The air around me was warm, but a little cooler than what it should be. The wind was heavy, and kept getting heavier with every passing minute. I shrugged and kept relaxing in the sun.... After all, what is so bad about a little bit of wind?
In less than two minutes, I heard the pitter patter of feet hitting the sand.
"Ian!" Leslie screamed at me.
I got up as quickly as I could, she ran towards me and sat down.
"Ian it's finished!" She pulled out a paper from her dress. She handed it to me. I looked down and smiled at the pretty drawing.
"Read it Ian!" She said her voice filled with excitment.
I turned the paper over and saw her sloppy hand writing... what do you expect from a seven year old? I cleared my throat and read it outloud.
"Ian, I love you, you are my big brother. I love you with all my heart. Thank you for bringing me to the island, I haven't been here in forever! Thank you Ian, you are the worlds greatest big brother EVER! With lots of hugs and kisses, Leslie!"
She had sighed her name with a big red heart around her name. I looked down at her, she smiled and me; my eyes got a little watery, but I blinked them away.
"Thank you, Leslie."
She smiled and gave me a hug. "You're welcome. Hey Ian?"
"Yeah?"
She looked at the blue water. "Can I go swim?"
I took amoment to feel the wind around me, it was getting stronger. I shook my head. "No, go play in the sand for a little bit."
She gave me a frowny face and said. "Okay."
Leslies expression was so avid as she played in he sand. She held sand in her hands, brought them close and watched in myopic awe as the sand slipped through her tiny hands. I looked up at the boat to see Pam coming down the latter slowly. As she passed by me she had a condescending attitude, it was reputable that Pam was still upset with me. I felt slightly guilty about the whole incident; I was pusillanimous. Pam sat next to me, she gave me a mean bulldog look. I sat silently with propriety heavy in my heart, I knew my actions were picayune. As a few seconds of silence passed by, and a heavy atmosphere, my feelings where perfunetory; I no longer felt remorse.
Leslie approched me, tottering over to my direction.
"Ian, can I go into the water now?"
I took a moment to feel the wind once again, it was still strong. "No."
She pouted once more. "Why?"
"Yeah Ian, why not?" Pam finally spoke to me, her voice sounded preempt and filled with accost emotion.
"Because I don't want her to go into the water."
Quin spoke as soon as I finished my sentence. "Well, I can go in with her."
I looked at Leslie, her eyes begging to go into the water.
"Please, Ian!" Leslie begged.
"Please, Ian!" Quin and Pam said in unison.
I sighed, how can I say no to my little sister... with those beautiful big blue eyes. I grunted. "Fine!"
"Yaya!" They all cheered with excitement. I grumbled and layed back on the sand.
I watched Leslie get into th water and swim. I watched her with a close eye, she can't swim that well, and the waves are strong. I saw from the distance a wave coming, and it was coming hard, growing with strength as it came closer to shore.
"Leslie, Pam, Quin! Get out of the water!" I yelled.
"No!" Leslie protested.
I grunted. "Leslie, dont make me go out there and get your butt out of the water! I'm giving you to the count of three!"
Quin looked out at the waves that were coming closer, and coming in hard. The sky seemed to darken in an instant.
"Leslie, we better get out of the water."
Leslie rebuffed and kept her ground. "No! My skin isn't even pruney yet, so I am not gettng out of the water."
I looked at the wave that wasn't far behind Leslie and the girls. It stood about twenty feet high and was only growing. The events that were about to take place are imminent and wouldn't be pleasant.
"Leslie get out of the water now!" My voice cracked; I got to my feet and ran towards the water.
Everything happened so quickly, Pam was the first to be engulfed by the wave, Quin reached her arm out to grab Leslie; but the wave was too strong, I was to late, and the wave ate her up. Leslie screamed, it was the worst sound I've ever heard in my life. Leslie's body was flung to the boat and slammed against it. Pam emerged from the water, and gasped for air. She got out of the water and ran towards Leslie. When I saw Leslie's body, my world crashed.
I looked at Leslie floating; her body was like a floatsam as her body reached shore. I was hapless, it was inexorable, indubitable. It was my incumbent to watch over Leslie, and I let this happen.
"No!" I screamed as I ran towards her. My body didn't realize how cold the water was until I touched her warm skin. I saw her eyes closed, the ampature of her mouth was slightly open. I carried her out of the water and onto the sand. I panicked, I didn't know what to do.
