Love Resolution

The night sky was black, storm clouds obscuring the stars. A gusty wind whipped her hair into her eyes and buffeted her body. Her outward discomfort registered on some level, but it was trivial in comparison to the hollow gnawing pain she felt inside. The Pacific stretched out in wide in front of her. The surf raged. The sound of it roared in her ears, its surface as turbulent as her thoughts.

There was no solace to be found here.

Just hurtful memories.

Every song they had written.

A lie.

Every time they’d made love.

A lie.

Every gentle touch. Every thoughtful gesture.

Lies…all of it.

Leaving her alone.

That was real.

Sobbing, shuddering from the bitter wind and the cold rain that had begun to fall, she decided it was time to go in. But when she looked down, she found that the tide had come in. Her rocky perch was now completely surrounded by swirling water.

Holy crap!

She scraped her wet hair out of her eyes and scanned the shore for help. It seemed as deserted as it had been when she had first come out. The weather certainly didn’t conjure thoughts of a casual beachside stroll.

She was going to have to wade back. She slid off the rock, the sharp edges of the adherent crustaceans digging into her palms as she shimmied down into the water. Immediately she found herself in up to her thighs, the surf a lot deeper and a lot colder than she had anticipated.

Avery began slogging through the icy water. Suddenly, a frigid wave pounded her down to her knees with tremendous force. In its aftermath, she gasped for breath, but managed to regain her footing. Her thin silk top and jeans were saturated and plastered to her freezing skin, offering no protection from the cold.

She coughed at the salt water that had gotten into her mouth and burned the back of her throat. Her breath came ragged now and her teeth chattered. When she looked toward the shore again, it seemed further away than when she had started out. The current must have dragged her back more than she realized. She began to get really frightened. What if she didn’t make it?

Panicking, she tried to run through the seething waves, but her legs were too hard to lift. They felt numb and heavy as if they were encased in ice.

Another large wave smacked into her back. She went under. This time she didn’t have the strength to fight it anymore. The weight of the water pressed down upon her, the cold penetrating into the very marrow of her bones. She felt herself slipping away.

Then she struck the bottom. Instead of the cathartic release she’d expected to find, she found clarity and reasons to renew her resistance. She probably wouldn’t be able to find another man as right for her as she thought Marcus had been, but that was ok. He wasn’t the only thing worth living for. She had her brother. Her friends. Her music.

And she had herself.

She broke for the surface, momentarily disoriented in the darkness. And that’s when she heard the singing, those clear bell like tones so familiar and full of love.

Her mother.

She followed the sound, blinking salt water out of her eyes. Frantically, she struggled back toward the shore, battling the waves that seemed unwilling to give her up. Time and again they knocked her down and pulled her under. Her lungs burned, and her muscles stained with fatigue.

I’m not going to make it.

Suddenly, she felt a strong hand gripping her arm, dragging her from the tenacious surf. As the fog of exhaustion enveloped her, Avery peered up at her rescuer.

It was him.