Floating

Flash fiction in which her life flashes before her eyes

Floating. She was floating. Through the vast blue, not a care in the world. Stretched on her back looking up at the cloudless summer sky, the sparkling ocean kept her afloat.

She wiggled her toes, feeling them dry almost instantly from the hot sun as they surfaced from the water. Her hair, long and ginger, slowly drifted away from her freckled face, which was just peeking out of the water, to form a halo. She finally looked like the mermaid she had wanted to be as a little girl.

Life is perfect. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. You are fearless.

At least that’s what her brain screamed at her. She knew that as soon as she lifted her head, the spell would be broken. No longer the mermaid-esque Vogue cover girl, reality would come rushing back.

But this time it seemed she didn’t have a choice. The spell was ripped out from under her, literally. She wasn’t floating in a vast expanse, no. She was in a lap pool, wishing herself far away from that house, which stood menacingly at the top of the garden. Resting on a pool float, it was viciously ripped out from under her by one of the bratty boys. She could guess which one.

She became submerged and fought for air while thrashing her arms and legs desperately. Marissa couldn’t swim, having never been given the opportunity to learn. Between the gasps, she wondered whether anyone would save her this time.

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