Sea Lost

Okay, this is a diffrent type of story for me so I hope somebody likes it.

     My name is Darrian, not that its really important to what I'm going to tell you, but at least you know who I am.

     I'm going to admit something, something most people never would. I'm a do nothing type. I'm a dreamer, the kind of guy who would rather read than go to a club or party. I'm not great with people & I always feel out of place in social gatherings. Yes, I said 'social gatherings' & not parties, not 'getting together', not even 'hanging out' or some other term. Yeah, that's why I don't do too well with others. I'm weird & its a rarity that I fit in.

     But I digress, it means I should just get to the point. Sorry, but I'm accustomed to having to explain half of what I say. What I'm writing now I just have to get out of my head, I will burn it later. Its just such a strange story that, well I've go to try to make it make sense. Does that even make sense itself?

     I was never popular, by any stretch of the imagination. I had more in common with Peter Parker than anyone in class around me. Though he had more drive, I'm much lazier. I passed my classes easy enough, but all my teachers said if I'd apply myself I could go far. But I didn't see the point. Everyone I saw around me hated their job & was miserable in their life. If I was going wind up that way why should I struggle to get there? That & I'm pretty much perpetually distracted, like half my brain is else where (Yeah, yeah, we all know the jokes). So I usually spent my free time in a small clump of trees off of the beach where all the 'cool kids' hung out. I had been going there to play since I was 10, now it was just kinda my spot.

     Its not a huge area, but its got a lot of growth to it. All held to the beach by the strip of rocks that seem to cluster in the area, I'm sure some one moved them from around the beach into this spot a long time ago, it even formed a cliff-like drop of about maybe thirty feet. The growth was nice, especially during the hot summers & against the windy winters. The trees were tall & solid, the undergrowth not especially thick, but enough to keep most people out.

     So yeah, I enjoyed the summer view of swimsuits, but it also brought a sadness to me. I was most likely either going to have to settle for someone who didn't really understand me or be alone. & believe me when that's all you see in your future its really depressing. I hope no one else ever has to feel that way. So I spent a lot of time there. I even started keeping it clean, hauling the car parts out was a pain & don't get me started on how disgusting it was, let me just say 'used condoms' & I think we've got it settled. But I kept it as clean as I could, even pulling an old shopping cart out of the water (don't ask what that took) & who knows how that got there! I was feeling depressed one day, it seemed like everywhere I looked there were couples in love & here I was all alone. I read but couldn't concentrate, & on comes that song from the Police, Message in a Bottle. So I rip a page out of my notebook & grab a nearby ice tea bottle I scribble my note of "Does anyone actually do this?" roll it into the bottle & seal & fling it. Then I get to watch as it sinks in the water instead of floating. All I can do is laugh.

 

     The next day I'm headed there after class & when I sit down I spot my bottle. The tide must have washed it up, it rarely laps over the top of the cliff. So I walk over to pick it up & see the paper is still there, but now its tied with a bit of fishing wire. For a moment my brain couldn't comprehend how that string got around it, then the hamster got on the wheel & I got it. So I sat down & screwed the cap off & pulled it out. The note was still there but now there was another persons writing on it. It was the most beautiful calligraphy I've ever seen. She said her name was Audun, & that nobody she knew of still practiced the messages of the sea lost. 'The practice has been lost to time, like so many other things.' She wrote, maybe it was the way she wrote, maybe it was curiosity or loneliness but I tried it again, writing that she had the most beautiful handwriting I'd ever seen & that'd love to talk with her & I signed it. When I tossed the bottle it sank again, I laughed… but hoped too.

     I thought about it the rest of the day & keep thinking it was a prank being pulled on me. Or that if it wasn't the chances of her finding the bottle were immensely slim. I couldn't sleep that night, wondering about this. And the next day I stopped there before I went to school & there the bottle was! I was like a kid at Christmas pulling it open as fast as I could. She had found it again! She said she'd love to talk with me, as she had no friends to talk to. I completely understood. I wrote back telling her of my life & asking her about herself. Watching that bottle sink actually made me smile this time.

     That evening it was back, already! She told me that she grew up quite isolated up near Scandinavia & she come here years ago because of trouble up there & she had never gotten to know anyone here. She didn't say what & I felt it was personal, so I didn't ask. But she said nothing of meeting so I figured she was nervous & I understood, I'd ask again later.

     We wrote for 2 months twice a day, everyday. Come rain or shine. She knew all about me & I knew all about her. Or at least that's how it felt. So I asked her straight out. Lets meet, we can go for coffee or something. I was so nervous throwing the bottle that day.

     Then it didn't come back.

 

     I was crushed. Did she not get it? Did she freak out at the prospect of meeting me? What!? Then 2 days later, there it was. I opened it with shaking hands. "No" it said. "I can't meet you." But I do want to keep talking to you.

