"..let the ocean take me.."
- don't lean on me by the amity affliction
Michael sat on the steps of his front porch, this elbows resting upon his knees as he intertwined his fingers. It was an average Thursday in the suburbs of Sydney, the sun beaming down onto the city like a light blessing them from the heavens, but Michael didn't feel blessed.
He watched as his neighbours followed out their daily routines; Mrs. Sullivan across the street unloaded her grocery bags like she did every Thursday and beckoned Michael over to help her, like she did every Thursday. Michael didn't mind helping out the widowed lady who lived across the street, she was always very welcoming towards Michael, even when he was a young boy, she always said hello and gave him a card on Christmas. Mrs. Sullivan thanked Michael and sent him on this way, leaving his Thursday empty and unproductive, like every Thursday.
The sun began to fall as the moon began to rise across the city and Michael was still sitting on his front porch. A light breeze pushed itself down the street, pulling goose bumps to rise on Michael's skin, he didn't feel cold though, he didn't feel anything.
He watched as the sun gradually disappeared and smiled slightly as the moon fully took its place in the sky above him. Like every other night of the week, Michael was going to go to his favorite place where he could be himself, even if it was for only a night.
He never left a note for his mother anymore to explain his absence, she was past caring on where her mysterious son would disappear to during the hours of darkness. Michael used to climb out of his bedroom window and sneak down to the rocks, but as he grew older, he realized that his mother never checked on him during the night so he began to just leave and return before the sun returned the following morning.
The blue haired boy began his journey to the rocks, he climbed into his beat up car and drove down the streets of the suburbs he grew up in. His windows remained rolled down as he had his stereo on the highest volume, he quietly sang along to the songs on the radio and gently tapped his fingers on the peeling leather of the steering wheel.
He sat at the stop lights and watched cars race across the streets in front of him, the various colours making him smile slightly but distracting him from the stop light in front of him which just turned green. A car horn beeped from behind Michael but he didn't move, he glanced at his wing-mirror and saw a very frustrated girl tugging at the roots of her hair in the car behind him.
He felt a pang of guilt in his chest for causing the stranger a wave of frustration but he shook his head and began to drive.
Michael parked his car a few feet from the rocks and switched off the engine, he was relieved that he made it without his car breaking down like it had done the previous week. The boy slowly walked down the familiar path that led to the rocks, kicking small stones as he took each step.
He sat upon the rocks and smiled, not just a half-hearted small smile, an overly large toothy grin. Michael felt free once again. He breathed in the salt air like every night and watched as the waves came rolling in, they weren't as harsh tonight but Michael felt as if the waves met his mood.
Whenever he was angry, the waves would shatter across the beach with roars of their own anger, when he was frustrated the waves would break before they hit the shore, he felt at one with the ocean.
He watched the ocean and admired the stars that shone in the reflection of the waves but he was torn from his admiration. His eyes scanned the ocean as it suddenly lay still, no waves were crashing but small ripples were sent across the water.
Michael pulled off his shoes and socks, rolled up his jeans and climbed off of the rocks. He walked into the ocean until the water was half way up his calves and stood in bewilderment as he watched where the small ripples of water originated from.
His eyes followed the ripples until he saw the source; a person lay flat on their back, the water surrounding their body as they gently floated on the water. Michael was unsure of what to do, he stood contemplating his options for a few minutes before finally deciding.
Michael took a deep breath and looked over at the person, he could faintly make out their silhouette but he knew it was a person. "Hello?" Michael called out, he waited for a moment but he didn't receive a reply.
"Are you okay?" He called out again, he was slowly becoming worried about the individual who was afloat.
Michael took a deep breath and decided to venture over to the person. He bit his knuckles as he walked further into the cold water, his jeans molding onto his skin as attempted to walk deeper.
He reached the person and stopped dead in his tracks, the person was a young girl, maybe Michael's age. Her thin lips were blue from the cold and her skin was abnormally pale. Michael stared at her for a moment before running his hands over his face.
Conflicted on what to do, Michael acted on impulse and poked the pale girls cheek, her pale flesh freezing against the tip of Michael's index finger.
Michael huffed in despair and looked up to the sky for an answer, did he just leave the girl to float into oblivion or did he take her to the safety of the rocks? He poked the girls cheek once more but again, she remained still.
The blue haired boy decided to give up, he took one last look at the girl before turning around and heading back to the rocks but, a small hand clutched his wrist before he could move any further.
