Water: An Elements of Earth Novel

1

I'm in water ... deep inside the ocean. Nothing surrounds me but a pit of darkness below. I'm just...there. My blue hair almost blends in with the water as it cascades around my face. I don't seem to be drowning... so, am I breathing underwater? I looked to my left, then to my right. Still nothing. What am I doing here?

Suddenly, the darkness below me started to ascend. My eyes widened as I watched the darkness attempt to swallow me up. I tried moving, but all my attempts were useless. My body started to accept its fate much sooner than my mind did. I started to sink, allowing the ice cold darkness to take from me.

*  *  *  *

I jerked awake in my bed; hair sweating and breathing erratic. I clutched my chest in an attempt to calm down my racing heart. Frantically looking at my surroundings, I realized that I was in the safety of my beach themed bedroom. As my breathing slowed, I kept repeating the same mantra over and over in my head; it's only a dream, it's only a dream...

Why have I been having this same dream every few nights? I don't understand its importance or meaning; at the beginning, I assumed it was just another one of my weird dreams or that something was going on subconsciously to create these intense dreams. But after the third dream, it was obvious there was a more complex reason behind my vivid dreams.

Once my breathing finally returned to its normal pacing, I ran my fingers through my sweaty strands of so-called blue hair, finally relaxing my muscles. Glancing to my right, I read the time of my silver alarm clock. 6:45. If I wanted to get to school on time, I better leave now.

I hopped out of bed and dragged my aching body to my adjoining bathroom. Looking at myself in the mirror reminded me of one of those girls from scary movies who has just traveled to hell and back. I looked like a God awful mess; clearly I needed better sleep.

I completed my morning routine in record time; shower, brush my teeth, wash my face, light makeup, and a simple yet cute outfit. Jetting from my walk-in closet to the nightstand that held my phone, I picked it up and glanced at the time. 7:05. If I leave now, I'll make it on time. I ran down the steps with my backpack on and my car keys in my hand. Quickly going into the open concept kitchen and grabbing an apple for breakfast, I burst through the front door and towards my white 2018 Ford Fusion, or Pearl as I so lovingly named her.

By the time I made it to school, it was 7:26. Thank the Heavens, I made it on time with four minutes to spare. Quickly climbing out of my car, I ran up the front steps and into building 4 for my first class of the day, Calculus with Mrs. Gabriet. I was nearly out of breath by the time I made it to my seat.

"Running late Rina?" an excited voice said.

I lifted my head and in front of me I saw my best friend Ariel, dressed to perfection as always. She was sporting her tightest blue jeans with a matching blue jean jacket and it was paired with a tie-dye crop top. To complete her look, her long brown hair was separated into two neat fishtail braids and her face was done with simple yet alluring make up.

"Ariel, I'm not running late, everyone is just running early" I responded with a smirk on my face.

Ariel smiled at me with her perfect white teeth. "Was it the nightmares again?"

My head drooped as my mind started to replay the uncomfortable scenes that plagued my dreams.

"Yeah, same as always. To be fair, I am getting sick of them."

"You know, they say that your dreams are remnants of things that are bothering you in reality or even your subconscious desires."

I thought about what Ariel said and responded, "Well, it's definitely not the subconscious desire because I don't desire to drown in the darkness of the ocean. So that leaves something is bothering me about the ocean?"