The Girl from the Sea

Chapter One

The dark water swallows me whole, pulling me under into blackness, dropping too fast. I cannot let the water take me, so I kick and flail. I push my body up. Water flows. Bubbles stream away. The sound of air and desperate splashes. The scent of damp night. And, at last, I see the inky sky once more. I don't have enough energy for relief. Instead, I gasp and thrash. All I know is that I must move my arms and kick my legs.

Keep moving forward.

Stay alive.

*

The scent of salt and seaweed. My throat, dry. Lips parched. Head aching. My clothes cling to me, heavy and wet. Cold. Shivering. I can't think straight.

What's happening?

Eyes closed. A rushing, bubbling, frothing. Birds, wind, warmth. I cough, a dry, echoing scrape. Painful. Everything sounds close by, yet far away. My body is stiff. Numb. I can't move. Can I?

Water rushes over me. Cold and salty. Like it wants to claim me. To keep me covered. But it seeps away, replaced by a mixture of cool air and warmth.

My eyes fly open.

A fuzzy brightness greets me. I see blurred outdoor shapes in beige and blue and grey.

My head is pressed down onto something cold and hard. Not a pillow. Not a pavement. Sand. Wet sand. Something presses into my temple. A stone? I raise my head with difficulty. And bring up a reluctant arm. My hand peels away a pebble. Tosses it aside with herculean effort. I cough. Retch. There's saltwater in my mouth. Bile. Tears. Snot.

Please, someone, tell me what's happening. I feel as though I'm trapped inside my head, unable to look outside. Like I'm covered in a membrane. Sealed in.

A muffled voice breaks through my panic. I try to latch onto it. But the incoming words slip and slide away – a flow of sound that I can't decipher. I try to keep my eyes open. To focus on something. But neither my eyes nor my ears want to cooperate.

'Poppy, no!'

A snuffling black nose and a wet tongue. A whine and a bark.

'Poppy, no! Come here!'

It's someone's dog. I still can't focus properly.

'Are you okay? I'm so sorry. Good girl, Poppy.'

I open my eyes once more and order them to focus.

'Are you okay?' The same voice, closer this time.

A face looms into my field of vision. I see a nose, a mouth, pink lipstick, glasses.

A noise comes from the back of my throat. But it's just a rattle and a rasp. Nothing intelligible. What am I trying to say?

'I called 999. Don't worry. Poppy, sit! The ambulance will be here soon.' A warm hand takes my cold one. 'Don't worry, you'll be okay.'

Will I? This person is here to help me. I know that much. That's good. I can give myself over to the help of this woman. I close my eyes again. It's too hard to keep them open. Too hard to focus.

More voices roll in and out like the salty water, like the breeze on my cheek. A wash of sound trying to break through to me. Part of me tries to resist the voices. Wants to keep them as a distant, blurring sound. Merging one with the other, like the waves and the wind. But a greater part of me needs to decipher the words. Needs to understand what's happening.

'Can you hear me?'

Another female voice in my ear. A younger, firmer voice. Her breath warm on my face.