With weeks since the failed suicide attempt past her, and the woman nowhere to be seen since the day she rescued her, Mia was torn between what was real and what was fabricated. "Why did she save me?" Mia said to herself as she sat upon the shores, watching the waves kiss the earth before retreating back into the sea. "Who was she? How did she know I would try and take my life?" "I know more about you then you think Mia." Mia's head swung over to the voice and found the one person she yearned to see the most. The woman looked at her with the same warm smile she held when they first met. She sat next to Mia, staring out into the ocean with a frown. "What do you think is out there Mia? What's below the depths of the sea before us?" Mia sighed; "I don't know, rocks and fish?" The woman grabbed the sand in front of her and extended her arm before Mia, slowly opening her palm. The sand escaped from every gap with ease. "This sand is like life Mia. If you have a firm grip on it, it won't escape from you. However, if you let go of your will to hold on to it, it'll seep out from your very reach." Mia scoffed; "you don't know anything about me. You never will, so don't use your analogies and your fake smile to appeal to me." "I understand that you want to escape, that art is your release. Does that count as something I know?" Mia pushed the sand aside before standing up, creating much needed distance from herself and the woman that tried to dig into the crevices of her life. A few moments went by before Mia returned to her spot, looking at the mystery before her. "I'll tell you what lies beneath the depths, if you're willing to listen." "Of course." The woman said before Mia closed her eyes. "I had a friend, a boy named brad. Brad was my only friend, and I loved him for being there for me when no else was. The only people that wanted to converse let alone approach me, wanted something out of me. He didn't, or so i thought. Our friendship was pure and sweet, until that one night. Mia paused before wiping her eyes, smearing her mascara and feeling her own tremble of her peach lips. The woman scooted closer to her before she gently wrapped her arm around Mia's shaking body. "That night, we hung out at his house since his parents were gone for a few days. I sat close to him as I usually did, telling him about my day before he did the very thing I regretted. Without warning, his lips met mine, causing me to panic and push him away. "What are you doing?!" I inquired as he looked at me with confusion. "We've been friends for years Mia, it was bound to happen was it not?" I shook her head; "no! I love you brad, but not in that way, not ever." Brad nodded his head before he grabbed my wrist, causing me to howl in pain. "I took you out on dates, paid for dinner with my own dime and you can't let me have what I want for one night? You can't be my girlfriend and love me?" "I do love you!" I cried. "You're my only friend!" "Not anymore!" Brad said as he opened his front door and pushed me out into the cold. The night rain soaked my clothes but despite my wet outfit, I was thankful for the rain. The rain shower covered my tears and the realization that ten years of friendship was thrown away in the matter of seconds. The next day, I got threats from his friends, who said they'll never forgive me for not giving the "good guy" a chance. The entire school caught wind of it, causing me to become the butt of many jokes and cold glares that ate away my smile day by day. When I went to apologize to Brad, he looked at me as if I was nothing, nothing! Can you believe that?! The one person that comforted me throughout my childhood and uplifted me through thick and thin stared at me as if I was beneath him." Mia wiped her tears once more, looking away as the woman herself began to tear up. Mia's mind raced from recalling her past, becoming sick at the thought of all she lost. "Maybe I should've gave him what he wanted," she said as the woman began to grow upset at her choice of words. "Then I would've kept my friend." The woman grabbed Mia's chin and turned it to face her. "Don't ever think like that! It's not your job to be someone's puzzle piece!" Mia looked at her as she stared into the pair of angry eyes before her. "You might not see it now, but your decision saved you from the biggest mistake of your life. It's better to be loved in all the right ways then to be loved from what you give up to the other person. Because, when you're not able to give them what they crave, they'll make you the villain of their life." Mia pondered on her words and shook her head in denial. "You still don't get it! I lost my only friend!" "You lost someone who looked at you for what was in-between your legs, not for what was in your heart." "What do I do now?! I can't jump into the damn ocean because you're here! So you tell me, what do I do?" "Don't drown." She said with a serious tone. "You have so much to live for." Mia heard splashing, causing her to turn to face the ocean. She saw a pair of arms flailing around in the ocean, causing her stomach to drop. She ran towards the waves and crashed into the water, hoping to save the pair of hands reaching out for help. She grabbed out to catch the hands, hoping her efforts would pay off. The hands clasped into hers, causing her vision to shut off, the powerful force ripping her eyes open. She looked around and found herself sitting in the bathtub with the bath water splashing her face gently. "I don't remember taking a bath." Mia pulled the plug in the tub, watching the water vanish before wrapping herself with a towel. As she dried herself off, a glass vial caught her attention. The glass vial contained sand with a piece of paper sticking out of the sand itself. Mia opened the vial and dumped it over, reading the note. "Remember, life is like a handful of sand. Keep hold of it or watch it run from your grasp." Mia ran to her room and sat down on her bed, petrified at the events unfolding. "This is far from a dream," she said with conviction. "It's a sign, a message I need to grasp before it's too late."
YOU ARE READING
Don't drown(part1)
Short StoryWhen Mia Powers attempts to end her life by drowning in the Pacific Ocean, a woman shrouded in mystery comes to rescue her. Is it coincidence that she saved her, or the beginning of a tale that ends in tragedy?