Posted by: Autumn | August 10, 2008

Wait For Me

The water rushed up to her nostrils as she beat wildly with her hands.  In her state of panic, she sucked more water in and choked.  The waves rose above her head and submerged her totally into the water again.  Grabbed by undercurrents, her legs were like two steel rods sinking deeper and deeper.

She struggled to hold her breath but her lungs ached for more air.  She was not sure if she had closed her eyes or that she had blacked out because she could only see darkness in front of her.  She could only feel the current, the water beating against her body, tossing her about like a toy.

Then, she felt someone grabbed her wrist.  She thought she heard her name.  Yes, it was a voice but it was very faint.  She wanted to answer but could not respond.  It felt like the time she was calling someone in her dream but the person did not hear her and she kept calling and calling, like the voice kept calling and calling for her.

Soon, someone was beside her and gave her a push.  The waves tried to stop her from reaching the surface but the push was strong enough to overcome the obstacles. 

Air!  She gasped hard and choked.  Her head was out of the water and the cold wind stung her face.

She saw Peter swimming up towards her.  She tried to smile at him.  For a moment, he was by her side and she reached out to touch him but a wave separated them.  She lost sight of him and both submerged into the water again.  Another wave brought her up.  She screamed for him when she could not see Peter. 

Then she saw him struggling to keep himself above the water at the exact spot where she was pulled down by the water earlier. 

“No,” she screamed, as she tried to swim towards him.  She saw him go down.

She screamed again and drank some water as waves hit her face.  Another one covered the sky above her and pushed her further away from Peter.  Weakly, she tried to swim towards him again as he struggled against the waves.  He started sinking again.

“Peter,” her heart called out to him, “wait for me.  Wait for me! Wait for me!”  She blacked out and sank.

Sitting in her rocking chair looking out towards the ocean, she remembered waking up on the beach and someone was pumping her chest to get her breathing again.  Tears streamed down her face then, and now, when she realised Peter was gone.  The water was supposed to be calm that day.  What went wrong?

Every fifteenth of the month, the day Peter lost his battle with the waves, she would sit in her rocking chair to watch the ocean that took him.  Each time she expected to see waves as hugh as those that separated them but each time the ocean was as calm as a cat stalking a bird. 

Peter did not wait for her then but she knows that one day she will join him.  Hopefully, that one day is soon.  “Wait for me, Peter,” she whisper, “wait for me.”

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Responses

  1. Oh so sad but beautifully written. I felt the panic of both of the characters, fighting the waves. Bravo!

  2. sad but nicely written, love how you use descriptions, almost feel as if I was there

  3. A heart breaking story vividly told. Very nice.

  4. How devastating for her. You communicated the panic, the fear, the sorrow, so well. I do hope they get to see each other again.

  5. Autumn, you’re story had me reaching for the tissues. What a heartbreaker. Well written. Well done. Thanks. David.

  6. Geraldine, Lissa, Chris, Selma, David – Thank you so much for your kind and encouraging words :)

  7. Good job with the prompt. Nice tensions built at the beginning of the story.
    Lauri

  8. Lauri, welcome! Thanks for your kind comments!

  9. This was so chilling – your description of the fight with the water was so very real I almost didn’t want to keep reading. Really well done!

  10. Hey Kayt, welcome! Glad you “enjoy” the story and thanks for your lovely comments.

  11. [...] leave a comment » Wait for me [...]


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