Waves of Change | Short Story

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Waves of Change by Messy

“What keeps you awake at night?” asked Avery. 

The embers were still smoldering with hues of red, purple, and orange. They kind of reflected the sun set over the ocean we were watching, except for the embers gave off heat. 

“Dreams,” I replied in a distant tone, thinking of all the nights I stayed up because I was afraid I would run away in my dreams and never come back.

“What is it, Teagan, about your dreams?”  

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes, please, tell me, I want to understand why your eyes always look so tired and you always seem lost.”

I looked into the sunset. It was like a beautiful painting across the sky. I guess the Creator wanted us to have a stunning scenery. 

“Ok,” I whispered. “But please don’t tell anyone, ok?”

“I cross my heart,” he said in a serious tone. I knew he meant it. Looking down at my hands that I tucked in the sleeves of my sweater to keep warm, I started to explain.

“In my dreams, I’m a mermaid.  I can feel the stars shining down on my periwinkle scales of my long tail. I can take my hair down from its normal messy bun and let it loose in the cold ocean blue water. I swim faster than I do with just two legs, through the tides. With the moon light illuminating the water, I feel free. Sometimes I dream of running away, only in my case it would be swimming away. What I’m afraid of is never waking up - actually swimming away into the dark waters of the night and never coming back. Yes, I would be free, but I’d be lonely and cold, by myself in the night with nothing to keep me warm. That’s why I’m afraid to go to sleep, because I don’t want to be alone.”

There was silence between us. I wondered if I should have never told him why I stayed up at night. I could have made something different up, that way he would’t worry as much. Looking up from my sweater tucked hands I saw that the sun was slowly but surely, moving below the horizon. Avery picked up the stoker, a few small pieces of kindling, and wood and started to stoke the fire. He obviously was planing on this being a long conversation. 

“I always knew there was something different about you Teagen,” Avery said, breaking the silence. “The first time I saw you, I looked into your eyes... It was like looking into your raging soul. All the passion and emotion caught up in them. It was havoc, but also beauty at the same time.”  

I could feel my face getting warm and I knew I wasn’t because I was getting too close to the flames. 

“I... I don’t really know what to say.” I said softly, still blushing at the compliment. Avery was still staring down at the fire. I could see the flames flickering in his eyes. By now the sun was set and the bright colors of the sky where dimming. 

“You don’t have to say anything. I just want you to be free from all that consuming you. The expectations you have to live up to, the pressure, the hurt. I just don't want you to have to deal with it any more!” He was now out of his seat and he was kneeling down in the sand. I knelt down beside him. 

“It’ll all be ok, Avery. Things will work out in the end. I know it will. I just have to be patient,” I whispered, rubbing his back. I said these things but I was having trouble believing it myself. Remembering the nights filled with a tear-stained face and waves crashing inside my ocean soul. 

“What if we both ran away? If you’re a mermaid in your dreams, don’t you think you could be one now? Right here? We could swim away together and see where the ocean takes us. You could be free, and you wouldn’t be alone.” He said, looking up from the fire.

I thought about this for a moment. Thinking of the real dangers of being out in the ocean at night. Even being on the beach this late was making me anxious. 

“I don’t know Avery, theres so many things that would go wrong - so many dangers.”

“Oh come on, where is your sense of adventure? If it is so real in your dreams, why can’t this be just as real?” 

“Ok...” I said a little uneasily.

As I said this, he got up off his sandy knees, grabbed my hand, and started to walk toward the water. I felt the tide rush up over my feet and whisk all the sand that was stuck to them off. The water felt cool and crisp, just like it did on the nights I dreamt of. I reached up and let loose my hair from its bun. It fell all the way down to my hips. 

I slowly sank into the water, first my knees, then hips, arms, and shoulders. My clothes were getting heavy because of all the water but I kept on going deeper and deeper, until I had to tread because I couldn’t touch. All the while, Avery was beside me. The moon light reflected on the water like crystals. I could feel my soul connect with the ocean, all the emotion and passion started to stir inside of me. We were so far out now that the water started to get rough and waves were getting bigger. I could see a tiny glimpse of the fire that we had on shore. My long hair was soaked but I didn’t mind - this felt so good, so right. For the longest time, we just stayed there with no words between us, just the moonlit ocean. 

All of a sudden, a wave, bigger than them all, came over our heads, separating Avery from me and dunking us both underwater. I tried to swim back up to the surface, but just as I did, another wave came and pushed me under again, suffocating me. I started to feel a change in my body. It was a weird tingly sensation and I couldn’t move my feet anymore. I made it to the surface one more time, using my arms to lift me up. I couldn’t see the light from the fire on shore anymore. 

“Avery!” I screamed as I choked on some water that pushed me under again. I felt as though I was sinking into the deep, consumed by the darkness around me. I could hardly do or see anything. It was all black. It was like I was drowning, only oddly enough, I could breath this time. Just then, I felt a hand grab my arm and pull me upwards to the surface.

“Teagan, I’m right here! Are you ok?” 

I couldn't feel my feet any more. My legs felt like rubber. The waves where still crashing around us but it was easier to stay afloat with Avery by my side again. This time we held on to each other tighter.

“What happened to my legs? I can’t feel them anymore!” 

He looked into my eyes with a feeling of excitement and wonder. 

“Teagan... I saw, you have a tail.”

Shocked, I looked down into water. A periwinkle shimmering tail is what took the place of my legs. Just like in my dream. I had no words in my mouth to say. 

“I have one, too.” Avery said in a low voice. His was indigo blue.

“I don’t know how, but we did it. We’re mermaids!”  My mind was swirling. I flipped my fin. I was so much easier to stay afloat now. 

“We can go. We can be free. You can be who you want to be... WE can be who we were meant to be.” Avery whispered softly. Even though the waves around us were crashing, I could still hear him. I could, I could be free and alive. We could run away from our worries and troubles. These thoughts were racing through my mind. 

The water was up to my chin now... I closed my eyes, just to feel everything around me. From the ocean, to my tail... it was all so new. I felt like a part of the sea now. There was no turing back. Churning and roaring and swirling, all the passion coming out of me, I looked around me, deciding where we should go. My gaze stopped out towards the west, where the sun just sank. I knew I wasn’t dreaming this. 

“Yes, let’s go,” I said in a whisper, Avery took my hand and filled in the gaps. Under the water we went, off to explore the depth of our new destinies - together, not alone. 

“Sometimes in the wave of change we find our true direction.”
~Unknown~