The Sea

XIII

Time passed, weeks and months. Slowly, the girl let herself out. She let herself bloom to be the flower she is to be. In the diversity of the sea with different kinds of species, she removed her shell that hid herself. She showed everyone her true appearance.

Brown wavy hair – a bit frizzy in some areas, chocolate-colored eyes that are slowly coming back to life, a round-shaped face that is unfree of scars and blemishes; she is an epitome of the perfection of imperfect.

The girl smiles as she looks at herself in the mirror. It's another new day of adventure. As she explores further the waters, she does not feel alone anymore. Her friends hold her hand along with her. Together they swim into the sea, constantly diving further into the deep. The farther they swim the bigger the risk. But she feels happy, finally.

As she walks out her door, she sees her friends waiting for her. She greets them with a smile and a hug. She has missed this, so much. A lot has happened, a lot has changed. They were all once living in the same island, the same place, hanging out in the same boat and there they all stayed. But when nature took its course and her side of the fort started to fall, she left... without a word. No warning, no alert, not even a simple talk. She left them to rebuild her forgotten wall.

The girl never stopped feeling the guilt. She never stopped blaming herself for the bond breaking. For so long, because she is much too soft and couldn't handle the situation, she resorted to leaving some of her most important people. All this loneliness, this is all on her. This is the consequence of her action.

"Friendships are bonds built with trust and sacrifice."

The day that she went back, the girl did notexpect to be accepted with open arms. She expected to be shunned. She expectedangry faces. She expected closed doors. But the minute she came back to theirfort, they were all there, waiting for her return. They hugged her, as tight asthey could, and these words they whispered, "We love you."