Day 2: The Sea



The sea is ice, each wave crashing against my body causing me to shake. It fills my lungs with a sharpness that turns my insides cold, and I shiver at the prospect of never being warm again. Down, down, down I go, further and further into the murky waters, the deep abyss that calls to me.
The roar of the tide is all I can hear. There were people walking above the cliff face before I jumped off, a family walking their dog. I watched them for a while, wondering what it was like in the world of routine. I saw the woman who wheeled a baby in front of her rub an already stained sleeve across her nose, while the older children behind begged for a drink. The man searched in the pram for it, the dog jumping around him as he rummaged through bags, finally finding a frog shaped bottle underneath black bin bags and thrown off jackets.

I noticed so many things about them. The way the mother’s face resembled the son’s, the way the father’s jet black hair was passed down to all of them. I saw the baby chewing on a yellow plastic ring, and watched the oldest daughter travel at a slower pace behind. She was the only one who noticed me, flashing me a quiet, lonely smile. It was only for a moment, but in that time I wanted to reach out and grab her hand. To show her where to find the quiet she desperately desired.

Then, I was gone. Tumbling into the ocean as soon as she looked away. None of the others noticed, and I didn’t think the girl would tell them, they wouldn’t believe her anyway. I fell and fell and fell and fell until my body shattered into the waves below.

 Most would call this place torture. There was nothing for miles, and even if I screamed and screamed, the waves would cover up any noise I made.

But I wouldn’t scream.

No.

This was my solace. My quiet. The one place I felt I could be completely myself.

So I swim in deeper and deeper, trusting the current to bring me back to shore.

/////
This was Day 2 of my NaNoWriMo project where I am writing a new short story every day in November! Originally all of these were posted to instagram, but the 300 word limit was a little confining so I've come here to post everything I've written and a little bit more! 

The inspiration behind this story is my deep base desire to jump into the sea when it's at its most wavy. I know it should be terrifying, and I would definitely drown, but swimming in the ocean is extremely underrated.

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