Scarred

Alive

My eyes flew open to filtered sunlight through a ceiling. Instinct forced me to bolt up. My hands searched for a weapon, finding none. A warm breeze floated through a door covered with a blanket. This wasn't the prison. Where am I?

"Please you need to lay down. You'll pull the stitches," a female said.

I turned to see her sitting on the opposite side. Blood caked her dress and hands. A look of weariness and fear shone in her eyes.

"Where am I?"

"You have to lie down."

"Where am I?"

"Please."

I tore out of the makeshift bed and into the light. The brightness blinded me, I heard voices but saw nothing. When it returned I was surrounded by a group. Where am I?

"Don't hurt him. He's just scared," the girl pleaded.

"He's a murder. He deserves to die," a man exclaimed.

The group pressed closer to me. I caught the glint of metal hanging from several belts. There was no way I could win like this.  The crowd forced me to the edge of a cliff. I glanced over. A hundred yard drop awaited me. Metal was drawn. Fear coursed through my veins. What is a better way to die? Slaughtered by a rioters for nothing or jumping off a cliff.

I jumped. In the fleating seconds I was falling. I prayed to whatever god was watching over me to protect my family if any were left and to protect other young boys from what I had been through.

The water slammed into me like a slab of rock.

I watched every bubble fly up, while I sank down. I waited for the darkness to overcome. It never came. I collided with the floor and was still alive. I opened my mouth and breathed. I could breathe. My hand rubbed my throat. No gills, no nothing. Yet I was breathing.

Something rubbed against my arm. I turned to see a dolphin playing with me. I ran my hand a long it's back. It beckoned me to follow it.

It brought me to a shoreline. A young boy played in the water.

"Mommy! Look a dolphin!" He exclaimened.

"Don't go in to far," his mother called.

He Dared closer to me and where I was hiding. I moved away. He stumbled on a rock and went under.

The mother called a name several times. She ran into the water. I pushed towards him.with all my strength. Bubbles leaked out of his nose. He must have hit his head. I lifted him up and stood up in the lake.