A Stroke of Serendipity

o2

It's the weekend, and Ryan and Sean were having a sleepover like usual. Except, unlike usual, they're lying on the beach, underneath the stars instead of lying in bed, underneath Ryan's ceiling. The two haven't spoken to each other ever since arriving, which was only a few minutes ago actually, and instead chose to listen to the waves rolling and crashing against the shore. It wasn't long until Sean found himself drifting off, the sound of the ocean lulling him to sleep.

The sand was very fine, a beautiful shade of tan, and it felt like stepping on a bed of cotton. Looking around, the beach appeared to be empty, which was somewhat uncommon as usually fishermen were parked upon the rocks or on their boats in the waters. However, today, not a trace of a single soul was on the beaches of this small island inhabited by what was about 50 people. Perhaps it was because of the threatening storm clouds that happened to be looming above the humble island that no one dared to leave their homes?

That didn't stop Sean from making his way to the rocks the fishermen usually sat upon, scaling the mighty stones until he reached the top of the tallest one. A roll of thunder echoed throughout the vicinity, followed soon by a flash of lightning, when Sean started to survey the ocean in hopes he could find the mermaid-looking creature he met in his dreams. His friends called him crazy and told him over and over that no such thing actually existed, but Sean was convinced that his dream was actually a sign as the dream felt all too real... So for the past few weeks, he had come to the ocean and stood among the rocks, gazing at the ocean and looking for any signs of the mermaid-looking creature, as this was how he met it in his dreams.

It started to rain. Hard. Though Sean was determined and simply threw his jacket's hood over his head (which did almost nothing as he ended up getting soaked to the bone), continuing to look out at the ocean. A gasp escaped him when his ears caught a distressed sound coming from what was the ocean, he guessed, and immediately he turned his head towards the source of the sound. There, he caught a glimpse of brown peaking above the thrashing waters before the waves quickly swallowed it. Sean, uncharacteristically, acted before completely thinking it through and moved towards where he saw the speck of brown. Due to the rain, the surface of the rock was very slick and caused him to slip and fall. A loud yelp resounded through the air when he lost his footing, and everything turned to black when he felt his head collide with something.

"... you okay?" said a fuzzy voice through the darkness. Though Sean could barely make out what was said, this voice felt oddly warm and it wrapped him up in a snug embrace he didn't want to ever leave. He liked this voice.

"Wake up!" The voice was clearer this time around. "Please, wake up!" Sean honestly tried to, but there was just this dull pain coursing through him that prevented him from doing just that. What happened to him that resulted in this aching?

"You can't die on me..." The words struck something in him, and the blackness started to clear. He felt something fuzzy lying atop his body and a warm hand caressing his cheek, and although his sight was incredibly foggy, he could make out that there seemed to be someone by his side due to what seemed to be an exposed chest in his field of vision cloaked in skin the color of... honey? "You..."

"... gotta wake up! Sean!" Ryan's wake up call pierced through his dream bubble, effectively popping it and bringing him back to the realm of reality. It didn't help that his friend was jostling him a bit roughly as well. Though he stopped when Sean let out a yawn as he pushed himself into a sitting position. He was rubbing at his eyes to get any remaining sleep out of his eyes when Ryan waved a seashell in front of his face. "Dude, check out this shell I found in the sand! It's pretty hella isn't it?!" his friend exclaimed excitedly, face bright with pride and wonder. However it faded when he saw the distant look on Sean's face, and he just knew that look wasn't because Sean was tired. "You alright?" Tossing the shell to the side, he scooted closer to his friend.

Sean bit his lip as he carded his fingers through his hair, a little upset at how much of the dream he forgot already but nonetheless tried to figure out what exactly to say to Ryan. "I had a dream about how I was on a beach just like... this one. And then I fell off a rock or something?" Glancing over at Ryan, he quickly looked over the other's expression to see if he comprehended what he just said but was surprised to see a slightly unreadable expression there instead.

Standing up without a word, Ryan brushed off the sand clinging to his clothes before extending his hand out to Sean. "We should probably head back now. It's starting to get pretty late and I don't want my parents to get too mad at us," Ryan said with a wink at the end, changing the topic to hopefully ease the strange feelings that started to occupy his mind again.

A bit confused at the sudden evasion, Sean took the offered hand anyways (and liked the feel of it against his own-- but shh, don't tell!) with a slight smile. "Sounds good bro," he replied and, unconsciously hesitated a bit before letting go of Ryan's hand. The two nod at each other before walking back to Ryan's house.

On the way home, Sean couldn't help but feel disturbed at how vivid the dream was. Although he forgot many of the details, how colorful and real it felt just lingered, haunted him. It was like he could almost smell the rain when it poured, feel the slick rock underneath his feet and his heart dropped into his stomach when he thought about the fall-- no. It's just a dream, Sean. Not real, not at all.

Though a part of him wanted the dream to continue. Who was asking him to wake up? And why did their voice sound so... familiar?