Pain surges through my legs as I stuggle under the weight of the water. I feel my lungs clenching for air and I can't find a way to the surface. I'm frantically thrashing the water around. My mind is spinning and I can't figure out what's up or what's down. I desperately scream for help in the depths of the ocean.
This is it. The end. I'm going to drown tonight. Drunk is not the way I want to go. Salt water tears run out of my eyes and join with the ocean salt water around me. I've given up trying to get to the surface and I begin to just let my body sink. No one will ever know.
No one will ever know I'm gone. Mom and Dad-- they have each other and the rest of the family. Kelly, Caleb, they'll all be fine. They have their other friends. And it's nice to be included in their lives but when it comes down to it, everyone's got someone else. When the sun falls down and the daylight is gone, everyone has that someone, laying in the spot next to them on the bed. That one person who knows what keeps you from falling asleep at night, how you lie awake, staring at the ceiling because you're too afraid of having another nightmare. Everybody's already got that someone, but me.
I think of the last time I saw my parents, what is soon to be their very last memory of me. I was hugging the two of them, my Dad's arms were wrapped tightly around me, I felt like I was at the safest place on Earth.
The more I think about that hug, the more vivid it feels. A strong arm wraps around my waist. The water pushes my eyelids close as the arm pulls me up to the surface and I gasp for air.
I felt dead. No oxygen was reaching my muscles and I've never felt weaker in my whole life. My head is loose, and my hair hangs down into the water. A strong hand supports my neck. I can feel the body struggling to swim against the waves and current. It takes much more effort and concentration than normal to hold my eyes open. The sky looks like a navy blanket over me and is laden with stars. The last thing I see is the dark outline of a stranger pulling me to shore.
~
I wake up with my head throbbing. It hurts so badly; there's so much pressure. I'm in a strange room that takes me awhile to recognize. I drive by this hotel every morning on my way to work. I sit up in the pale blue sheets and look around me. Everything is in place; a coffee table with a phone for the hotel and travel brochures, a bathroom with the towels all folded and neat. I lift my hands up to wipe the sleep out of my eyes and then plop back down on the pillow, but I glance over and see a handwritten note over on the table.
It reads:
"Good morning, sunshine.
You took quite a spill last night.
I hope you're better this morning. You were pretty out of it last night.
Have a great rest of the day."
It was signed with a smiley face at the bottom.
"Great," I mumble and roll over to grab the phone.
"Hi, is this reception?" I ask.
"Yes, I'm Lisa, can I help you today?" a friendly voice says.
"Yes, I think so. I woke up here this morning, and I'm not quite sure how I got here, as embarassing as that sounds. Do you happen to know?" I awkwardly laugh into the phone.
"What's your room number, ma'am?" Lisa asks.
"Ummm," I run out of the room to check the door. "104B."
"Okay, let me check on that for you." I could hear a keyboard and mouse clicking in the background. Lisa came back on the phone and says, "Yes, it seems that a young man checked you in last night, but I don't seem to have his name on file..." Her voice trailed off. "That's odd. I have your name, though."
"Oh, okay. Thanks so much."
"Ma'am?" Lisa got my attention again.
"Yes, I'm still here."
"It seems that your stay last night has already been payed for in full, and your check out time today is 11. Thanks for staying with us," Lisa says, and I hear the phone click.
I run my hands up and down my face. "Well, that was odd." I might have a slight problem with talking to my self.
I push my self off the bed, walk into the bathroom, and start running the shower. My body is still sandy and sticky from the salt water. It'll feel nice to get it all off. I can't believe I survived falling into the ocean at night while I was drunk. There's a reason I don't go near water.
