Ocean Of Freedom

• Angelica Pardinas, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2021

I step out into the blinding light, my arm immediately shielding my ocean blue eyes as my lids begin to blink rapidly, adjusting to the brightness of my washed-out surroundings. I fix my azure orbs upon a female figure, her blonde locks sat light on her shoulders, a baby-blue sun dress reached to her ankles, her arms outstretched as she spoke to me, “come”.

I begin to reminisce about the events that brought me here and I could remember every detail vividly. The memories come flooding back, back to when my father uttered those four words to me.

“You’re not my son.”

Those words replayed in my head. I recall how they did more damage rather than the punches my father threw at me. He wasn’t always like this, he used to support me, build me up from the ground, but since my mother’s death, he became lost and neglected me, his only son. He beat me, pointed out my flaws and rambled about how I wasn’t the stereotypical man, how I wasn’t ecstatic over football or wore boyish clothes.

“Men don’t cry”, or “stop cowering, be a man”, or “Are you a girl?! NO!”

Now, I was standing on the edge of a cliff, looking down to the rich blue of the ocean, feeling my feet fiddle with the grains of soil as soft, luscious grass played against my skin, giving me a tickling sensation. I let out a sigh, letting my body bend down, the pangs of pain surge throughout my body, wincing I lift my baby-blue sweater to see a large bruise forming like a muddy colony. Cautiously, I place touch on it, quickly retracting my hand I let out a whimper. Then, I remember my reason, the purpose of why I’m on a cliff overlooking the ocean’s crashing waves. The reason behind my battered body.

Even now, the thought of my father became overwhelming and slowly, I could feel waves of loneliness wash over me. But I knew, I knew I had to cleanse these aspects of my life and focus on myself searching to be reborn. This is what brought me here, to the ocean, pushing myself from the ground, I mumble to myself, “concentrate”.

I felt the soft, cooling air breathe around me, encapsulating my still body. I then smelt the saltiness of the ocean below me as it called to me, looking up at the sombre sky, I felt salty droplets stream like a waterfall down my cheeks. I let out one more breath and one more tear, I let my body fall into the ocean of freedom, of peacefulness, of tranquillity as I feel the waves dance over me, draping themselves on my body, cleansing myself of this hellish life.

I stepped out into the blinding light, my eyes adjusting, the figure becoming clear. I let out a smile before my legs carry me to the figure, her arms enveloping me, my body melting into her motherly touch.

“I’m home. Mother.”