Sterling wriggled around in his hammock, scratching absently at his chest, then spreading his arms far above his head, stretching like a cat. “I mean, I don’t know that it needs a name, really. What could you possibly call it? There are no words. This place is paradise.”
Something clicked for everyone then, and a breeze rushed through the heart of the domicile, as if binding our silent agreement. Exactly. Paradise. That was it. That was the name.
Raziel nodded in scholarly approval. “I like it. Very aspirational, and also vaguely sacrilegious. Perfect for all of you.”
I knocked my coconut shell against his, grinning. “For all of us.” Raziel smiled back, daintily lifting his drink to his lips.
It was perfect. I had friends, close enough to a family, a full belly, and a future positively brimming with impossible possibilities. I lowered myself gently onto the mat, placing my hands behind my head, sighing as I gazed up into the clear blue of the sky, savoring the sweet air, enjoying the faint twittering of tropical birds.
Sterling was absolutely right. It really was Paradise.
END