Contests

The Beyond

'' ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs ᴍᴇ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ ʙᴏᴅʏ ᴡᴀs ᴍᴇ. ''

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I felt the taste of salt slip down my throat as my last breath of air escaped in thin, fluorescent bubbles. A scream left my lips, only to be deafened by the waves as they crashed upon the water that encompassed my body. The sea, illuminated by specks of gold I once found beautiful, now took my very life - slowly, painfully, gracefully.

I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die.

And in one second - I can't remember when - the fire that burned my lungs from the inside was no longer painful. Perhaps I had grown used it, and no longer noticed it as a consequence. Or, perhaps, it had nothing else to breathe after eating all the oxygen from within me.

I heard my mother screaming for the lifeguards, and I was almost happy I didn't have to see her so terrified, so guilty. I fought against the waves, moving my arms until my muscles throbbed in protest. I swam and gasped, spitting out the salty taste from my tongue, until I eventually gave up.

My arms fell from the surface of the water, hanging limply at my sides. My mouth hung open, my knees bent. I lay limp, my face staring at the sea bottom. At the moment, I couldn't see the lifeguards rushing to my rescue. I couldn't see any sign of hope.

I breathed in the water, giving into its warm temptation. It gurgled down my throat and into my lungs, but the pain was long gone.

Silence.

It was then, at that moment, I saw a silhouette. Panic rose steadily in my gut when I heard it chant a familiar tune.

Evan, sweetie...

My vision twisted and turned, accompanied by the ache throbbing in my head. When I looked again, I was no longer surrounded by vast, blue sea - instead, I stood staring into the eyes of my mother. In her hand, buried in a bundle of snow-white blankets, was a newborn baby.

The baby was me.

My mother giggled in defeat as the desperate cries of her newborn child rippled through the room. The sound grew louder and louder until it became nothing but a dull ringing in my ears. I closed my eyes, overcome with a sudden painful sensation.

When the uncomfortable feeling finally vanquished into nothingness, my vision opened to a new scenery.

Blades of bright green grass tickled the space between my toes, and a crisp spring air shuddered through my chest. I heard the sounds of triumphant children as they struggled their way across monkey bars. Indeed, I was in a park - one I could easily recall from my childhood, for it was the park I would visit daily with my father before he passed away.

When I saw my father, sitting patiently at a bench as he watched his children play, I felt a sudden longing to go to him, to see him one last time. Before I could take a step in pursuit of my wish, the world around me warped once again - this time into the High School I had learned to despise.

I saw my fifteen-year-old-self surrounded by a small gathering of senior students. One shoved her hand into my shoulder and I stumbled against the wall, not daring to speak a word as they moved closer.

They said something, but I could not hear - the sound was muffled by an echo of a voice that encircled my mind, suffocating my senses: my very own thoughts.