Maria sits at the edge of the steep cliff, her legs casually swinging back and forth as she quietly hums a tune to herself, looking down into the ocean, she sees the waves violently crash into the jagged rocks below. Her dress dances in the gentle wind, there's almost something peaceful about it all. Her ears suddenly twitch as she hears someone approach from behind, but she doesn't turn around to look, she already knows who it is. Lucas sits beside her, they're both no older than ten.
"W- what are you doing here?", he hesitantly asks.
She glances over at him, "Just enjoying the view."
They both sit there in silence for a while until Lucas speaks up once again, "I see you sit out here a lot, you do know if you're bored you can just watch TV or something right?"
Maria giggles, "I know that silly, I just like it out here... it's nice"
Silence once again hangs over them, a gust of wind breaks the silence, and Lucas shivers.
"Are you cold Lucas?"
"No it's just," he pauses, "don't you find it kind of scary out here?"
"Why would I be scared?" she asks, "The ocean is pretty this time of the day."
"Yeah... but aren't you scared something might happen?" he responds
She giggles once again, rolling her eyes with a big smile, "I'm not scared of falling if that's what you're talking about, actually... sometimes I think about jumping..."
Her ears twitch as she hears Lucas slightly shift away from her, she glances at him before looking back into the ocean, "What, are you scared of heights?" she asks.
"Kinda, sometimes when I look down from high places, I get this dizzy feeling"
"It's called vertigo," she confidently answers, "and a lot of people have it."
Before the silence can return, Lucas speaks up, "do you actually want to jump into the ocean? Mommy and Daddy always told me to stay away from the cliff edge, they said if I fell I could die."
"Then just don't fall!" she gently pushes him on the shoulder, giggling at what she sees as a playful act.
"H- hey! Don't do that!", Lucas yells.
Maria is momentarily shocked by his yelling.
"You could have pushed me off Maria!"
She frowns at the thought that she could have accidentally pushed him off, she pouts and crosses her arms, "No I wouldn't have, I barely touched you"
"You dumb house cat, sit out here by yourself, I'm going inside", he storms off, from under his breath she hears him mumble, "they should have never even got you"
Maria sits there alone once again, her legs no longer joyfully swinging, she stares at the vast ocean below, the setting sun turns the blue water dark shades of red and orange. Her heart is racing after the heated exchange, and her ears start to ring. The only other thing she hears is the crashing of the waves against the rock face below, the sound almost beckoning her to join it. She closes her eyes and imagines how peaceful it would be, the wind through her hair, and water enveloping her, her body gently sinking down into the ocean blue, the depth reassuring her that everything will be ok because it's all over now.
End.
YOU ARE READING
Windows To The Heart
Cerita PendekIn this visual novel inspired "Choose your own adventure" story, experience something that was mostly written in a few hazy hours, a story about love, death, family, and most importantly, choice. Told from the point of view of Lucas, a homesick rich...