     I went home & cried. The only person on the f*****g planet that has ever understood me & she wants nothing to do with me. I took the bottle back the next day with my reply of 'fine' & threw it in anger at the water. It crashed into the sea leaving a trail of bubbles as it forced its way under the waves. It never bobbed up, it just sank.

     I didn't go back for a week. & when I did, there were a dozen bottles with notes in them. 'Our' bottle I opened first. "Please don't be angry" it said, "I'm not what you'd expect" it claimed. The others were apologies & her begging me to respond. I sat there a long time before I wrote back. "I'm sorry. I don't know what to say to you anymore & you think I wouldn't accept you for who you are? Do you think so little of me? & to be perfectly truthful. I thought we were friends & honestly, I thought I loved you." & I signed it & tossed it. I sat there until the sun had dropped below the distant waves & just as I had walked out of the shrouded grove to the sound of the lapping waves & the sand grinding on the rocks under my feet there came a clink behind me. I turned fast & dove back into the trees but there was no one there. I searched about & saw nothing, but there it was, the bottle. "What the f**k?!" was all I thought. The bottle was still wet. I opened it & read it. "Come tomorrow at midnight, I'll meet you." I stared at the paper, not believing. Just in a state of blasé'.

     I went home carrying the bottle in my hand, as if it was just another day. I slept like nothing was different & went about my day the same. I even almost forgot to go that night. It was like my mind had disconnected from everything. I've done this before, I guess its a sort of safety mechanism, when emotional pain gets too much I sort of separate, or go onto autopilot if you will.

     But I was there that evening. & for some reason the place was a thousand times creepier that night. The shadows seemed to be filled with all manner of threat & malice. It seemed as if the water, which lapped at the rocks just below the cliffs edge hid the sound of footsteps. The rustle of the leaves & waving of the weeds seemed to hide more sinister sounds & movements.

     I had the feeling as if I were being watched. Like someone was hiding there, between the trees or past the rocks. I called out, but no one showed themselves, I searched but no one was hiding, so I waited. Midnight came & went. I gave her an extra 20 minute. Then I laughed to myself & said "Yeah. What'd I expect?" as I got up to leave. "Wait." I heard from by the cliff, the voice was feminine & quite sheepish. I turned & looked & there sitting was a woman, from what I could see of her, her outline mostly, she was athletic in build. I started to walk over & she said "Wait!" her voice sounded strained even though she barley spoke at normal levels. But it was enough to get me to pause. "You need to know, I'm not like other girls." She said, her voice lilting as she spoke, as if she was unaccustomed to speaking. It was then I noticed that she was wet, it was her hair that gave it away. "You're my friend & I know you're a good person, what you look like doesn't matter." I said as I stepped toward her & as I did I could see the moonlight on her face, my god she was beautiful, & she winced away as if fearful of me. That was when I saw it & everything spun. I crashed to the ground hard & the last thing I knew was that my head hit something hard.

     When I woke up it was still dark & she was leaning over me. Stroking my hair. My shirt was damp where she leaned on me. I scrambled away from her in panic.

     "So now you know." she said & lowered her head. All I could do was stare. Until finally I stammered "You're, you're a… a… Mermaid!" & she gave me this hollow little smile & bowed her head as I finished "But there aren't such things." I think it was how she shied away, that subtle little movement brought me out of my disbelief & I realized what she was feeling. How many times had this happened to her? How many times could someone not deal with it?

     I paused looking for the words, but all that came was "I'm sorry." she didn't look up. I paused again, you could hear the waves gently slapping against the rocks just below, the surf lapping the beach nearby. If not for those things I would have sworn that time had stopped. I inhaled deeply & summoned the strength to go on, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm so stupid to have seen anything but you." I shrugged my shoulders as she looked toward me & beyond the reluctance & sadness, I could see confusion in those eyes, as dark as the depths of the sea. "It really doesn't matter what you are, you're my friend & if you can deal with someone as slow as me then you have a friend to." I smile a goofy smile, I'm not great in these situations but I try.

     It all drained out of her eyes & was instead replaced with a spark & she smiled with those sharks teeth of hers, & what should have brought fear made me smile to, because there was no malice in her features, just relief & hope, & I'm sure my features mirrored hers.

 

     That was the start of a lot of things, some ended well others ended… not so well. But we've been together since. I bring her books & music, while she tells me tales of the sea & forgotten times. We both have finally found someone that completes us.

     Who would have imagined such a tale?

Author's Note

Just be polite.

Reviews

[FallynAngyl]

the start of that sounded a bit too much like me, good story.

[selkietales]

Hehe, I read the first part and thought I should comment before continuing. I'm pretty weird too, like I call my cell phone a cellular device and use the phrase "shall we go forth?" too often, and too seriously. It's normal for me.
Wah, so cute! It was slightly off putting to read all the '&' but otherwise me gusta mucho!