He hadn’t known how he got here. Cameras and phones alike surrounded him as he towered above the people, small droplets hitting their heads. He looked down in horror, and up in acceptance. Where were his legs when he needed them?
Blake loved the water. More than he would admit he loved anything else. Whenever he felt life life was too much to handle, and he needed a break from everything, he escaped into any body of water he could find. Beaches were his favorite, there was something about salt water and the sun on the horizon that felt like home to Blake. He learned to swim when he was 3 years old, when his father and brothers took a trip to their old beach house following the death of his mother. Ever since, he and the water seemed inseparable.
Nineteen years after the day he learned to swim, Blake was doing what he loved.
“Are you coming out anytime soon?” his brother Melvin, asked.
Blake’s head broke the barrier between his home and the air above it, “Yeah, give me a sec,” he smiled at his older brother. Within a few minutes, he was out of the water and drying himself off with a cheap towel.
He walked over to where his brothers, Melvin and Austin, were. They sat, talked, ate until their father came around.
“Austin and Melvin,” he said, his hand holding onto the bridge of his nose, “leave your brother alone so he can practice for his meet next week.”
The brothers looked at their younger sibling and then to each other. They mumbled something about having something better to do, and needing to take care of something, before they walked away, sand kicking up behind their steps.
Blake soon found himself in the water again, the air only meeting his skin when he felt he needed to breathe, and even then he wanted to stay in the water. He had often felt out of place in his home, with his brothers being closer to each other and his father working around the clock to support them all. This left him with nothing else besides the beach by their home and the pool in their backyard. Where could Blake turn if not the water? He hadn’t known.
Thoughts of the past and his family filled his head as he heard his name being called from above the water. He swam closer to the shore and saw his brother’s figure above head. He made his way to the sand and stood face to face with his brother.
“You have no idea how long I’ve waited to do this,” he heard before he felt a sharp pain in his stomach and fell to the sand.
His eyes remained closed as he felt his body roll away. What happened? Was he being pushed?
It wasn’t long before he felt his body hit water, and the pain in his body began to subside and he began to relax.
The reflection of the full moon danced over Blake’s body as he laid face down in the ocean that once gave him life. For the first time since before he found his haven in water, he was scared. The thoughts in Blake’s head became clouded as his life slipped, and he began to give up.
It was then that he felt a tingling sensation and light surround him. The moon above him shone directly on his body, giving him the strength he was drained of. The water around his face seemed to turn to air as he inhaled and exhaled, and he flipped over to reveal the bright light from the moon and an empty beach.
He crawled out of the water and onto land as he blinked feverishly. His eyes traveled over his surroundings and then over to himself when he gasped. He nearly fainted as he saw his skin turn to water and his bones disappear.
Blake looked back, between the moon and the ocean, and did the only thing he knew how to. He took small steps towards the water until it consumed him, and he almost felt as home as he did hours before.
