Short stories

Phobia

She screamed. Nobody seemed to hear. She struggled, but there was nothing to do. Even her boyfriend didn’t seem to worry about her. The young woman began to move her arms and her legs. Nevertheless, she continued to step into the darkness of the cold sea. Her arms became increasingly heavy. The water came into her mouth, filling her lungs. She couldn’t do anything to prevent her body from sinking…

* * * * *

“Annie! Wake up!”

She felt someone shaking her violently. She opened her eyes. Thomas looked at her, frowning. She smiled at him, whispering it was only a dream. She wiped her cheeks wet with tears while her fiancé asked her the details of her dream. She shook her head.

“No, I want to sleep. You work tomorrow and I have to get up early.”

“Are you sure?”

“Don’t worry for me. Good night.”

He turned around, continuing to watch her from the corner of his eye. She gave him a small smile before turning around too. She pulled the covers, very futile gesture since she only wanted to hide her shaking body. She loved her fiancé, but the situation became a bit more complicated. Since Thomas had planned their honeymoon – a luxury cruise – she had nightmares almost every night. She dreamed of her own death. She didn’t want to disappoint him. She was terrorized by water since her childhood. Then she refused to go. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks, perfectly remembering her dream. After making sure Thomas was again asleep, she pulled the covers and stood up. Taking her robe on the way, she walked into the living room. Looking at the city still asleep by the huge window, she suspected her insomnia wasn’t going to easily disappear. She sat on the kitchen table to advance her work.

* * * * *

“Have you ever thought about seeing a psychologist?” Mary asked her, taking a long sip of coffee.

“It doesn’t worth it.”

“Your dreams are not normal! Did you know that?”

Annie sighed deeply before putting her cup on the table. She was conscious. When she was younger, her uncle tried to show her how to swim by throwing her overboard. A strong wave had driven her under water and projected much further. She was clinically dead for five minutes while trying to revive her. Since then, she had kept a safe distance between her and everything regarding it. Mary knew her history. And it wasn’t the first time she tried to convince her friend to do a therapy.

“Why aren’t you talking about it with him?”

“I don’t want to disappoint him.”

“He’ll understand, of course! You’re afraid of the water and he knows it: he saved you from drowning!”

Annie weakly smiled, feeling a little silly. She met Thomas four years earlier on a beach while they were both vacationing in Cuba. She had drunk a little too much and her confused mind filled with margarita decided to go for a swim. A wave similar to her childhood led her further and the other waves did nothing to help. Being drunk and unable to swim, she was quickly underwater. Thomas returned to port after sailing all afternoon. He threw himself into the water to save her.

Since then, they were inseparable.

“I… I’ll try to talk to him tonight.”

“You mustn’t worry about it.”

“Easy to say…”

“All he wants is to make you happy. If you don’t want to go on a cruise for you honeymoon, you must tell him.”