Tide

Chapter 36

School was overwhelming. So overwhelming I had to leave halfway through the day.

"What happened to the rest of your family?" 

"How'd you manage to survive?"

"Was it scary?" 

"Are you happy to be back home?" 

"It's a miracle you're okay. I heard it was the deadliest tsunami on record. How are you doing?"

Every time a question was asked the flashbacks came flooding. The image of Mason, people crying, dead bodies, destruction, chaos. I imagined my father, dead and rotting, and I couldn't get the image out of my head. It made me sick. I didn't want to think of how he died, but I did, and with every day it seemed to get worse. The images were clear, and it almost felt as if I was there again, standing over rows of bodies and wounds and flooded water.

I couldn't focus in class. I didn't understand a word the teacher said.

The wave swallowed everything in its path. I could hear the gut-wrenching screams of people trying to get away. An impact hit me from behind. Water filled my lungs. "What happened?" I asked the nurse.

"A tsunami." she replied.

"I dare you," Isaac said, a smirk spread across his lips as the infuriated Piper glared at him. He waved me goodbye one last time. "We'll keep in contact, don't worry."

The engine roared. The sound filled my ears and I gripped the arms of the seat. My heart hammered inside my chest as the plane ran and tilted upward. It lifted off the ground.

I sat near the window, staring at the wreckage the tsunami had caused. It was unbearable to watch. There was nothing left of Thailand.

"Ava, are you okay?" said the person sitting next to me.

My heart pounded and my palms were sticky with sweat. I buried my face into my hands, breathing tremulous breaths. "No..."