A Nightmare's Fate

A New Chapter

Chapter Thirty-three: A New Chapter

The sun is placed in the sky just a little above the water. It’s the most gorgeous scenery I’ve ever seen. As I make my way down the path of sand, I see a silhouette sitting on some type of device. I can tell the body is a male and probably Errik unless it’s someone else, since everyone else is getting ready for the barbeque. Ahead, there’s a surf board with a couple of towels and clothes with some shoes. I take off my shirt which reveals my bikini top, and then I take off my pants which expose the bottoms to the bikini.

            Securing the leash on my ankle, I take the surf board out into the water. Once I’m in, I go onto my stomach and paddle my way out to the man. As I get closer, I realize it is Errik. “Hi.” He smiles a bit, but it quickly disappears as he looks out to the sunset.

            “Hello,” I say. My mouth opens but closes before he can notice. I don’t know exactly what I was going to say; it’s kind of like I forgot about it once it opened. But before I can gather all of the things I want to say, it all just blurts out. “You’ve been distant the past two days; ever since the bonfire. What’s wrong?”

            With a sigh, he looks down to the board. “I don’t know . . . I thought I wanted this, I thought I was ready; ready for us to be together, but there’s some type of thing pulling me back. Like . . . guilt—”

            “Raven! Errik! Come back to shore! Dinner is ready!” hollers Freddy with his hands covering the sides of his mouth so that when he yells, it echoes and that we’re able to hear him a bit better.

            When I turn back to Errik, his face is sad and I want to ask if he’s all right, but I don’t question it. “We’ll talk about it later,” I retort with a small smile.

            “Yeah, I guess so.” Heading back to the sand, we plant our boards straight up so that it’s stuck in the mud, and we walk back to the house.

            “Sorry we had to pull you two love-birds out of the water, but we didn’t want your food to get cold,” comments Periwinkle as she comes outside with mash potatoes and gravy, whilst behind her is Jessie with a bag of chips and plates.

            “It’ll be fine,” answers Errik with a soft tone in his voice. I really want to pull him away from the group and ask him what is wrong, but I don’t know if I should. His voice sounds sad and his tone is not normal; he’s originally happy and outgoing, now he just sounds a bit depressed and unsocial.

            “Oh come on, get into the spirit ‘Rik. Which by the way, if you’re going to be part of the group, we have to find a good name for you like all of us,” says Freddy who takes a few pieces of chips and eats them.

            I arch an eyebrow at him and reply, “Really? I don’t remember getting a nickname or anything. I just remember naming you Fredster, but that’s it. What about Jessie’s and Periwinkle’s?”

            “Yeah!” they agree, as they sit down with us.

            “I named you all secretly. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.” He takes a bit of everything: chicken, chips, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, corn bread, and a hot dog. “Raven, I named you . . . Birdy, since you were named after a bird. Periwinkle is Winkster, since my name is Fredster; I had to name her something like me. And Jessie is The Who, which is basically from the show Doctor Who because well . . . she’s a nurse.”

            “How the hell can those names hurt our feelings?” inquires Periwinkle as she takes a bite out of her chicken.

            “I don’t know, I thought women were sensitive.” At this moment, we all burst out laughing because of his remark. “What?” he questions, just a little confused.