Raindrops
Quicksilvre
-)-)-)-)
Summer lifted her head, hearing something far out on the water. "Huh?" She lifted herself up, forgetting how hurt she was, and looked to the ocean. Out in the distance, she saw something headed toward shore.
She got up and jogged to the waterline. Summer knew that it was probably better to rest, but she wanted, needed to see who was coming–besides, she felt a lot better than the night before. It was hard to see in the darkness, but the full moon was just enough to light up a tiny rowboat, its sails puffed out in a swift wind.
"Oh...my...God." She ran out into the water, splashing through the waves. The sailboat's captain was becoming familiar. Summer would have recognized his thin frame and puffy haircut anywhere.
"Cohen!" Summer was already waist deep and was swimming as much as she was running. "Seth!"
"Summer!" The Summer Breeze's sails dropped, and Seth coasted to a stop next to her. "I've been looking...I've been looking everywhere for you, and...and..."
"Seth, you don't have to say a thing." Summer climbed on and crawled on the slick deck to her boyfriend. Grabbing his shirt, she pulled him in as hard as she could and eagerly pushed her lips upon his.
-)-)-)-)
Summer tried to lift her head up from the sand–and dropped it back down fitfully. After a full night's sleep, the ache from her whipping had set into every muscle in her body, causing her to contort in pain. Both her back and her stomach felt like they were imploding, and her burns stung without mercy. With a groan, she lifted herself up carefully and sat against a palm tree, trying to stay off all her injuries. She lifted her shirt and checked her abdomen; it was cut deeply, and a colorful bruise formed a complete ring around the wound.
"Ow...ahhh..." She dropped her shirt again and scrunched herself sideways against the trees. She wanted badly to go back to the dream, back out of reality, but the pain prevented her from relaxing, much less snoozing. Worse, her stomach burned fiercely from hunger, and her mouth felt like it was full of gravel. Summer knew that she would have to find food and fresh water, soon. She wasn't sure if she could die again, or what would happen if she did, but she decided it wasn't something she should find out the hard way.
Ignoring her pain as well as she could, Summer lifted herself up and walked slowly toward the ocean. Given how unsuccessful she was in opening a coconut, she was doubtful she could catch a fish, especially without a rod or a net. For a second she started to turn back, but a powerful hunger pang took her, and Summer reluctantly kept trudging forward. The water lever had risen from the tide, and she was able to make it to the water without a major problem. Being in the water itself was different–by the time she waded out far enough for the water to reach above her waist, salt water flooded into the whip marks, causing her to shriek in unexpectedly severe pain. After stepping back a few steps, she bent down carefully as far as she could, hoping a fish would swim by close enough so that she could grab it.
No luck. There was hardly anything nearby in the water, and the fish that were there were not only tiny, but just out of her reach. Just as she bent down to approach one, the surf would lick her burns, and she would have to withdraw in pain.
Five times the fish teased Summer, and five times the pain kept her back. As more minnows darted by just beyond her fingertips, and as the sun began to bake her aching back, something inside began to slip away. One fish came close enough for her to just brush it with her fingertips, but it immediately rocketed away when she made contact. Summer's stomach was too hungry for her to let it just get away. As it tried to escape, Summer immediately dived after it, splashing futilely in the surf.
For a second she was able to see something in front of her in the water, but all at once, ocean brine invaded her wounds, forcing her back above the surface. She stumbled out of the water, her body full of fire, and dived back onto the sand. Her eyes were blinded, and the beach and water seemed to disappear, leaving her surrounded by nothing but mind-numbing pain.
Summer twitched wildly on the beach, remembering the time when the ocean was warm and inviting. Images of Seth and the Summer Breeze swirling around her. Now, it seemed, the water was pure lava, dissolving her skin.
The minnows swam back up to the waterline again. They played on, forgetting anything had happened.
-)-)-)-)
When she woke up, the first thing Summer remembered was the pain. It was still there–but the stabbing feeling had been turned back into a dull ache all over. The heavy smell of ointment filled her nostrils. Realizing how wrapped up she was, she lifted her blanket and looked at her body. She was wrapped in bandages from bust to waist, and her arms and legs were similarly covered. Mummies had fewer wrappings.
"OwwwwwWWWW!" Summer's moan ended in a sort of whiny scream. Trying to roll over with her eyes clenched back shut, she suddenly felt herself at the very edge of the bed, and she went back to her old position. Her bed at home, the one she was used to, was twin sized. The bed she found herself in wasn't even single-child size.
Raising her eyes tentatively, she looked at her surroundings. The room was plain and incredibly tiny, with bare wood walls all around. It had just two pieces of furniture: the bed, which took up almost all of the space, and a tiny side table. There were two doors, one in front of her and one beside her. The one beside her went into some sort of hallway, and the other opened into a room just like hers.
Hearing something in that next room, Summer leaned over a bit and lifted her head up a bit from the bed. As humming began to float in, Summer slowly leaned farther and farther over, dangling over the side, trying to see who it was. She planted an arm on the floor, holding herself up.
The person in the next room moved into view. He was thin, and had dark, puffy hair.
"Oh my God, Seth." Summer's arm grew weak and collapsed under her, sending her into a sprawl on the hard floor. Heavy footsteps ran up to her.
"You OK?"
"Seth, I..." She looked up at him. His skin was tanned throughly, and his unfamiliar eyes were shaped into neat diamonds.
They looked at each other for a few seconds. "Uh...who's Seth?"
Summer kept looking at the stranger for a few seconds, and melted down right there on the floor. Tears flooded out of her eyes in a waterfall, and her muscles became far too weak to hold herself up even to the slightest degree. In a moment, Summer was a flat, sobbing mass at the foot of the bed.
"Oh, jeez...please don't cry...uh, sorry..." Not used to comforting, the stranger awkwardly tried to soothe Summer, lifted her up back onto the bed. "Here, just lie down. Rest up."
Summer tried to give an explanation, not waiting to make a fool of herself, but she was too overcome to say anything. Even after taking a few deep breaths and gulping down a sob, she could manage only a couple of words.
"I...I'm sorry."