Book Of Narratives

Life and Death

The bow pushes through the translucent waters, the canoe gliding as gracefully and elegantly as a swan, the reflection of the vastly never ending and huge mountain peaks, glimmering and shining on the rippling and gentle waves, winking at me in mischief.

Nature knows what I have done. And she disapproves.

The sky is a bright blue, barely a cloud can be seen, and as I look further up, I see a raven the colour of the darkest of nights flying above my head, seemingly staring into my eyes, as if staring into my soul, and casting a judgement. I feel as though I am being judged.

Fear ripples through my body worse than any wave could.

There's a sudden and unexpected chill sweeping my skin from head to toe, flowing through my hair, and slightly knocking my head with some sense and clarity. However, before I can think more on it, the canoe shakes and jostles madly as the chilling wind picks up speed, quite quickly and quite rapidly, almost toppling this great vessel over.

I realise that now it was a mistake.

I turn back to face my comrade, my friend, my sister, who has a look resembling that of a frightened child; a paled face from the cold wind nipping at her skin, big and wide eyes as if she has seen a ghost, mouth wide open in shock and disbelief. She has a tight vice grip on her ore, her hands whitening considerably from such pressure. She was trembling like a scared and damaged animal.

She looks traumatised.

It now seems cold and dark, such a drastic and sudden change. I look up to see the sky, which was once a bright sky blue, a warm bright sun shining profusely; now it is a cold and dismal grey, a startling contrast to what it was just mere moments prior to this.

Whilst stuck in an inner turmoil, which seems so impossible to break out of, I didn't notice a gigantic tsunami wave coming the way of the canoe, until moments too late. Only hearing a scream ripping from someone's lungs, that I now just realised it was mine, broke me out of my reverie. The wave with the force of a rock hard metal, hits me like a car hitting a brick wall at a high speed, forcing me to plunge and crash into the water. Attempting to breath is difficult, with the vile taste of salty water entering my mouth and nostrils.

I am unable to breath.

I suck in a deep breath to preserve as much needed oxygen as I can, even though I know it will not last.

I can feel the force of the water and gravity dragging me down to the sea bed, and when I attempt to swim up, the feeling of being tied by my wrists and ankles makes a feeling of defeat swell through me, fully aware that this could be the last time I will ever see the light of day ever again.

Like a slap to the face, I gasp as I realise something more important in my life than my own life, causing bubbles of the precious oxygen to float to the top.

My sister. WHERE'S MY SISTER!

In determination, I find the movement of my limbs after frantic flapping and ungraceful shakes. I turn my head this way and that, left and right, looking endlessly for my sister. Feeling my lungs constricting and my body desperately wanting to breath, I swim up to the top, and take a big deep gulp of the precious particles my lungs had been lacking.

Going back under the water, I look for my sister, and finally, I spot a silhouette near the bottom of the sea, limbs flapping in attempt to swim up, yet the gravity drags her further down the dense thick waters.

I swim further down, reaching out my hand. Our hands are barely touching, just the tips of our finger brushing like a delicate feather. But it is no use. She gets dragged further by the invisible hands of Poseidon, gets sucked into more darkness, away from me.

Our eyes make contact.

In them shows her deepest feelings; Desperation, sadness, adoration, love. And in that moment, I know she forgives me for all that I did to her all those years ago when we were just children, just before our mother died. I was seventeen, she thirteen. I was her only guardian, and she blamed me for the death of our mother.

Now I know she forgives me, I feel at peace with myself.

I break out of my thoughts, as her body starts jostling and turning, but only for a short moment. Her body suddenly has no movement, just floating to the seabed, her hair strewn around her face, eyes wide unblinkingly, mouth open. Except, she doesn't look traumatised, she looks calm, peaceful even. On her face is the biggest and most vibrant smile on her face, which I haven't seen in years, not since our mother died.

Painfully, and full of remorse, I turn my face away, unable to witness her death any longer.

Blinking slightly in shock and disbelief, I stare as a translucent silhouette of a woman appears. My mother, no way. Is-Is it true?

The figure, My mother?

Her hands wave in a gesture telling me to come to her. I frown in confusion. Seeing this, She opens her mouth, to speak. A delicate whisper, barely heard at all, a command to open my mouth, to breath, to let this happen, to give up.

She nods in encouragement as I breath in, the bright smile I have missed seeing on her face. Relaxing, I allow the precious oxygen to leave my lungs.

My mother is gone. My sister is gone. I have nothing left.

So why bother living?

I feel water flowing down my mouth, and travelling fluidly to my lungs, slowly and painlessly suffocating me. Yet, I don't fight it.

Why Bother trying to fight the inevitable?

As my last moment on earth, I see a bright white light, and at the end, my mother and my sister are floating weightlessly and translucently, embracing each other fondly, whilst looking at me.

I have finally accepted my death, and now, I get to live a peaceful ever after, now reconnected with my mother.

We are now a family again, and that's all I ever wanted...