Lara Jade's Point of View
It took me several minutes to gather my bearings, so long, in fact, that Dad finally decided to come find me. I'm pretty positive he didn't expect to find me lying on the beach in soaked clothes with a tangled mop of hair and bloodshot eyes. That much was clear in his expression as he ran up to me.
"Lara Jade… What in God's name happened?!" he asked kneeling beside me, his ice blue eyes wide and frantic.
"I'm fine…" I croaked, visibly cringing when the feeling of an emery board rubbed vigorously against my voice box. OW, I thought. I'd better stick to non-verbal communication for a while, which was basically nodding and head shaking.
"You most certainly are not fine, young lady! You look like death warmed over"—Funny, because I felt way, way worse—"Now tell me what happened."
So much for yes-and-no answers.
I tried to clear my throat, but that emery board sensation returned and couldn't help but wince once more. My voice cracked when I spoke and only one word came out semi-clear: "… fell." The lie would hopefully be concealed by my sandpaper rough voice. I was ashamed I couldn't tell him what I felt… but honestly, I could hardly believe it myself! How could I expect my father to believe that someone pulled me under water when it was difficult for even me.
The concern amplified as he measured the look on my face, and he stroked my face with his thumb. Oh, no. I could see what was coming next by reading it in his eyes, eyes that were so similar to mine.
"Lara, I – I just lost your mother" — he looked away then, his dry eyes filled with nothing but grief — "And I know you're hurting as much as I am, but… Please. Don't take yourself away from me too. Not before the Lord decides its your time."
My eyes burned as they filled with saltwater a second time and I shook my head fervently. How could he even think that I would contemplate suicide? "Accident," I tried to enunciate, though it sounded more like 'Acid end'. I started to hack like some eighty-year old chain smoker and I guess that's when the caretaker part of his brain flipped on. Instead of arguing further —I could see it in his eyes that he wanted to— he helped me to my feet.
"You need to change into some dry clothes and get some water in you. I'll warm up supper over the fire pit."
He had released his hold on my shoulder when all of a sudden my jello-like legs fell out from under me. The worry snapped back onto his face as he caught me. I pulled myself up this time, but had to grab his outstretched arm to keep upright.
It took a few seconds of trembling before my legs decided to stay underneath me.
Nevertheless, Dad helped me drag my carcass back to our campsite.
About three hours later, I was dried, dressed, and munching silently on a bowl of brown rice mixed with some blanched vegetables —Dad figured something bland would be best due to my throat— while watching the sun set.
I skipped the smores and turned in early, tired and weak from the earlier excitement. I was out before my head hit the pillow, but I didn't sleep throughout the night like I'd planned.
When I aroused, it was dark and I could feel someone stretched out in the sleeping bag adjacent to mine. The milky light of the moon shined down on our tent and with it, I could make out the shadows of the spiny scrub-brush… and a person kneeling not too far away…
My breath was stolen from me in fright. I could think of nothing but that hand wrapping around my ankle and pulling me under… that iron vice that held me under for some unfathomable reason.
But then I thought of the few minutes after when I was barley clinging to consciousness. Something had pulled me up… something that spoke to me and then disappeared into thin air.
Slowly, my frozen muscles unclenched.
A few brain cells must have died today because I suddenly found myself unzipping the sleeping bag and creeping towards the entrance while keeping an eye on the shadow, making sure it wouldn't disappear. As I tugged at the zipper, Dad snorted. I jumped and shot him a quick look. He didn't wake, but I continued to watch him as I unfastened the tent flap inch by inch.
The crisp air raised my skin in gooseflesh. Ashes in the pit were moist and dark, an aluminum pail sitting close by. The bristly shrubs shivered in the slight breeze, the ones closest casting eerie shapes on the vinyl of the tent.
Speaking of eerie shapes, nothing "human" resided outside. Though I had been sure of what I saw, now, I just felt foolish. Why on earth would someone be kneeling outside my tent? Then again why would someone pull me out of the water, make sure I was okay, then vanish?
"Hello?" I whispered, my throat still raw and voice scratchy.
Only the wind answered me as it whistled past.
No one was here.
A huff of breath escaped me as I sat down on the small round rock five steps from our campground. Here in the peace and quiet of nature, I tried to contemplate today's peculiar turn of events… and found it impossible.
Nothing seemed to make sense anymore —and I wasn't just talking about today, or yesterday, or even last week. My life was in complete disarray…
I closed my eyes, scrunching them slightly in concentration as I prayed. 'Lord, I'm completely lost. It feels like I've strayed away from you into some kind of black vortex. I need your help to make everything right. Please, guide me. Help me.'
"Hello there," a voice shattered the silent night, sending shivers up my spine.