The Voice on the Beach

                                    

                                              
I heard my name.
                          
Even in the dark of night, I recognized the voice.
                          
But it couldn't be. The owner of the voice drowned at sea.

                          
He called me again from a distance.
                          
I quickly headed down the beach, towards the ocean.
                          
"Oh, please help me!" he cried out in pain.
                          
I ran faster. He kept calling, and I kept running.
                          
My thoughts screamed at me; this can't be real. But I ignored the logical workings of my mind.
                          
He was my best mate. We'd known each other since childhood.
                          
I missed him more than I admitted to myself.
                          
"Don't leave me here!" he begged.
                          
I ran even faster, stumbling over the rocks marking the edge of the ocean at low tide.
                          
"I'm coming," I cried out, "where are you?"
                          
Silence replied. Its cold fingers caressing my skin.
                          
I shivered and fell to my knees. Tears dripped from my eyes.
                          
The memories creep into my thoughts, overwhelming me.
                          
Childhood games. Teenage shenanigans. Friendship.
                          
I sat in the wet sand; my thoughts reminiscing through the good and the bad.
                          
It all ended too soon. I wished it could've gone on forever without that one regret.
                          
"It can and it will," I heard him say.
                          
The panic missing from his voice. "The tide's come back in."
                          
I jumped to my feet, knowing the truth.
                          
Surrounded by black rising water, I screamed, "I can't swim."
                          
I heard his menacing laugh, realizing he knew that it was me who drowned him in the sea.
                          


                          

                            

                                
                            
                              
                                  
                              
                              
                                
                                  
                                  
                                
                              
                             
                            
                            
                          
                          
                          


                          
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