The year is 1970.
The sun shone when Elizabeth and her mother moved to America. She hasn’t seen what her father did to her mother but she had noticed the bruises.
The sun shone when she spent her second day in America at a lake near her house. She wanted time to think, to overlook the whole situation. Lost in thought she did not see Harry and his friends coming.
The sun shone when Harry and his friends reached the girl at the beach. She was fully dressed, just sitting there and staring at the sparkling surface of the lake. He did not mean to be mean when he started making fun of her about the way she sat there and the expression of her face. In secret he thought that she was actually really beautiful.
The sun shone when the boys left and Elizabeth started crying. She was almost drowning in memories from everything that happened back home in England. All the things that happened in school, all the names people called her, everything her father did – it all was coming up again.
The moon rose when Elizabeth still sat at the lake. She liked that silence. Just staring at the lake she noticed a movement. Then she saw two arms and noticed the hushed screams.
The moon rose when Harry decided to go in the water. Not too far. He did not want to drown. What he could not see was a ridge under the water just a few steps away from him. Suddenly he was fully surrounded by water, entering his nostrils, mouth and lungs. He tries to swim, to keep his head above the water but he could not do it. Eventually he tried to scream and hoped that somebody would hear him.
The moon rose when Elizabeth sprinted towards the water. She jumped in and swam towards the movement. She could not see anyone and put her head under the water to look for that person. Finally spotting him she dived towards him. Grabbing him and pulling him to the surface of the water was quite exhausting for her. She pulled him out on the beach and started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Suddenly he started coughing up a flood of water.
By moonlight they started talking. She asked him what happened and he told her that he can’t swim and that there was a ridge. Then she recognized him as one of these boys who made fun of her earlier. But she already learned to live with it so instead of saying something she just looked at him. Both of them just looked at each other and finally he spoke up. Thanking her for saving him he smiled at her. “Do you want me to teach you how to swim?”, she asked him. “That would be amazing!”, he told her. They arranged to meet the next morning for the swimming lesson.
The sun rose when they met again. Harry was a bit insecure. On the other hand he was really excited. When they finished she noticed some pills falling out of his jacket pocket but she did not think about it and just gave them back to him.
The days passed by and they met every morning. She showed him how to swim and he tried to copy her movements. They stayed in the dead water just practising how to move arms and legs.
The sun shone when they met that one day again. Both of them grew closer, learned to like each other. They spent more time together. Sometimes they just sat at the lake, staring at the water, enjoying each other’s company. It was no surprise for Harry when he felt the sparks the first time. Every time Elizabeth touches him or hugs him they were there. He remembered the first time he saw her, the first time he saw her beauty. Ever since that day she saved him they shared every thought and his feelings for her deepened every day.
The moon rose when Harry carefully put his arm around her shoulder. Elizabeth looked at his face and smiled. The sparks in her stomach increase when he approached her a bit. He turned his head already finding her looking at him. They just looked into each other’s eyes and in that moment it felt like he could read her story in her eyes. Her eyes were sparkling and she had that caring expression in them. He leaned in slowly and as their lips connected it felt like a firework in him.
The moon rose when they kissed each other. Elizabeth was all around happy. But it was late and she had to go home. She did not want her mother to worry about her. So she pulled away and smiled at Harry. Explaining him that she had to go, she tried to stand up. He helped her and the pills fell out of his pocket. Elizabeth stared at the pills, finally realizing that she had seen them too often. He always carries them with him. So she decided to ask him what the deal with it was. He did not want to answer so eventually they ended up fighting. She wanted him to tell her the truth but he told her he could not.
By night Harry decided to go in the water by himself since he finally knew how to swim. Elizabeth already went home. He told himself that he is going to talk to her in the next morning. But what he had forgotten because of the fight was that he had to take his pills. He was in the water when a strange feeling overcame him. Everything hurt and he couldn’t do anything. His last thought went to Elizabeth before everything went black.
The sun shone when Elizabeth read the newspaper. There was an article about a boy who drowned in the lake near their house last night because of an epileptic seizure. His name was Harry Jones. When she broke down in tears all Elizabeth could think about that she now new the reason for his pills.
