Of Earth and Sea

Chapter One:

For whatever reason, Dan had always loved the ocean. He loved the aesthetic of the brightly coloured fish and the 50 shades of blue. He loved the smell of salt water as it tickled his nose, intoxicating and filling his lungs. It was incredibly beautiful as it beat up against the sides of boats and washed away beaches.

However, drowning in it was something he definitely didn't love about it.

See, Dan was an incredibly unlucky kid in the friend-making department. His entire life, he struggled to even pick up a conversation with a stranger for fear of rejection. Being bullied relentlessly and almost every day would have that effect on someone. Most of the time, it was just casual slurs or pushing him up against the walls at school, but sometimes people took it way too far.

This was one of those times. As Dan was walking home from school that afternoon, the cool air biting at his skin, the smell of the ocean filling him up, he noticed an odd noise from behind him. It was certainly odd assuming he was the only kid in his area that ever took the long way home so he could walk by the ocean. He stopped in his tracks abruptly, looking around.

Walking behind him was a small trio of boys from his school. They were a particularly rowdy group of boys who frequently tormented him, so Dan sped up his steps, trying to get away from them as quickly as was possible. He could hear them jeering and laughing at him, still following him down the road.

"Oi, freak!" he heard one of the boys call after him, "Hey, where are you going weirdo?" the same voice added. Dan rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets, walking faster.

Unfortunately, they were much faster than he was and Dan felt six hands grabbing at him from behind. He struggled against their grasp, elbowing them and kicking them. But to no avail, the boys were just stronger. They pushed and shoved him towards the ocean and Dan felt a rush of panic overtake him; he couldn't swim.

"Stop! Leave me alone!" he choked, stumbling over a loose rock as another of the boys pushed against him. In the bombardment, he somehow managed to drop his bag on the ground, ignoring it while they pushed him closer towards his likely death.

The boys snickered, pushing him forwards even more. Dan's heart was racing in his chest. "Don't be such a pussy," Alfred, one of the boys, demanded. Dan gulped, tripping over another stone of the beach and falling onto the ground. His knee stung as he felt a sharp stone or broken shell breaking his skin.

The three boys pulled him up by his collar until he was standing again. He felt several pairs of hands grabbing him again. His stomach dropped as he slipped over a stone and they shoved him over the edge of the hillside, and into the water.

Dan's body hit the water with a massive splash and he spastically jerked around, sputtering for air, and struggling to kick to the surface. In his strives to reach the surface, he accidentally gasped, breathing in a mouthful of water. Desperately, his lungs burning, he kicked his feet towards what he hoped was the surface. The water where he had been shoved was at least 8 feet deep.

As he reached out for the surface, feeling his lungs screaming in protest, he got his foot caught in something. Some thick black seaweed was somehow tangling itself around his ankle, keeping him anchored to the bottom of the water. Mentally swearing, Dan squated under the water to try to get it off of him.

Somehow, in his desperate, panicked kicking, he got his foot pretty tangled up. His fingers slipped on the black plant, sliding around and making it nearly impossible to get himself freed. His lungs burned from the lack of oxygen, as if he had swallowed a cup of acid.

He began erratically scratching at his ankle to try to get the weed off of him. His eleven year old brain couldn't think of anything else to do, but to freak out. He tried kicking and yanking his foot free, feeling more and more useless by the second.