"Ian! Do you know how to perform CPR?" Quin asked me, her voice faded from my mind. All I saw was my little sister, laying on the ground not breathing. I couldn't move or think.
"Move Ian!"
Pam said as she pushed me away, her voice sounded plaintive. Pam pushed against Leslie's little chest. She pushed and breathed into her mouth. I squeezed Leslie's hand every time Pam tried to breathe life into her.
Past tear filled eyes and throbbing ears, I saw Quin walking around in frantic circles, pacing, she was talking on the phone. I couldn't make out what she was saying but her lips read; 'Yes, she's not breathing. Yes my friend is a lifeguard and she is giving her CPR."
I turned away, not just from her words, but from the truth; my anguish was promulgate. I'm not strong enough to admit that Leslie is gone. My heart started to ache and my stomach twisted. I turned away and started throwing up. I felt a hand on my back and I looked from the corner of my eye to see that it was Pam. She had stopped trying.
"No!" I took a deep breath, "Help," my voice was taciturned. I felt so indigent at that moment. "Help her! Don't give up!"
"The helicopter will be here any second." Quin informed us.
"It's no use Ian... She's gone." Pam said as her eyes started to get watery.
Her words hit me like silver bullets. They kept hitting my heart. 'She's gone.' I couldn't keep my eyes from letting out streams of tears. I crawled over to Leslie, my tears washing her sandy filled cheeks.
"Ugh this is my fault!" I pulled at my hair.
"No it's not!" Quin and Pam said past sobs.
"Yes it is! I should have never let her into the water, we should have never even came here! I thought it would be a good idea for her to visit the place we loved, but no! She's gone now! I traded my happiness for my sister! And now she's gone!" I placed my forehead on hers, and my eyes kept letting out waterfalls.
I felt someone pull me up from my shirt and slap me across the face. I looked up, I didn't dare rub my cheek, all though it itched and ached. It didn't releave my furtive feelings.
"Ian, get that idea out of your head! It was no one's fault it was an accident!" Pam said pointing her finger at me.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I felt the wind kick up in speed and curled around me. I looked up at the sky and saw the helicopter landing only a few feet away from us. The sand was lifting up around us; it felt like sand paper against my skin.
Five people came out of the helicopter and circled around Leslie. I moved my lips to speak but nothing came out. I was going to tell them; 'Try whatever you can to save her... She's all I got!' But I was caught up in the pain of the thought, and my voice wasn't strong enough to speak. My world slipped through my fingers, just like the sand that slipped through Leslie's. It was the hourglass of life, the one of time and death.
"Sir, is this your daughter?" A woman with blonde hair asked me.
I shook my head and Quin answered for me.
"His sister, please do what you can to save her."
The woman gave me a sad look. "We'll try what we can."
"I got a pulse!" A man shouted past the whipping blades of the helicopter.
I didn't remember much of the ride to the hospital. But I knew that it wasn't a long one, all though it felt like an eternity. Pam, Quin, and I sat in the emergency waiting room. They held my hand as I cried my eyes out.
"Ian Daft?" I looked IP as a man with skrubs called me.
"Yes?"
The man walked slowly toward me. "We tried our best, but Leslie didn't make it. I'm terribly sorry for your loss."
The man kept talking, but I didn't hear anything after those words, I got dizzy and passed out.
Five years later
My heart still hurts, it's a guilt I live with every day. My world will never be complete. I think of Leslie every moment of the day. How many memories we could have made, how young she was. How I could have saved her if only I had gotten up a second earlier. I relive the moment in my mind over and over again. Guilt is the only thing I feel, blue isn't just a color it's the state I'm permittly painted.
I always think about Leslie and her eyes, her ocean eyes, that seemed like of she was from the ocean. But I realized to late that she was part of it. I smile at the thought, the first smile this year. I look up at the light blue sky and see a blue bird flying across the sky. I swallowed hard as I pulled out the picture Leslie drew me that day. I carry it around everywhere I go, its my talisman. I read through the words she wrote on the back of the drawing.
"I live you and miss you, Leslie." I said out loud, I kissed the picture, in memory of that day.
I heard Leslie laugh as i walkes away from the beautiful sunset. But I knew it was jist a figment of my imagination. Yup she was not from the ocean, she was part of it.