Last Hope

• Emma Biden, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2012

I watch as the waves swallow my friend, her crimson hair floating around in the gushing water than sinking. The waves claw at the sand looking for their next victim.
Why do you live when there's nothing left to live for? My name is Lerra Kingston and I am alone! My parents died in a storm two years ago, my sister died when she was two years old and my best friend just died before my eyes.
I crawl over to the water, looking deep into the seemingly endless blue. My life is nothing so this will be nothing. Then I let the water take me.
I swirl around in the water, unsure of which ways is up and which way is down. I can hear someone calling out my name, but I don't care. No one will be there for me ever.
Then a pair of strong, gentle arms lift me out of the water. I can't see his face but I can tell that he is worried.
"Lerra, Lerra!" I hear him yell, but his face is blurring. "Who are you?" I ask him as his face blurs even more. He brushes my hair back from my face. "I'm Matt, I sat in your English class last year. I saw you go into the water without coming out. I was worried". I tried to look into his face but it was too blurred. "Why were you worried?" I asked him. His last words caught me off guard. "Because I love you." My breath caught.