WAVES

seven ; in a heartbeat

FOR REAL THOUGH MY WRITING IS SO SHIT I'M UPSET

Mesmerised by an ocean dream,
Eternal life, alone and free.
Rolling waves, sea pure and clear,
Maybe I've found shelter from the storm.
~

Michael couldn't hear anything else.

He couldn't hear anything but his heart thumping violently against his chest and the steady buzzing in his ears as he ran out the shop and turned his head in both directions. A split second vision of a head of ash grey with a beautiful tan complexion outside the huge glass windows was originally what caught Michael's attention, making his shoe-clad feet pick up big steps, leaving the dark tiled floors and meet the stony, wet, pavement.

It's Natalia, isn't it? He thought, feeling numb for all the time he's been running. It's got to be her. He's sure it's his friend, nothing can convince him otherwise.

He just continued running to what he believes is the direction that Natalia went, passing different stalls of souvenirs of bright keychains and shells dancing along to the heavy winds of such a gloomy day. Past the little food stands, past the Maccas they ate lunch at, past the dock. He just continued running and running, desperately trying to hold onto that tiny flicker of hope in the bottom of his heart that Natalia's alive and that his dream is not real, that it wasn't intuitive at all. She isn't weak, she's going to put up a fight.

She must be alive.

Though, that flicker was put off the moment he realized that he's getting himself lost in the city he never step foot on before. His frantic steps dramatically slowed down like his quick gasps for air, beads of sweat trickling down the sides of his worried face. Where is she? He tried looking around him again, eyes squinting on every girl walking or interacting with others, but he never saw the same hair colour again. All there were were girls with bright eyes wearing blouses and skirts, loud kids, parents on the way home from work.

Then he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, fear creeping through his heart. How's he going to go back to Calum? He left without permission, and he's already so far away from the coffee shop, so far that all he can do was stare at the direction where he came from.

"C-calum!" He tried shouting out loud, but it came out more like a soft whine. This undeniably felt like the start all over again, that very moment before he left the sea. He feels so empty and lost and hopeless, trying to find his way around things.

Nothing will happen if he just stayed there sulking and regretting what was done, so he shook it all off with an exasperated sigh coming out of his lips. He began walking aimlessly in the sidewalk, at the same time searching for the familiar sign of Starbucks. He looked at the people passing by him while wearing an expression that looked like a kicked puppy asking for 'help', but no one even spared him a glance. He could ask somebody for directions, but he was too afraid of humans. Everybody seemed too busy minding their own business and wouldn't waste a second of their precious time helping a guy who looked mature enough to handle himself in a busy town like this. Which made the merman more upset.

He bit his bottom lip and decided to sit on an empty bench under a shade instead, watching the unique buses and private cars on the road. He tried to think of the earlier events, how he felt comfortable sitting on the leather seats of Calum's car, asking the boy about the most random things. His thoughts were only about to drift farther when a voice startled him.