Far from Saving

Chapter 1 - The End

The dark waters were crashing all around me. Tossing me around like I was a child's toy. Gasping for air between each bursting wave. It didn't seem to slow down or speed up. It felt as if it was a never ending battle between life and death. I feel weak from fighting the water around me. It seems as though giving up is my only option. Even if the waters calm, where am I going to go in the middle of the sea? How would anyone know I'm here? I shouldn't have stowed away on that ship; but I couldn't live that life anymore. Too many people died, so much death surrounded me. How could anyone live after seeing the people you love die? I may be running from my past, but how can I stay around the town that is stained with blood. The blood.. There was so much blood. I couldn't stay anyways. People were starting to talk; to assume I did it. That I murdered all those people; my family. I didn't. that dark man did. The man in the shadows. He seemed to have no heart, no care in the world. He knew I saw, he knew I was there; but why did he spare me? Why did he want me to feel this pain inside? Why couldn't he kill me too? It seems as though all hope is gone. I will never find that man; maybe I'm as heartless as he. Maybe I deserve this pain; this ending. After what I did to her.

I finally stopped fighting the water; what was the point? I'm going to die anyway. I don't deserve this life. Not after what I did, not after what I saw. My life is nothing anymore.

I started to daze in and out of consciousness. The salt water filling my lungs. My chest stung of pin needles and burned like fire. This was it, the ending I deserve. Soon, my last breath will escape me. I closed my eyes and let my body drift and toss on these sorrow-filled waters.

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I hear a faint sound of seagulls squawking with the soft crash of waves in the distant. The sun's warmth is faintly kissing my cold body. Cold. Why am I so cold? Wait. I'm.. Alive? I slowly peek through my lids and immediately closed them back grasping my eyes with my hands. It's so bright! Why are my eyes burning? Trying to look again, my eyes felt like fire. Why are they hurting so bad?!

Suddenly, I hear a shuffle beside me.

"Calm down and relax. You can't force yourself up like that young one." The stranger exclaimed while patting my face with a hot rag.

"Who are you?! Where am I?!" I frantically asked. What's going on?! What happened to me! Who is beside me! Why can't I see?! I couldn’t stop the questions in my head. I am so confused.. I’m supposed to be dead.

"Just calm down, Liam. You're safe for now. Just relax." I felt my tension drop dramatically, like I was about to sleep. Why am I calm all of a sudden?

"Open your eyes a little so I can rinse them." Hesitantly I did what he ask and felt warm water pour over my eyes. Such a relief, they don't burn anymore.

"You can sit up now. Pat your eyes with this and try looking around." He put what felt like rough animal skin in my hand to dry my eyes. The smell of smoke and clay filled my nostrils as I pat my eyes. My body stung and ached as I tried sitting up. I feel so weak; so drained. I slowly opened my eyes and saw blur. Everything was foggy for a moment. Blinking a few times I looked around and tried to focus. As my vision started to clear, I noticed I'm in what looks to be a hut. There's a small doorway across from me that faces the ocean, but I see no waves. It looks like a ledge. Am I on a cliff? I look over and focused on the man beside me. Very tall, lean, and tan. He had bones and feathers around his head, almost like a crown. Markings line his arms down the side of his body to his bare feet. They almost look tribal yet they look like words. Who is this man?

"Who are you and how do you know who I am?" I asked still dazed and confused. His eyes stern and dark stare deep in mine. Very deep. It feels like they are piercing through me.

"I have no name but I am your friend. I've known you for a while, however this is the first time you’ve met me. Our relation is not of importance." He stood up with a smile.

"You almost slipped to the spirit world when I found you. You were laying on the sand below us." He reached over to a bowl of fluids and handed it to me.

"Drink to help gain back your health and rest. When you are revitalized we will talk more. Right now you need all the rest you can get. Oh, and don't worry. You're safe here." He walked out leaving me with this strange liquid. It smelt of ash and coconuts. Should I drink it? I'm so confused... I drowned didn't I? Why am I not dead? I held my breath and quickly guzzled down the fluids. While wiping my mouth I lied down and stared at the ceiling. I drowned.. Water filled my lungs.. I couldn't breath.. How am I here? My thoughts slowly died down as I drifted to sleep.

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Laughter filled the air as I slipped down to the river with Anna. She was so beautiful in her pink floral dress floating around her as she twirled; her golden hair glistening like diamonds from the sun’s light. Her matching pink ribbon flowing softly as she stopped and stared at me.

"Come on, Liam!" She exclaimed extending her hand out to mine.

"We're almost there!"

She pulled me along down to the river. Our laughter drifting with us. The river flowed very quickly down this side of town. We always came down here to search for items people tossed off the bridge. Every day there was something new. I smiled watching her look between the rocks poking at guppies trapped inside of small pools. She was always so happy at the little things. I lifted my head up sniffing the sweet cold air. Cold. Oh no.. I looked up at the sky. There's a storm coming in fast. It floods horribly at the river, people get trapped and most of the time missing during storms. I looked around and saw Anna walking down the stream along the woods line on the rocks.

"ANNA!" I yelled out but the river is flowing faster and louder. She couldn't hear me. I quickly jumped from rock-to-rock being careful not to slip. Anna stopped and looked at me frightened.

"Liam! Look ou...." Before she could finish, I tripped and pushed her in the water. My face slammed against the slippery rocks and started bleeding into the river. My vision dazed. I feel lightheaded. I hear screaming in the distant... Anna!

I pushed myself up, my head was foggy. Still dazed I tried focusing my eyes down the river. All I saw was Anna being pushed under the water over and over again from the fast flowing current.

"HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE!!" I screamed, but my cries were silenced by the thunder cracking nearby. My vision started to fade before collapsing back onto the ground. Then, just before blacking out, I felt myself being picked up.

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"ANNA!" I cried out as I woke in a cold sweat. My chest stung from the sudden wakening. The man with no name stood up and held my chest.

"Easy now. It was only a dream." He calmly spoke as he eased me back down.

I looked around noticing I was still in the hut with this creepy man. A dream. Could it really have been a dream? No. It wasn't a dream. It was a nightmare. It was of her, of that day. My last day with her and it's my fault. She's gone because of me.