Before I know it, I’m up to my thighs, the saltwater darkening the hem of my yellow dress. I should never have even beeninhis office. The sign said so.
I’m disoriented in the water, but when I look back to the shore, I think I’m at the place where it went in.
I suck in a deep breath, counting to five, and then plunge under the oncoming wave.
The shock of the water draws in my breath as I reach and feel for the sand at the bottom.
But my clothes swirl up around me. I can’t reach down far enough.
Before I can rise and take a full breath, another wave jolts me back under, turning me like a helpless leaf under the water. It’s dark, loud, I’m choking, and I’m turning over and over, the weight from my clothes dragging me under.
The saltwater burns, the water tugs at my feet, a current grabbing at me as I flail, trying to break free, but it pulls harder, harder, dragging me helpless into the darkness.
I’m gagging and kicking in a frantic attempt to find the sandy bottom. But there’s nothing. Only water.
I’m back under, the sense of impending doom causing my arms and legs to thrash as the power of the ocean laughs at my feeble attempt to control it.
I’m going to die out here…
I have no sense of up and down, or from which direction the light is coming. My last thought is of so many things I wanted to do, how I just discovered something as close to love as I ever knew.
Someone who has grabbed me by the heart in such a short time, a mere stranger, and taught me a depth of care so complete, I’m ready to give myself to him for all time.
He dragged me under the same way the ocean is now.
My final emotion is fear, a frantic last attempt to find the surface. Instead, my hands hit something solid…
Hands, fingers, and flesh. I grab and thrash until my face breaks into the light, coughing up water and sucking in oxygen.
Thick arms drag me upward as I bob helpless in the waves. I blink stinging water out of my eyes, finally focused enough to see the familiar cut of that square jaw, the precision line of onyx hair around his ear.
Sobs mingle with the coughing, and I grip his forearm. He has me under my arms, swimming and dragging me next to him.
As we reach the shore, he pulls me into his arms, and we crash onto the sand as he breathes heavy, his words a frantic panic.
“What were you doing?” he barks, something close to a sob breaking his voice. “Why would you do that to me?”
Do that to me…
I’m sobbing too, my dress soaked, lungs on fire.
I’m frightened and relieved, and a part of me is disappointed… Disappointed in myself, for upsetting him, for putting myself in danger, and him as well.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” I plead, pushing myself against his chest. “I had to—”
As we sit there, holding onto each other, the surf lashes around our feet, a strong wave pushing the water up to where we lay.
Leaving behind a wooden plaque.
No attachments. No exceptions.
“This?” Daddy’s voice hardens as he looks at the ocean’s delivery.
“I’m sorry.” I plead. “I just… I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to leave you. I never want you to send me away…”
He lets out a growl and grabs the wooden plaque from the sand. I shrink back, not sure what’s coming next.
And then he raises the plaque, shakes his head, and tosses it out into the oncoming waves.
