would just stick to doing her part.

As she continued to walk along the beach she started to smell the sweet smell of her best friend, Maryjane already. She looked around and noticed a girl trying to Discretely smoke a bowl on a rock. A smile appeared across Devyn's face because she always liked having new people to smoke with her. But as she got closer as closer she noticed that it was indeed her roommate, Molly. Well it was very true that in this situation, great minds thought alike. Devyn quickly sat down next to her with a smile. "Hey there chick, looks like we had the same idea." She said with a happy smile as always. "Wanna match? I got bubble gum kush from Des, what kind did you get from him?" She asked with a smile, knowing it was obvious that they both had got their green from the same person at the same place. Devyn enjoyed Desmond's product and she trusted him since he was just a humble beach hippie who wasn't the least bit shady. He never burned anyone and always gave them what they paid for if not more. She reached into her bag where she had put the trash and pulle out her joint she had rolled in grape flavored papers and her bedazzled lighter then sat them both in her lap.

[Molly Elaine McCormack]

Molly relaxed when she saw that it was only Devyn and smirked, shaking her head, “Thank god it’s you girl,” she laughed, pulling her bowl out of her pocket again and relaxing. “I thought I was about to get busted or something,” she added shaking her head. It was clear that whatever she had gotten from Des was something that she knew would work fast and last for a good amount of time; meaning long enough for her to enjoy herself, but fast enough for her to come down without needing to sit at the beach for hours. One cool thing about being such good friends with Des was that she got to try a lot of the different strands and blends and Des knew a lot about them, so she could pick and choose for her needs on any particular day.

“Hell yeah, I’ll match,” she chuckled getting back into her rucksack and pulling out the bag that held her grass. “I’ve got Dream Queen? Ever tried it? I’ve been using it a lot lately,” she handed the bag over so that Devyn could put as much as she liked in with the bubblegum kush, thinking that the two would go well together.

Closing her eyes, Molly listening to the waves for a moment, then looked back at Devyn. “Did you just come from the shop?” she asked curiously, partially hoping that she had. It had been rather slow that day and it helped put her in a peace of mind if she knew that Desmond’s business was doing well, she worried about him more than she would let on.

She offered over her bowl to Devyn in case she wanted to have a try before mixing the two together. Molly thought that perhaps Devyn would like it and order it sometime. Then, Molly decided that she might as well let herself go a bit more, since she had company now and she would give in and enjoy herself just a little bit more, so she took another hit off her bowl herself before putting it away so they could enjoy the joint once Devyn had it rolled and ready. If they wanted more afterward she could always get it back out.