Waves

This is true. But it's not even really a short story. (It's a vignette.)

When I was 15 years old, my family traveled to Myrtle Beach. I hadn't been to the ocean in years and in my excitement, I wanted to spend most of the day in the water. I swam out, telling myself not to be afraid. After a while I turned to look at the place I'd come from. Nothing was familiar. I couldn't see my family's umbrella. I couldn't see my cousins or sisters running along the edge of the water. I got a bit nervous and started swimming back to shore. When my feet hit sand, I was even farther down the beach than I'd been before. I couldn't find anyone, but after a bit my brother came running up to me, yelling at me, worried I'd been lost, worried I'd drowned. He'd been searching for me. We laugh about the story now, though he still holds that I scared him badly.

5 years later, sitting in a quiet living room, far from the ocean and far from my brother, I'm remembering the waves. I'm remembering what it feels like to be swept away. That moment of exhilarating panic when you realize that everything is not okay. I'm remembering because I felt it again. Because I miss him. Sometimes I don't realize how much. Sometimes, like tonight, when I was sitting in alone in the van, waiting, I could hardly bear it. I felt again as though everything familiar had slipped away from me and I was lost, fighting the current to get back to shore. Afraid of drowning. I miss him and tonight the waves are winning.

Reviews

[Brandon Forry]

Very powerful. This work really grabs my emotions. You do a great job in conveying this particular feeling; I feel like I can really connect with it. I have to wonder what could be currently happening to bring this feeling back again, but I don't mind it when that's left to the reader to wonder. Great closing sentence as well.