Cursed Waters

Stories

James watched her sleep, her heartbeat monitored at the side of the stark white bed, a little green line against a black background. He could see Alana's curiosity as she leaned across the girl, her forehead creased in thought, almost bursting her at the seams, he could see the compassion she felt, and that her sense of responsibility towards mystery girl matched his own.

He'd talked to his father the night before, and his father, Mr Greening, had suggested she stay under their care for the time being, and had hinted at the possibility of him adopting her if she had no guardian. It had all happened so fast, he didn't know what to think.

"Can we walk on the beach?" Alana's voice broke into his thoughts,

"Sure."

A couple of minutes later, sandals in hand, they were walking on the wet sand, watching crabs dart into makeshift homes about to be swallowed up by the waves that night, it was already afternoon, they didn't have long.

"Where do you think she comes from?" Alana had tied her cardigan around her waist, and she bumped into him lightly, getting his attention,

"I honestly have no idea, it's a complete mystery. Let's discuss something that will actually go somewhere, I know you've spent enough time thinking about her, and so have I." He glanced to her face, but she was turned away, looking at a far off seagull cruising above the lazy waves, "Why are you here? This place is in the middle of nowhere, and the water's too cold to bathe in, not exactly a prime tourist attraction."

"My brother picked it, we needed to get away from home, and to find a place where we could scatter the ashes of our parents." Her throat choked on the last few words, her calm exterior was cracking.

The words hit James like a punch in the gut, he instantly regretted what he said, "Oh. I am sorry, your parents, did they pass recently?" And then he wanted to punch himself in the balls. But when she turned, she had a half smile on,

"They passed a year ago, we've just been putting it off for the longest time, and Stephen finally broke,
I've wanted to get it over with for the past few months. He looked online, this was affordable, but still close to nature and relatively untouched by most of the populations. We think it's what our parents would have wanted." She sighed,

"We don't have to talk about this if you don't want to."

"No no, it's fine, that's all of it. Stephen's old enough to take care of me, and after we've scattered their ashes, tomorrow, actually, we'll be heading off again. Next week."