I wake up to the sound of waves crashing on the roof. In the dark, I scramble for my phone. What's happening? Why does it smell like sea salt? Why is my heart pounding, what is happening? What time is it? I grab my iphone, and click it on- midnight. All of a sudden it occurs to me- I live right next to the beach- there must be a storm.I scream. I run to the window, hoping that this is just my imagination, that I'm just being silly, but there it is, the edvidence is right in front of me- there is a storm crashing through the waves, and my house is going to be swallowed. I rush through the hallway, tearing open the glass door in my parent's hallway, to find my father sound asleep, but my mother nowhere to be found. I stare at the crumpled, but empty sheets, and I will my eyes to make my mother appear, to close, and imagine that this, whatever it is, is a just a nightmare.
No such luck.
I open my eyes, to still see the terror scene in front of me. I am scared to death by storms, because of my near drowning because of one when I was little. I feel that hopelessness, that feeling of being as small as a grain of sand, every time I hear the thunder cackle it's horrible laugh. The worse part? Whenever there' s a storm, all I want is for my family to be all safe together, no excuses. My mom? She loves going to the beach during a storm. To tell the truth, I don't really know where she goes. I've tryed to follow her once or twice, but she seems to dissapear in the waves, scaring me to death.The next morning, she'll be in bed safe and sound, but I don't want the day to come when I find her spot empty.
Suddenly, my knees start to shake, and my head pounds. My vision gets blurry, and the striking smell of sea salt melts away. I hear my father call my name as I crash to the ground. "Arielle!" The sounds of the waves terrorize my dreams, as they always have, and they always will.
