ALNR Sequel (title in process)

***Ok! So here it is. Finally! I know this took forever to get up and its short, Im sorry, but its here! The prologue of A Love Hard Won, sequel to A Love Not Returned. I hope you all like it! Let me know what you think! *** 

Life.

 

As we drift through this endless sea called life, we are forced to come in contact with an onslaught of moments. These moments are the waves in our sea. They are always there…pushing us…moving us…crashing against us and pulling us under.

 

Sometimes in life we watch as the wave makes its slow path towards us, building up speed and momentum. As it reaches us, we are prepared for it. We dig our heels in and steel our body against the rough push of the wave. The wave rocks us slightly, but we are still standing.

 

Sometimes, we don’t see the wave until it hits us, the spray of the salty white caps stings our eyes and burns our throat as the wave shoves us under the water. We struggle against the attack and once we reach the surface of the water we are gasping for air.

These waves move us from our original positions in the sea. Sometimes all you can think about is the hurt rendered to your body as you look around with blurry eyes at your new surroundings. Life seems foreign and full of despair until you realize that even though the assault of the wave will always remain fresh in your mind, it has set your eyes on things you haven’t seen before.

Maybe now, someone new is in the path of your vision. Someone you never saw before. Someone that could grant you strength or cause weakness. Someone that instills fear in your heart and mind, or someone that brings hope and peace to your soul.

Maybe now, you are no longer facing the sun. Your shadow is cast across the blue depths in front of you.  You long for the light but are only welcomed with shades that deceive you. The waves keep crashing against you one after another and you stumble around looking for solid footing only to end up stepping on sharp rocks, breaking your skin.

You watch as the blue now mixes with red and feel helpless as tears fall from your swollen eyes and you become tired of looking for a place to stand tall.

 

 

You give up.

 

The waves overcome you and push your body deeper and farther into the sea. You close your eyes and drift away, praying for the sea to just take your body and free your spirit. Only, the sea has other plans for you.

Something warm wraps around you and pulls you up. You reluctantly open your eyes to find another helpless drifter keeping you afloat. Welcoming the warmth, you hold onto this drifter for your life, clinging to him as he keeps your head above the water.

 

The sea calms and waves are no longer an insistent assault against your body. Looking around, you see dark clouds overhead, blocking the sun, reminding you of the black depths of the water.

The choking force of the liquid entering your lungs.

The salt burning your eyes and throat.

 

Will you have to live without the sun forever?

Should you force this on another drifter?

No.

 

Move away.

 

Turn your back on him so the sun can stay in his life.

 

Yours is filled with dread and despair.

 

Don’t look back.

 

…

 

You have long battled the dark clouds that seem to have never left your sight. But a ray pokes through somehow and you smile again. And as the sunlight touches your skin, you know you will be ok.

You are standing again, with scars on your body and dark circles under your eyes… but you’re standing.

 

You have something to hold onto. A dingy that keeps you floating.

Breathing.

Living.

 

Until a riptide comes out of nowhere, stealing your dingy and pulling you under.

Why? Why you? Why have you been cursed? Why does the sea hate you so?

Why?

So many questions but no answers. The sea is relentless and won’t give up.

Your body should have been claimed long ago but by some stroke of fate you survived, and now the sea returns with a vengeance.

You can only hope, only pray that your lifeboat stays afloat. The riptide pulls you farther than you have ever been before, and you know this is it. You’re so far under the surface that the sun no longer tries to reach you. You’ve gone too far and even if you knew where the surface was, would you make it in time?

 

The oxygen in your lungs is depleting, and you quickly grow frantic.

 

 

Darkness looms around you, and you no longer know which way is up or down. You struggle against the swirling waters, reaching for another drifter, a dingy… something…anything…

There comes a point where you stop fighting. Maybe you realize that if you let the sea take you, no one else close to you will get hurt. Life can go back to normal and the storm will pass.

When moments like these come into our lives, you know you will never be the same again, no matter the outcome.

As my phone slips from my hands and crashes against the floor along with my heart, I know I am being pulled under. My legs turn to Jell-O beneath me and I find the floor rising to meet me rather quickly. The thin rug does nothing to cushion the impact on my knees. My vision is quickly blurred and a hard lump rises in my throat.

Looking up, I am forced to meet the sneer of this evil person. As a barely inaudible ‘no’ escapes my lips, a loud burst of laughter fills the otherwise silent room. Kneeling down to look me directly in the eye, I know that I will have to do everything I can in order to put the sea to rest.

 

 

Life is made of moments. Moments that break us or piece us back together.

 

 

 

As we stand with our feet planted in the sand and the water moves around our legs, rising until its pushing past our waist, we keep our eyes pointed to the sky, in hopes that one day, we too will fly.