Last Summer - South Park [Style]

ONE [drowning]

"I love you and that is the beginning and end of everything."
- F. S. Fitzgerald

2018

He didn't go to the surface very often. His skin, which was used to the cooling temperatures at 200 meters under the horizon, immediately started to itch and burn as soon as he pushed his upper body towards the sky. A red rash would cover his shoulders and throat and his nose, ears and scalp were already sun burnt after only a few minutes up there. But his curious brain often dismissed these consequences and so he would sometimes find his head over water, watching the people in the distance enjoying a beach holiday. Later, when the sun had set and the waves were low, he was able to swim a bit closer and could spot the beach and the small bars, decorated with fairy lights and neon signs. It was a curious world up there, much calmer than at home, yet so full of life. A friend once told him that humans stop rushing when they're at the coast because they find the waves and the endless horizon calming and grounding. He tried to understand that but couldn't because the sea was all he ever had and amidst its constant movement nothing had ever been fully calm. And so he often wondered what it would feel like if he left and went to the places the humans fled from to escape everyday life. Would this abnormal normality give him the same joy? Would he feel grounded up there, out there, between them? Or would it be scary and stressful because of the masses of humans rushing through their lives? And because of the cars driving so closely that you could feel the skin on your cheeks getting ripped off by the sound of wheels screeching and the angry drivers honking? He had only ever seen a car twice, normally there weren't any cars at the beach but sometimes teenagers would drive through the sand by night while playing loud music and laughing uncontrollably. And both times it had been absolutely terrifying.
On this particular day he had decided once again to escape his parents and his duties for an hour or two and was on his way to the surface to take a curious look at the colorful and weirdly shaped air mattresses and breathe in the scent of fresh air which he had grown to love over the past few years. The water was very clear that day and a swarm of small fish swam past him without taking much notice. In his mind he could already see the sunny day out there, sea gulls would be restlessly flying their circles over sea and sand, always calling for each other, making sure nobody was left behind. And then something changed. He noticed a shadow above him. He carefully swam closer and when his brain had finally processed the shape of the black object, his heart skipped a beat. It was the body of a teenager, slowly floating towards him. He wasn't moving and he couldn't see the boy's face because the stranger was sinking back down. But he knew immediately that this human was unconscious. Unconscious and drowning. His heart started to race and he could barely hear his own thoughts. The shock paralyzed him for a second or two, he was not sure what to do but knew he had to act quickly. Then he took all of his body's strengths, shot up like a bullet and grabbed the boy's waist.