Marina

A beautiful young woman from a large family agrees to marry a much older rich man to save her family from poverty.

MARINA

She sat on the Beach watching the bright orange sun sink into the ocean. A warm gentle breeze tousled her dark hair, bringing with it the salty aroma of the sea. She wrapped her arms around her knees and drew them into her chest. Marina savored her last day of respite the calming ocean waves bestowed her. Today would be Marina's last day as a single woman, and she was only 22. She would be wed to a extremely wealthy, but much older man tomorrow. Edward, was even older than her father. She clenched her eyes shut tightly as she imagined how suddenly her life had changed.

Marina and her large family made a rather meager living on the tourist trade, they were quite poor. She was one of 7 siblings. Edward, her soon to be husband had noticed Marina on the Beach. He was instantly smitten by her beauty. A petite young woman with an hourglass figure, flawless skin, and glistening dark eyes. Marina's beauty was actually a bit of a curse. She stood out among everything and everyone. Countless men had pursued her affections. But her strict father more often than not would chase them away.

Marina stared at the ring on her finger, or as her friends called it a boulder. When Edward had asked her father for his daughters hand in marriage he graciously and instantly answered yes. Marina's father was a very hard working man. But he was under enormous pressure trying to hopelessly support his large family, and he saw Edward as a way out of poverty.

Now Edwards proposal had changed all that. Marina's father now had a constant grin on his face. Edward's fabulous wealth was simply too much for her father to turn down. Edward promised to take care not just of Marina, but the entire family. He would see to it that her siblings would all go to college. That Marina's mother Pilar would get the medical treatment she desperately needed that their family could not possibly afford.

Marina remember the day her ailing mother tried to console her. She watched her siblings play, running around on the Beach. Oblivious to the dramatic change about to take place. With her arm wrapped tightly around Marina's shoulder, she told Marina that Edward was a good man. Tears began to streak down Marina's face as she recalled the heated argument she had with her father. How it reached it's climax when she told her father that a real man could take of his family. Her father became enraged, and had slapped her. Marina loved her entire family and wanted the best for them. Even if it meant sacrificing her own happiness and youth.

Suddenly Marina's mind was taken away from her thoughts. Her friends had just showed up at the Beach. It was the end of the tourist season and they were about to party at a little secluded bar on the Beach. It was a place meant for employees. Her friends had expressed much empathy for her situation. They exchanged hugs and sorrows. But these emotions were quickly swept aside. Tonight was a night to party, the last single night of her life.

They started with the drinking and dancing. Marina was a pretty good dancer. She moved with fluid grace, rotating her hips, playfully bumping into her friends. She noticed that the sun had completely set, the Beach was shrouded in total darkness. But oh the night, the partying had only just begun.

Marina and her young friends continued to dance and drink the night away. They had been so for hours, thanks in no small part to the stamina of youth. As Marina turned around she noticed with horror that the sun had begun to peek over the ocean. It's rays seemed to reflect and dance in rhythm with the lively calypso music. In an act of defiance Marina turned her back on the sun. She noticed that only a few of her friends were still dancing. Many had already succumbed to the copious amounts of alcohol and partying.

Marina began to dance harder and faster. As if she could slow the rising of the sun with her dancing. As the intensity of the music rose to a fever pitch Marina could feel her freedom and youth escaping her. She turned back towards the Beach and fell exhausted in the suns blinding rays. Sobbing in silence she reluctantly surrendered to her new life.

Reviews

[Davidgeo]

Your jaw line reminds me of why I fight homeless people on the weekends.