Haunted Thoughts, Corrupted Dreams

• Mariska Laas
• Short Story
• 2011

The free flying wind howled along the beach whipping the salt tipped waves and the sand roughly around me, with the sand stinging my legs and the salt stinging my eyes I looked up into the dark cloudless and moonless sky. the stars stared unblinking at me, their light illuminating the sand around me and each grain of sand looked like one of the millions of stars shining in the inky sky. My feet moved without my command and as I walked towards the glass like water, broken shells cut into my bare feet yet I moved on.

The wind caught my yelp of pain as my foot dipped into the icy water, the freezing water lapped against my ankle as I my feet continued to move me towards the silver horizon. Soon the water was reaching my hips and my long white dress was floating around me, dragging back as if warning me of the icy depths. Fear constricted my breaths as the water rose above my chest and fear filled me with dread when it submerged me completely and as I looked into the sky I saw the first rays of sunlight fill the sky. Bubbles floated from my open mouth and I tasted the ever familiar sea water and my feet continued to move forward. My lung yelled for me to breathe but only water filled the spaced around me and as the light filled the sky darkness filled my vision.

I bolted upright, the soft light around me betrayed my dream as I saw the welcoming sight of my room. My damp hair shocked me before i remembered my afternoon at the beach I had just come from. The dream had long ago burnt itself into my memory, for years it had haunted my thoughts and had corrupted my dreams. I walked across my dark room and turned on the light before making my way to my bathroom mirror. My dark brown hair hung down my back in wet curls and my green eyes sparkled in the light, my lightly tanned skin gave away my constant outdoor excursions.

I looked at my watch and started getting ready for the overly important birthday party I was entitled to attend. As I let the water run through my hair I once again thought of the one and only dream I've had since I could remember. The only thing that had changed in my dream was the length it had taken my to wake up. I remembered a younger me waking up in tears in the early morning and the worried looks on my parents faces as I told them night after night of my never changing dream and even though the dream scared me I couldn't stop my addiction and fascination to the water. Every afternoon I would spend hours on the water, either surfing, fishing or somethings canoeing out on the calm waters of the lakes or the harsh waves at the beach.

I often hear people talk about dreams how they are created and how they work. I had asked my friends what their dream was about but they had told me that they had many, I wondered what that would be like a different experience each night or maybe more than one a night, the thought itself made me tired.

After applying make-up and dressing I walked down the stair where my mother sat talking to guests, she looked up as I entered and I spied the heads of a few of my friends in the sea of people, when my foot hit the floor of the room my mother quickly pulled me aside, "where have you been we are all waiting because of you," the worry in her eyes gave away to her harsh voice, "now we can go!" she said in a louder voice for everyone to hear. a sigh of relief could be heard by everyone as we made our way outside to the three limos that everyone piled into, each girl had a partner with their fancy clothes.

We were on our way to a resort for the ceremony-like party, we were all formally dressed and ready to have fun. I looked up to my boyfriend, Hearth, his sky blue eyes looked down into mine and together we smiled, this was going to be a party no one would forget. When we arrived at the resort the smell and sound of the sea was everywhere, the lulling music by mother nature. It was as if this was her present to the people like me who loved water and the beach.

As we walked into the fancy hall and everyone took their seats Hearth whispered in my ear that even a queen would think I was more than a school girl in her last year, as his romantic words continued I looked across the room to all my friends that had come to celebrate my birthday. As mother thanked everyone for coming and for the wonderful gifts I would unwrap after I looked at the mountainous pile of presents on a table at the far end of the hall. A laugh rippled through the room as mother showed the audience my embarrassing baby photos.

Hearth pulled me closer as he saw the redness swell into my cheeks. as the dinner was brought into the room and the hours ticked away like minutes many speeches were said and many hugs and kisses surrounded me. Its was the last hour and it was my turn to say my thanks and as I stood a blood curling scream filled the room, all eyes turned in sight of the call but it was me who knew what to do. With my pearl white dress bunched around my legs I ran out of the hall and out onto the beach. standing on the pier was a young couple and floundering in the water was a young baby in it's pram. The mother was sobbing into her partners shirt and he stood stricken, paused in horror as their new child slowly drowned.

Even though my dream was playing in my mind I noticed the free flying wind howled along the beach whipping the salt tipped waves and the sand roughly around me. With the sand stinging my legs and the salt stinging my eyes I looked up into the dark cloudless and moonless sky. The stars stared unblinking at me, their light illuminating the sand around me and each grain of sand looked like one of the millions of stars shining in the inky sky. My feet moved without my command and as I walked towards the glass like water, broken shells cut into my bare feet yet I moved on. The wind caught my yelp of pain as my foot dipped into the icy water. The freezing water lapped against my ankle as my feet continued to move me towards the silver horizon. Soon the water was reaching my hips and my long white dress was floating around me, dragging back as if warning me of the icy depths. Fear constricted my breaths as the water rose above my chest and I reached the baby.

As I removed the trembling form from the pram its sobs echoed across the silent beach, I turned to the couple on the pier and stepped towards them. my legs I now couldn't feel and the icy coldness shot through me with each beat of my heart. The father had broken away from his wife's arms and took the crying baby into the warmth and protection of his arms. "thank you" he said and that was the last thing I heard before the current pulled me under the water. The freezing water now surrounded me and as I was pulled deeper into the darkness I saw the stars, their unblinking eyes turned on me. They watched as my boyfriend stopped my mother from running into the water after me, as the young couple starred lovingly at the saved child and as my white dress pulled me down to the floor of the ocean and as I looked into the sky I saw the first rays of sunlight fill the sky. Bubbles floated from my open mouth and I tasted the ever familiar sea water and my lungs yelled for me to breathe but only water filled the spaced around me and as the light filled the sky darkness filled my vision. Mother nature had decided to take a life and I had chosen a life that had had its adventures that had grown, that had been loved and that had a choice rather than a life that had just begun an adventure that wasn't complete and a story that hadn't been told.

Light filled the sky as darkness filled my vision and as each star twinkled into nothingness a new star burned brightly in the morning sky.