Underwater

Chapter 2

The wave pulls me under and there is nothing I can do. I try resisting the current, but the harder I resist the deeper I fall. It's hard to think because my oxygen levels are low and I can feel the salty water slowly enter my mouth.

I was never caught in a storm of this proportion before, but I know the strength nature has.

The beauty is in its power, my grandpa likes to say. Some love it, some fear it, but one way or the other, it can't be dismissed.

So I surrender.

Ocean has always been my friend.

My ally.

You can swim against the current, but that way you won't come far. It's one of the first things you learn when they teach you how to swim. Go with the current. Become one with the water. Don't fight the nature because you can't win.

Where is Ty? Did he find a way out? Or is he just like me falling deeper and deeper under?

Our best friend and our enemy.

Darkness creeps at my consciousness and more water enters my mouth. Filling my lungs, making it impossible to breathe. I didn't have a chance to take a breath when I surfaced, so there is no air left for me to breathe.

Only saltiness.

Is this how it ends?

Is this how I'll die? Sinking underneath the water.

Will I drown? Will it hurt?

Will salty water fill my lungs until I won't be able to breathe?

I can already fill the sting of it. The burn of the ocean water in my throat and lungs.

I was practically born and raised in this ocean. Will it be the reason I lose my life too?

And what about my parents?

I can see their faces in my mind. The picture is blurry, but I can see their smiles. What will happen to them if I'm gone? Will my body be found somewhere on the beach once the storm is over, or will it be lost somewhere at the bottom of the ocean?

Tears gather in my eyes. Sad, angry, desperate tears.

I don't want to end like this.

Not today.

Not like this.

It can't be my turn to die.

I have to live.

I want to live.

My hands start digging through the water, desperate to find their way to the surface. I resist. Every cell in my body protests the destiny that was pushed on me. My lungs cry in need of air as I struggle against nature.

I push. I grab and I struggle. My hands and legs cut through the wild ocean water but it feels like the only thing I manage to do is to drink in more of the ocean. I choke when the salty water touches my raw throat.

The pain radiates through my whole body. My muscles hot and tired. I feel my hands give up, my legs grow weaker with every push I make.

A mix of tears and ocean burn hot in my eyes because I can feel my body betraying me.

I can't give up.

This is not me.

I don't want to die.

I'm so concentrated on the task of getting on the surface I almost miss it. The soft whisper calling my name.

"Marissa."