The normally scorching hot sand felt cool beneath my tired feet as I threw my flip flops by the showers and raced down the steps after him. It had been an emotionally draining night that had filled my mind with thoughts that were racing and I was having a hard time concentrating. He was silent and hadn't spoken since we'd stepped onto the moonlit beach. I looked down the shoreline and saw the other two walking side by side and I felt my heart drop into my stomach. He finally spoke. He'd been staring out at the ocean for a full 5 minutes and was finally saying something. The words he said I'll never forget.

"Have you ever wondered what would happen if the waves just stopped?"

I hadn't.

Every year when I return to that beach, I walk down there at night and just stand on the shore in silence and think about what he said.

What if the waves stopped?