***Saturday, 10 May 2053***  

The early morning waves looked as innocent as they always did, rolling gently across the sand and leaving pockets of sea foam to dry until they were carried away by the tide. It was a rare moment of quiet on the beach; early enough in the summer that tourists hadn’t begun venturing south on sun-filled vacations, early enough in the day that any self-respecting Floridian was still abed.

                But Toronto Anderson-Hummel was no Floridian. Well, maybe by relocation. But he had grown up in New York with his fathers and sister, way back before he got the scholarship to UCF, back before he decided to major in Biology. He was a New Yorker, used to the towering glass and steel buildings, brownstones and taxi cabs. Being awake early for a commute was something he was used to, even after five years away from home. Pre-dawn light wasn’t new, but the quiet…that was the strange part. Toronto was never one for quiet.

                “Why be quiet when there are so many songs to sing out there?” He asked himself. “There’s one out there for anything you could possibly think of.”

Thoughts of his fathers telling him about the songs they did together in high school flew through his mind. That dinosaur Teenage Dream still echoed about the brownstone in Manhattan twice a year; Poppa wandered the house misty-eyed, telling anyone who would listen about the day on the stairs, the day they first kissed, the day they finally got married. Somewhere Only We Know made its rounds every year too. Toronto tried really hard to call home on those days. He didn’t want to be there—he couldn’t be there, but he could call.

He stood for another minute, watching a gull fly low over the water. As it gained altitude, breakfast secure in its beak, Toronto began humming. Softly, careful not to break the quiet around him; Poppa was just down the shore, taking in the sunrise.

“If there was any song to sing today, it’d be that one—Pomp and Circumstance. It’s a big day, dad. I was worried it wasn’t ever gonna get here, you know? Those science classes were hard. But here we are. I’m gonna walk across that stage, get another diploma, and come off ready to work; did you know Shell has marine life researchers making sure their production methods don’t mess up ecosystems? That’s what I’m gonna be doing. So Liz’ll have me to thank next time she eats a piece of sashimi.

“I just…I wish it hadn’t taken that for me to get here.”

The tide chose that moment to come in, washing over Toronto’s bare feet in the rush to get to the High Tide line.

Roaring waves. Rising water. Toronto kept a tight hold on his thoughts as he forced his legs to move into the sea instead of towards dry land. Things were different now. He was strong. Tall—something he definitely hadn’t gotten from his father—and a capable swimmer. More than able to save himself should something go wrong. He laughed as the water ran past his calves.

“See, dad? Things change. Used to be I couldn’t come within twenty feet of a shoreline. But I’m not anymore.”

No. Toronto wasn’t fifteen and afraid of water if it came in a container larger than a bathtub. Nor was he ten and worried about the tanks in the Aquarium exploding and covering them in a wall of water. And he wasn’t seven, standing on this very beach waiting for the all-clear to get back in the water. He wasn’t waiting for his life to change in ways he hadn’t been able to fathom.

They already had.