the roar of the surf and the distant scattered calls and twitterings of sandpipers and seagulls and sea sparrows filled her senses ; so too the musty , salty smells of the estuary ; the cool caresses of breezes on her skin , the way a strand of hair on her forehead responded to them , the way it made her forehead itch ; luis trembling hold on her , the way his chest expanded and contracted , the soundlessness of his breathing ; the hardness of the bench beneath her , behind her ; the ant that crawled on the bench back , searching for food before the day expired .