In Too Deep

0.1

I am always careful.

Well, perhaps that's a lie.

If I was really careful, I wouldn't have found myself in strange waters, swept up in an odd shift in the ocean. Normally I would sense any change in the current and switch course. But this time, a shiny pearl caught my eye.

I had a soft spot for odd, shiny things.

I have a collection of odds and ends stored in my underwater cave.

Okay, so maybe that was another lie.

I have a collection of odds and ends stored in caves scattered through the sea.

I couldn't bear to part with my little treasures, so I left them tucked away in safe spaces. But the weather shifts, and I follow the current, letting it take me where it may.

When you've lived most of your life in solitude, drifting with the soft lull of the ocean tides brings a sense of comfort. Things and objects bring happiness, but it's always fleeting. When you have no one, spaces you may have once called home become less so as every day passes. The one blinding light of excitement at something new dims until all that remains is a dull ache of anticipation for what comes next.

I dove too deep.

Normally I would stop myself, but something about this particular pearl twinkled in my eyes. I never saw a pearl such as this, and I felt the urge, no, the need to investigate.

So I did.

I swam deeper than I have swum before, ignoring the ache in my lungs. It was nothing but a dull ache, I knew I could last hours underwater without needing to break the surface.

Granted, that was my first mistake.

But I'm a stubborn little fuck.

If I want something, I get it.

Who else will?

There is only me.

Yet the ocean is as vast as it is deep.

It wasn't until my lungs began to burn that I realized I had been swimming too long, venturing too deep. I was accustomed to the darkness that shrouded the deep depths, but this was a new kind of deep.

I scratched at my throat, looking forlornly at the twinkle in the sand, before making my way back up.

I was too focused on gaining another gasp of oxygen that I didn't notice the giant sea creature barreling my way.

Not until I was hit from the side and spun into an underwater current.

Everything went dark.

I took my usual walk down the beach, avoiding everything and everyone. Only a few more months and I would be free.

Sure, I was 18. Technically an adult, right?

Wrong.

The biggest fucking lie they could tell you.

You can't do shit if you're 18 and still in high school. You can't do shit if you're 18 and your father's an abusive fuck. You can't do shit if you're 18 and far too passive to avoid bullying from fuckfaces that have nothing better to do.

Maybe it's because they know that this is as far as they'll go in life.

I would feel an inch of sadness, perhaps a iota of empathy for them.

If they weren't a bunch of fucking assholes with sticks the size of baseball bats shoved up their asses.

But I'm a pussy.

I mean, maybe I'm not.

But if you get told the same thing over, and over, and over again for years of your life by myriad people, you start to internalize it, you start to believe it.

I couldn't help it.

I huff and kick a rock in frustration, watching a tuft of sand fly toward my face in the process. I sputter, spitting the sand from my mouth, wiping the grains of sand from my face, removing my round glasses to wipe the sand that's found its way on the lenses.

Can't even kick a damn rock.

I put my glasses back on and continue walking.

Then I stop.

Confused.

There's a body laying in the sand.

I walk closer, noticing that it's a female.

I walk closer, and see her dark skin glowing in the sunlight.

I walk closer, and notice something else very alarming.

She is completely naked.

I begin to look away in respect for her naked state, but then my dumbass realizes something more important.

I look back and notice that she is knocked out cold.

I walk closer to the dark-skinned girl, fearing the worst.

I crouch down to inspect the damage.

Her wet curls roll down in waves over her shoulders, the length covering her naked breasts. I follow my eyes downward, noticing that she is completely bare and naked. I try not to look too long at the small breasts that could easily fill my hand, or the soft curve of her waist, or the shapely legs.

Instead, I reach for her wrist to check for a pulse.

I let out a sigh of relief to see that she's still breathing.

"Hey." I speak out, the sound coming out more squeaky than manly.

I clear my throat and try again.

"Hey."

She doesn't respond.

I softly pat her cheek.

Thats CPR 101, right? Make sure that your patient is responding?

Fuck, I don't know shit about CPR.

"Are you okay?" I ask again.

No response.

She's out cold.

I look around and see no one in sight.

I can't just leave her here...I know for a fact that this town is filled with creeps and assholes.

My virgin ass is the least of her worries.

I scoop her in my arms to the best of my ability, awed to find that she's so light and seems to fit perfectly in my arms. I begin the walk to my home.

I'll provide her with warm clothes, a place to shower up, and send her on her way.

That should be simple enough.

Right?

Your votes and comments on this story determine whether I carry on with it.

Let me know.

Ciao my lovelies :*