Believe

Chapter 3

Tempest awoke slowly. She sat up, feeling different. She felt. . . happy. Something she hadn't felt in a long time.

She stood up and opened her window, noticing that the sun shone brighter today, more rays slipping through the much paler grey clouds. Tempest then grabbed her book off her nightstand and left her room.

She flopped onto the couch and devoured the pages, losing herself for hours in the story.

Once she had finished yet another book, she headed to the kitchen in search of something to eat. She peered into the fridge and was delighted to find her favourite: all dressed pizza.

She took her food back to the living room and turned on one of her favourite Disney movies of all times, Lilo and Stitch.

When she was young and her mom was working, her dad would pick her up from daycare and order pizza, and together they would snuggle on the couch together and watch Lilo and Stitch. She smiled fondly at the memory as the opening music started.

As she watched the movie unfold, she was pleasantly surprised to find herself enjoying her pizza and getting up to grab seconds, something she hadn't done in a long time.

Even though she was alone, she was happy, much happier than she had been in a long time, and for that she was relieved. Happiness was sparse in her life and for this brief moment of relief from the sickness, she was grateful.

As the movie credits rolled across the screen, she smiled and turned on another favourite of hers, Peter Pan. She grinned as the story unfolded, captivating her just as it did when she was a young child.

She snuggled deeper into her black and green plaid shawl and threw her fuzzy sock clad feet over the arm of the couch. She hummed along to the music, blissfully happy.

Her eyes began to drift shut as the movie came to an end, the music fading away.
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Tempest awoke the next morning, refreshed, after no dreams or nightmares plagued her sleep.

She wandered into the kitchen, content as she scarfed down some cold pizza for breakfast.

Tempest then returned to her room and got dressed, pulling her shawl over her shoulders. She then left the cabin and walked along the beach, admiring the sapphire blue waves crowned with foamy whitecaps. Cautiously, she waded into the surf, the cold blue waters churning around her ankles.

She breathed in the scent of the salt kissed air and splashed deeper into the waves, water creeping up her bare calves. She closed her eyes, at peace.

She swayed as she listened to the rumble of the ocean and the gentle cries of the seagulls overhead. The limited sunshine shone on her face, and she felt the soft, shifting sands underneath her feet as the gentle water caressed her skin.

She remained there for what felt like an eternity, serenity embracing her.

A flood of emotions flowed past like the water around her legs. Peace, contentment, strength, happiness, hope.

"Hope," she murmured. Something she hadn't felt in a very long time.

But underneath all her hope, lurked the sickness, pacing like a caged beast, just waiting to be unleashed.

She shoved its ugly head down, refusing to let the beast out so it could consume her. She wouldn't. She couldn't. But she wasn't sure how long she could keep it at bay, all by herself.

Then, a voice floated across the ocean, rising and falling with the waves.

"You are no alone. I will never leave nor forsake you. Your name has always been etched upon my heart." The words were so soft, so gentle, Tempest didn't know if she had imagined them, her heart so desperate for comfort that she had imagined the tender words of love.

She left the water, legs nearly numb from the cold rolling waves. For now she remained at peace.

Instead of returning to the cabin, she strolled across the sand, completely lost in thought, thinking about everything from books to movies to the meaning of life.

Distracted, she wandered up her cliff and sat near the edge, watching the sky. The clouds were pale grey like a newborn kitten's  fur. They were the lightest and softest grey she had ever seen the sky, and she could see the glow of the sun beneath the thin blanket of clouds.

She laid on her back and watched the clouds, still lost in her thoughts of another time, another place. She was at peace, for now. But sadly, nothing good can last forever.