Ocean Blue & You

revelations

The next morning I awoke very differently to how I had the previous morning. My head was pounding from the drinks and I felt very unclean and dizzy. I got up before Jack and had a shower, washing my hair and brushing my teeth. I still felt a bit horrible so I took a hangover pill with some water down in the kitchen and then fixed myself some breakfast. Sooner or later, Jack came downstairs afterwards.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, after I said good morning.

"Not great. But I feel a bit better after taking that pill. I think I just need to rest for the best part of today," I answered, sighing.

"Me too," Jack agreed, and then he went off to the living room to get something. I turned on the TV, and was alarmed at the news that it showed.

"Shocking news has recently been received regarding the situation in Madagascar. An unknown meteor struck seven hours ago, causing the town to go up in flames. The fire was short lived and quickly extinguished, but a dangerous, poisonous gas has started to evaporate from the very large rock. It has never been discovered before, and contains a very unusual amount of carbon dioxide and lithium sulfate. Its effects are terrifying and puzzling to the majority of scientific predictions. It has started to spread into people's lungs and is affecting them with an unknown illness."

My mouth fell open in shock.

"Jack! Look! The news!" I called, not taking my eyes away from the screen. A Madagascan woman came on the TV at that moment, crying and holding her young son on her lap. Jack came into the kitchen quickly to see the screen.

"The gas has got to my husband, Aneton. I've had to leave the island with my two year old son. It's-it's..." she trailed off mid sentence, wiping a tear away from her face and then composed herself, sniffing. "The gas got to his lungs, and his heart. He was very sick and said he wasn't well enough to come with us. We left with my sister and our grandpa," (she sniffed and sighed again, trying to push her tears and overwhelming sadness away) "and we left our home. Madagascar is such a beautiful place. And never, have we...have we ever had such a happening there. It's ripped us from our home. I didn't want to leave Aneton, but-but..." she pushed her stifling sobs away, "I had to. For my family...for my life."

When the news story ended, we both stared at each other.

"Woah," was all Jack could utter, and I silently thought likewise.

*

Later in the afternoon, we decided to go out and get some fresh air. Instead of surfing in the sea (which we both felt too tired to do at the moment) we took a casual stroll along the sand, which was something we did a little too often. October had arrived, bringing fresh, cold winds, vermilion, gold and ginger hues, and the familiar autumn crunch beneath your feet. The sun had begun to hide behind the grayish clouds, timidly peaking out sometimes to spill a warm glow over the ground and houses. For the first time, I wrapped up in my old coat from last year, which now fitted just-so, and slipped on my converses.

"So, Jack?" I asked, a thought coming in to my head, which had been bugging me since the blurry memories of last night.

"Yeah?" he answered.

"About what Mike said yesterday-"

"What? Oh, did he say something funny to you that wasn't really that funny? Did he introduce you to some weird friends? It's okay if he did you know. He does that a lot-"

"No," I replied.

"No? Well-what?" Jack asked, puzzled.

"Um, well, about- it's about-" I stuttered, not knowing how to say it without sounding awkward, "that girl, um- Beth?"