Into the Deep: The Prophecy

Part Three: Realizations

I woke to somebody pushing me off the air mattress.

   Of course, when I turned to glare at the culprit, it was Faith, who had somehow rolled off the couch, gone around the coffee table, missed the two sleeping figures of Lindsay and Jaymie, and found a way to rest on the inches of air mattress that I didn't occupy.

  I sat there fuming, trying to push the dead weight off, as I knew from experience Faith didn't wake until the sun appeared, any time before and she slept like the dead.

   I sighed and looked to the digital clock under the television. 6:16.

   Knowing there was no way I was getting my sleeping quarters back any time soon, I decided to go for a walk.

   I pulled on a sweat shirt on over my pajamas, then some sneakers over my bare feet, and slipped out the front door with a creak and a soft thud as it opened and closed.

   As I stepped outside, I realized just how warm it could be so early in the morning during the summer. The sun had not yet risen, but at the horizon, a soft pink and golden glow was creeping up on the cobalt blue of the night.

   I hadn't even realized where I was walking, I was so deep in thought. I had just slipped into auto pilot as memories of last night filled me.

   The water mirrored the sky, and the ragged rocks were dark and shadowy. The pier looked exactly as it had every day of my life. As I hopped from stone to stone,  I searched for the carvings and graffiti I had known every day of my life.

   Here was the fossil, a trilobyte so tiny only the people who came here often ever noticed it. Then a few rocks forwards, and there were the crude carvings in the black stone of fish, heads pointing to the water.

   When I reached the end, the stones were in their proper places, just as they had my entire life.

~°°°~

Once I got home, I heard someone shuffling down the stairs slowly to the bathroom, mumbling. I looked to the two remaining sleepers and slipped onto the now unoccupied couch, as my air mattress had deflated and Faith had subconsciously moved onto her next victim. Lindsay was slowly losing her spot on the floor.

   I fiddled with the fraying edge of my blanket, staring at the digital clock which now read 6:59.

   As I watched the clock change, I heard a flush downstairs, followed by some running water, which soon shut off. I heard Jaymie coming back up the stairs slowly, before I heard a few thuds as she fell back down the set of stairs. Then she screamed.

   I flew off the couch, worried my friend had hurt her head. I gulped at the thought. What if I had to do CPR? I nearly fell on my friend, who was laying in the ground, shocked out of her mind.

   "What the..." she couldn't even finish swearing.

  Jaymie... had a tail.