The Dying Field

CHAPTER TWO

Despite her mother being the swimming coach in the town school, Amara couldn't swim. The simple thought of deep water freaked her out. She's tried to learn, but her body never could handle it

Whenever one of her friends would come home from a vacation on a tropical island, they would always explain how wonderful it was to swim in the ocean surrounded by fish. They described the feeling of floating in silence broken by only their soft and steady breathing.

Amara knew she wouldn't experience such wonders until she let go of her fear. The mere thought of having all the air sucked out of her body or the bone-crushing pressure of an entire ocean that envelopes your entire body would sometimes be enough to prevent her from taking a bath.

But to most people's surprise, Amara hasn't always been afraid of the liquid substance. In fact, she used to love it. Always being excited to go to the local swimming pool, begging her mom to take her to another swimming lesson or even just creating a small swimming pool in her own backyard.

Things like that didn't bring her any joy anymore. It only reminded her of the pain she had felt many years ago. Trauma can happen very fast but it can linger for decades before someone can remotely start comprehending their situation. It has an effect on the health and stabilization on both your body and mind. Trauma can be relived in many ways, some more pleasant than others. Through a nightmare, a lucid dream, or hallucinations. Trauma doesn't wait for the host to be happy and stable to be recalled, it just shows up. No matter how bad of a day you're having, the same dream will enter your mind every night.

It was her sixth birthday. She had had the most perfect day of her life and was positive nothing bad could happen.

Amara and her uncle walked side by side, holding hands and eating ice cream by the shore. Her mother was in front of them, taking pictures of her daughter to put in the photobook of her life. When the woman turned back, the little girl looked up to her uncle and studied him carefully.

"What do you know about my dad?" she asked softly but still with a small smile.

The man, shocked by the question, turned his head in her direction and flustered. He hadn't a clue what to do in a situation like this. He wasn't even sure if he was allowed to tell her anything about her father without his sister's permission. However, his niece was not one for patience and his sister had walked further away to a tourist stand, looking at all the folders so she stopped the small girl in her tracks, and led her to the edge of the pathway running beside the ocean. He sat her down on the stone rail, steadying her so she wouldn't fall.

While rehearsing the answer to her question in his head, they looked to the horizon. The sun was a few hours from setting and the sky still had a shade of pale blue. The presence of clouds was minimal, indicating the chances of rain or even a few drops was small to none. The wonderful view gave the uncle an idea to describe his brother-in-law.

He started, "He was cheerful and alive. He didn't care about others opinions about him and did the craziest things imaginable. Him and your mom fell in love the moment they met. They lived for each other and were ecstatic when they found out about your mother's pregnancy. Even though he only had a limited amount of time with you, he already loved you more than anything he had ever encountered in his life. He knew nothing could ever separate the two of you. That hasn't changed, Francesca."

"But we did get separated." The young girl stated, looking at the man that had given her no real information whatsoever.

He sighed and felt a little frustrated, but kept going with his idea.

"Look up at the sky. Look at all the beautiful colors and shapes up there."

Amara looked up together with her uncle and studied the shapes and colors like he had instructed.