Have a Little Faith

Dakota's POV

Dakotas POV

I grabbed my light blue knitted sweatshirt and my flashlight and made my way down to the beach. I couldn’t stop the tears from slowly dripping down my cheeks as I felt my toes sink into the cold sand. My vision was blurry and the crashing of the waves suited the turmoil of emotions I felt. I had left my glasses at home when I had left in a rush to get out of the house. I walked closer and closer to the sound of the ocean and stopped when I felt the sand turn damp under my feet. I rubbed my eyes to get rid of the blurriness that my tears were creating, but as soon as they were dry, fresh tears would spring up at the memory. Eventually I decided to sit down where I was, and not worry about my eyesight, resting my head on my knees. I just wanted the ache in my chest to go away, to be washed clean by the tides of the ocean. I didn’t like the ocean. But it was the one place where I felt closest to my brothers. Sometimes when the nights were windy like tonight, I had a feeling as if I could hear my brother’s voice in the wind. As if he were whispering the same reassuring words he had whispered in my ear when I was younger. As if the wind carried his voice across the vast sea and back to me. Fresh tears rolled down my nose and dripped off the tip. Suddenly a gust of wind reached me, followed by an icy cold wave that forced me onto my back. With my impaired vision I struggled to get back up before the next wave came crashing around me. The noise was suddenly everywhere and I didn’t know which way was the shore anymore. Before the wave actually hit me, I could already tell that it was coming by the strong pull around my ankles with the rapidly retreating water. In a last vain attempt to get to safety I turned and tried running, but the wave came crashing around me and pulled me under. My knees scraped along the sandy ground and my hair was tugged into the twirl of the wave. I felt the water fill my lungs, before I finally managed to push back up to the surface. I frantically gasped for air trying to stay afloat when a fresh wave forced me under the water again. My eyes were stinging from the salty water and my throat was burning from swallowing too much water. The constant pulling of the ocean and my struggling soon tired me out, my legs and arms growing heavy. In a final weak attempt to get to the top I pushed up from the ground and tried to reach the surface. As soon as my head submerged from the water though I turned just in time to come face to face with a huge wave. I closed my eyes and waited for the impact, and when it came my vision was suddenly filled with black spots and fuzzy edges before everything turned dark.

∆«∆««∆«∆«∆«∆«∆«∆«∆«∆«∆«∆«∆«∆«∆«∆«∆

I was coughing, trying to breath at the same time. I felt the water run down my chin as I finally managed to draw in a breath of air that I needed so badly. I rolled on my side, gasping for fresh air, clutching my stomach. Everything was spinning wildly out of control and my vision was blurry and unclear. My head hurt and my knees were throbbing. My cheeks were soon tear stained as I let out a quiet sob. I felt someone rub my back before helping sit up. I couldn’t make out who it was, but strong arms circled around me and held me tight to a wet body. The fact that I was holding onto a stranger for dear life would have alarmed me in any other situation but right now, the confinement of the person’s arms, provided the safety I needed. I was sobbing uncontrollably as the events of the last minutes replayed in my head in an endless loop. Whoever I was holding to must have dragged me out of the ocean and onto the beach.

“You’re safe now and medical attention is coming” I heard a male voice say.