The Sea

XVI

Sea water is blurring her eyes. The waves are sweeping her from side to side. The girl doesn't know what to do. She feels herself slowly sinking in the deep dark blue. Sweat is trickling down her face. Her shaking doesn't stop. It only worsens. She buries her head in her arms. She starts pulling her hair strands. "Think, think, think... What to do in situations like this?"

"Snap out of it!" she shouts in her head.

There's a pause. The girl stops trembling. She's catching her breath. Her arms fall to her sides, her hair a bit of a mess. She's staring down at her lap. Then, she looks ahead. Her face is emotionless. She doesn't know what to feel, or even how. Instead of letting herself sink, she dives down.

Night has overtaken the sky. The sea is pitch-black. There is not a single light. However, the girl still dove under, deep in the darkness of the water. Running away is not facing the problem. Rather, it's a coping mechanism. She is strong however way she handles her struggles. Not everyone can be tough, but it doesn't mean they're a coward.

Up ahead, there are two caves. The girl takes the left. It leads her to the exit. She could see the moonlight above, the only sign of light in this place of dark. The girl has a choice. She can go back to the surface and escape her madness. She can pretend that this all didn't happen. She can hide herself away in the comfort of her blankets and forget about this day as if it never existed. Or she can take the other path. She can go back to that cave of inky black. She doesn't know where it leads. She doesn't know what lies inside it. But, will she always be in the clutches of her fears.

Dark, alone... these are the things she hates the most and yet she still turned around and went for it. She went back to the entrance and entered the second cave. There she tries to navigate her way. She feels like she's in an escape room. There is nothing that she can see in her line of vision. Her hands are touching the wall, trying to comprehend what's around her. Roughness greets her fingers, sometimes feeling a prick from a sharp material. Her heart is beating so loudly in her chest. She feels sick in the pit of her stomach, but this she suppresses.

"To fight is to sacrifice." This she chants inher mind. "I want to be free from these shackles around my wrists. I want thesechains away from my feet." This she can only do until she opens that one roomwhere the monsters lurk and those she fears the most. Nightmares are alsodreams. Sadness is the counterpart of being happy. Life has never been easy.But she has the key. It's her choice whether to be brave or to flee.