Like I Roll

Of The Sea

- It's not as long as I'd hoped it'd be, but I had to re-write it twice because my Internet was screwing up. Please tell me what you think in the comments!

-SerialArtist593

I'd always belonged to the ocean. Lived by it all my life. I was even born on it.

My mother, Alice, was taking a ship voyage. My grandparents wanted to be there when I was born, but they were too old to travel, and Alice was terrified of flying. She named me Marina, meaning 'Of The Sea' in Latin.

I was two weeks old before I ever saw land.

The Captain said this made me unsteady, because I wasn't tied to the earth. I was never sure what that meant, but I knew that I loved the sea.

The silky water wooshing around me. The salt in the air, coarse on my lips. The sense of freedom, of home I got from it was like nothing else I'd ever felt.

There was danger, but I suppose that was just part of the allure. Like being on the tip of a knife, the very edge between life and death, and walking along it without falling.

So being torn away from it - her - was like losing half of myself. Losing your best friend, your most trusted confidant. It was almost as bad as dying.

I knew why we had to move. The facts, and the figures. But that want, that need couldn't be dispelled by meer reason.

I tried swimming pools, but the water felt dead, and lifeless. Lakes and rain was not as bad, but it was a taste of something I so dearly missed. I was thirsting for the sea, and wilting without it.

This terrified my mother. We'd moved in with my Uncle, Norman, and I heard them talking at night. It wasn't healthy, they said, being attached to something like that. Wasn't normal. And my mother so desperately needed normal at the moment. And I tried. I did. But for me, normal was the sea. And without her, I had no idea how to act or deal with this sudden change to my entire world.

So Norman, taking charge, as nobody else was, decided that I should do what normal teenagers did. And that's why I found myself walking to Sicklewood Hall.

Living so close to the sea, we were too far away from anything, let alone a school. So I'd been home educated all my life. I knew nothing else, so school seemed like a fantasy, something to daydream about when I was bored. It was an enigma that I'd only read about in books. I never imagined I'd actually be going.

It was an hour walk to Sicklewood Hall, but I'd flat out refused to be driven or take the bus. I couldn't stand cars. They were metal death traps; and I'd barely managed the drive here. I had no inclination of repeating that torment anytime soon.

Still, what I saw around be was almost as bad. The noises, the lights, the sheer number of people. It was overwhelming. And the way the ground was encased in concrete... It hurt my soul. Giant towering buildings stood either side, just waiting to crush me flat. Uncle Norman assured me I would get used to it, but I wasn't nearly as sure. I didn't belong, or fit in, in this new metal world. Nor did I want to. Would there be a day, when I'd be fine with the destruction they were causing the very ground that had given them life? Help them do it, even? It scared me like nothing else.

Alice had visited Sicklewood Hall the previous day to collect my new school uniform. She called the building 'Modern'. I didn't listen to much else, because I was outraged by the fact that I had to wear a uniform. In all the books I read, probably the one constant, about schools, was that you could wear whatever you wanted. But as Alice explained, that was in America. Apparently, in England, almost every school had them.

It consisted of a navy blue pleated skirt, and white blouse, and a blazer that I had slung over my arm that was also navy blue. In a small act of rebellion, I had added my own rainbow striped knee high socks to the outfit, as well as my black combat boots.

As I approached the building, I saw small groups of what I presumed were students huddled against the cold, wearing gloves and scarfs.That was one point in it's favour. This city was the poster child for cold and rainy. I found the weather refreshing.

I strode up to a door marked 'Office' and pushed it open. As it swung shut behind me, I had two reactions. The first was to turn around and run as fast as I could until I got to the sea, no matter how long it took. The second, more rational one took in the small, chipped wooden desk and the pudgy woman sitting behind it and grimaced. I could already tell this was not my cup of tea.

Dragging my feet over the worn and holey carpet, I watched as the woman - the name tag pinned neatly to her cardigan read ' Mrs Greenstead' - lifted her small, beady eyes and fixed them on me. A look of distain crossed her face as she spoke.

"Marina Dashwood?"

I only nodded in confirmation, attempting to keep my expression blank. My mother said first impressions were everything, and I didn't want to let her down, but I couldn't manage a smile at that moment for this woman who so obviously already hated me.

Her short, stubby fingers were painted a bright pink; a colour so at odds with her personality that I almost laughed. Almost.

She passed my a few pieces of paper I presumed were my class schedule, and cracked a vicous smile.

"Better hurry, dear. You're already late."

- I apologise in advance for any strange or weirdness about the school, I'm Home Educated like the character, so I've never actually been to Secondary School.

- SerialArtist593