"There are a few moments in life that are perfect and surreal; like a beautiful dream you don't want to wake up from, but when you do, you can't seem to remember what it was about. Then there are the terrible moments, absolute nightmares that nothin...
Like clockwork, Makenna was back at Hidden Beach. Pants rolled up, shoes in hand, she let go and basked in the feeling of her feet sinking into the wet sand. Water whooshed to the shoreline engulfing her feet before gently receding. The sound of the wave reaching her ears, and the breeze hitting her face softly were both calming but temporary fixes for her soul.
A drug that cured the symptoms rather than address the cause. She thought.
Eyes closed, she inhaled through her nose, held, and exhaled through her mouth. It took a few of those before the world around her faded into darkness. She was left with nothing, no identity, no past, and no future. She was just a girl stuck in the present. And to her, it was pure freedom.
Makenna spent a few more moments letting go. It was the one time throughout the entire week when she didn't have to put up with the person she had become or the person she was. She could just be herself. Even if she had no idea who that was.
A 'v' formed between her eyebrows as that thought crossed her mind. She inhaled deeply to get rid of the heaviness that began to form in her chest.
I'm not going to do this to myself. She shut down those thoughts before the spiral began.
She turned around and headed to her rock. She sat down and leaned her back against it and looked at the old tree bark that stood firmly at a weird angle. Her gaze dropped to the initials she had carved into it. She traced the letters R and B with her finger. She clenched her jaw before her hand fell. Soon enough, she was words deep in the novel she'd brought along with the music playing in her ears. She was completely lost to another world.
Lost. Atlas thought.
That's what he was.
He'd failed to admit it minutes earlier and had kept riding instead, hoping to find some sort of exit or turn that would take him somewhere familiar. He had been riding down 6th Avenue which he was pretty familiar with. He'd taken an unfamiliar turn at the last intersection which, he realised now, wasn't his wisest decision.
Ok, so maybe he wasn't lost. Exploring was all about gettinglost and then discovering new places and finding yourself.
So, what did that make him?
Pre-found?
Atlas rode through the grove of trees until he came to a main road and a wide, open space on the other side. He drove to the space rather than take another explorative turn. Turning off the engine, he dismounted his bike and took out his phone.
A quick search told him he was at Titlow beach. He figured out his way back to civilization before he put his phone back into his jacket. Just as he got onto his back, he caught the flash of light reflecting off something black. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to make out what it was. The subtle blinking of light amongst the trees made him realize he was looking at a car.
Slowly, Atlas dismounted his bike, again. Locking the stand in place before he went to investigate.
As he got closer and deeper into the thick grove, he winced as he realized the blinking light was the car's blinker going off. He had no idea how long that had been on, but it was bound to run down the car's battery eventually. The black mustang sat in solitude with the owner off to who knows where.
He walked towards the driver's seat and tried to open the door but, of course, it was locked. The windows were rolled all the way, so he couldn't do anything to open the doors. He scanned the grove to see if anyone was nearby, but nothing.
"Hello." He called out, but no answer,
Truly, what did he expect? For someone to call back saying 'hi'?
Atlas let out a huff and turned around to head back to his bike, but he stopped. If he left, the owner might return only to discover the mustang was run down. Then, there was also the possibility the owner was hurt and in need of help somewhere. His conscience wasn't letting him walk away from this. Even if he did, he wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it for days and he needed a clear mind for upcoming assessments.
What if he walked away now and then found out later the person died and he could have done something to prevent that?
Atlas turned back around and went searching for the owner. The worst that could happen was he'd really get lost and there would be no network to find himself.
The thought made him smile.
Then he would be the one who would die out here.
That wiped the smile from his face.
Maybe it wasn't late to head back now. He thought but kept heading deeper inside.
"Hello?" Atlas called,
It was a full minute later when he saw the clearing ahead. He heard the crashing of the waves before he saw it. His gaze was fixated on the stunning image and calming sound of the beach. It had been too long since he'd been to one.
He emerged out of the woods and stood there in silence for a moment. Taking it all in, he forgot for those few moments that not too long ago he'd been lost, then pre-found, and redirected. Now, he wasn't so worried about making his way back. He would die here in peace if there was no way back.
Sighing heavily, he looked around the beach and did a double-take when he saw someone on the far left of the beach.
"Excuse me?" He called out and frowned when the person didn't so much as turn to see who'd called out,
Atlas frowned and then headed towards them. It could be the owner of the Mustang or maybe they knew something about the owner.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I cannot believe July is around the corner and it's almost a year since we started this journey. But I want to thank every single one of you for sticking around to this very moment. From what I have in store for you, I will say that we still have a long way to go and I'm super excited to be bringing these characters to life.
These characters have taken up residence in my head and when I'm not working at my day job (as a writer), I find myself constantly coming back to their story. It's like waiting for the next episode of your favourite TV show and wondering what's going to happen in the next episode until I remember that I'm the one who gets to decide what happens next.
And the plotting begins for the next chapter.
Thank you, guys, again so much for your love and support. I'll see you back here on Saturday with some exciting news.
