"Mia! Help! I'm drowning! I can't hold on much longer!" Mia awoke in a cold sweat, looking around the room illuminated by moonlight. It was the same vision, the similar nightmare that replayed itself in her dreams. Mia couldn't identify the voice but knew the location from where the shrill screams and pleas originated. The nightmare started as a weird vision but became a itch she couldn't scratch. The itch became too much too bear, the craving to scratch it becoming more of a reality each day. Her phone rang through her room, causing her to jump from the surprise of it. The call was from Liam, her friend she met through art class. He was the polar opposite of Brad; he was shy, the person in the back of the party you'd barely notice was there. Despite his reclusiveness, he was a genius in his own right. He wrote stories that made her quiver with joy and tales that had her at the edge of her seat. She could say she loved him, but didn't want history to repeat itself, no matter how nice he was, she didn't want to stare into the face of old demons. Mia answered the phone call with a smile. "Hey Liam! Is everything alright!" "Yeah, I'm fine. Do you have a second to hang out?" "Yeah! Where at?" "The usual tree near the park, I want to show you what I've been working on." "Sure thing, see you then!" Mia hung up the phone, slipping into her jeans and shoes before sneaking out of the house, making sure to write her mother a note in case anything bad were to happen before she got home. The "usual spot" was a wide and gorgeous oak tree located just outside the entrance to the park locals and tourists alike enjoyed. Liam stood under the tree, awaiting the arrival of his friend. Mia snuck up behind him, causing him to flinch from the unexpected surprise. "Got you didn't I?" She said to him. He smirked and nodded before handing her the composition notebook he held close, allowing no one besides Mia to see its contents. As she read every page and savored every word, he watched her face. She wore her countenance on her face, unable to hide what she was truly feeling in the moment. "It's amazing, Liam!" "I knew you'd say that." He admitted to her. "I was hoping you'd say it was awful just once, so I'd feel that I had something to work on." "You don't need to work on it, you need to publish this!" "You're right, maybe I should." He looked at her with a smile as she returned one to him. "Sticking around for a few?" He asked, hoping she wouldn't take off. "Why not?" Mia said much to his satisfaction. They sat near the trunk of the tree, bouncing topics and silly questions off of each other for hours until the moon began to lightly fall towards the earth. Mia pointed towards the moon; "it's almost time to go home Liam." "Before we go I have one thing to say. I've been meaning to say it since the day we went camping with my family." Mia looked at him with curiosity as he gathered every ounce of courage in his body. His legs began to wobble uncontrollably as well as his arms. After several seconds of hesitation, he closed his eyes before speaking. "Mia, would you like to...". "MIA! HELP ME! PLEASE!" Mia's eyes grew wide, her breath growing scarce within the seconds following the horrific screams. "What's wrong?" Liam said as her face lost color and the wind began to pick up around them. "Do you hear that?" She asked Liam, who began to look at her as if she was a escapee from the asylum. "It's the voice, it's calling to me. I have to go." Mia began sprinting towards the beach with a worried Liam following suit. "Mia! Wait!" Mia's mind focused itself on the screams that echoed through the streets and bounced off of windows and cars. The beach entrance showed itself, giving Mia a boost that left Liam several feet behind her. Her feet kicked up sand that blinded Liam, causing him to hold his arm up to deflect the incoming grains. "Since when was the sand here black?" He said to himself. Mia spotted the shore, where the voice grew in intensity. She scanned the waves for any sign of life and saw the pair of arms reaching out from below the surface. "She's right there Liam! There, in the water!" As Mia began to race towards the mouth of the ocean, the woman appeared before her, halting Mia's advances. "What are you doing?" The woman said with no trace of a smile. "She's drowning, we have to save her!" "I can't let you do that." The woman said much to Mia's surprise. "What? We have to! Why are you letting her drown?!" "That's none of your concern Mia!" The woman screamed back at her. "I gave you hints and signs yet you still arrived here, to save her. Turn back Mia, before it's too late." Mia ran towards the water, despite the warning. Liam saw the sand come to life, leaping towards Mia as she ran towards the woman. "Mia, look out!" Mia looked behind her and saw an enormous column of sand, darker than any sand she's ever gazed upon. The column broke off into two, wrapping themselves around her arms and legs, incapacitating all movement. Liam ran to her rescue, trying his best to remove the sand that kept itself latched upon her limbs. The woman looked at Liam and wiped a tear from her eye. "It's useless my loving Liam, you can't be by her side this time, even though you always have been for me." Liam looked up and gazed at her with lost eyes. "I don't even know you." "Yes you do Lima bean." Mia looked at Liam as he stopped and gasped. "What is it Liam?" Mia asked as she struggled to free herself of the black sand. "Mia...". The woman came closer to them and smiled at Liam. "It's been awhile Liam, I missed you." Mia looked into the face of the woman and it finally clicked. The hair, the smile and the way her eyeshadow matched Mia's confirmed the mystery Mia tried to solve for so long. "You're the older version of me?" "Yes, I am." "Then why would you stop me? We should be together on this!" The older version of Mia pointed at the hands in the water; "do you think for a second that saving her would save you in the process?" "It's a human life, is it not?" Liam asked her. She looked at Liam and shook her head. "It's not worth the agony that comes with it." Liam approached the woman, leaving Mia alone to deal with the sand. "You're right. We should leave and never return." "Liam! What the hell?!" The woman smiled and nodded. "Exactly! You were always so smart and talented. I wish she could see what we see." Liam nodded in agreement, facing her with a smile. "Before we leave, can I have a hug? It'd mean a lot." She wrapped her arms around Liam and closed her eyes. "I love you Liam." She opened her eyes and saw Mia running past her, heading into the water. Liam locked his arms around her, constricting her body. "Sorry, but if you're truly Mia, you would've understood that saving a life matters." Mia dived into the water, looking for the voice and found no one but herself. "Where'd you go?" Mia said internally. She continued to search the depths until she realized that no one was underneath the waves. Liam looked out towards the ocean and couldn't spot Mia, causing him to grow worried about her whereabouts. As he grew distracted, the older woman slowly called to the sand unknown to him. The sand grabbed onto Liam's clothes, ripping him from her body. She turned towards the ocean before reaching into her pockets. She pulled out two black stones, throwing them into the ocean. "What's that for?" Liam said as he fought to free himself from the clutches of the sand. "She didn't know this, but there was no woman in the water, I was saving her...". "From myself." Mia finished, realizing the fatal mistake she made. The black stones found their way into Mia's pockets, causing her to panic and stick out her hands towards the surface. The stones wiggled their way towards the depths, dragging her away from the open air. "MIA! HELP ME! DON'T LET ME DROWN!" As her lungs began to fill with water, and her soul inched closer to her ill-timed demise, she closed her eyes, praying for a better life than the one she endured. The moon vanished, along with Liam and the black sand as if it all never happened. Mia woke up once again, surrounded by an army of black uniforms as they gazed upon the body of their loved one. She pushed them out of the way and found herself staring at her own corpse, eyes closed, facing towards the clouds as her family began the ritual of laying her to rest.
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?
