The Golden Mermaid

𝒕𝒘𝒐

My head has a heart beat. My eyes burn, but I'm too tired to open them. My ears ring with what sounds like distant waves and my scalp and back feel like they're on fire.

It takes me a minute to realize who and where I am, but when I do I suck in a lung full of water. I try to cough it up, but it's no use because I continue to breathe it in.

Breathe. Am I... breathing?

My eyes are open but there's no light, just the continuous dragging of my body against sand, shells, and rocks. I gather all my strength and push myself to the surface, the air sending a chill down my spine. The fire light isn't too far away: I can see a few people gathered around it, I can hear the frantic calling of my name. I pull myself to shore until the water is only sloshing at my ankles. I can barely feel it. Everything is numb.

I start puking, creating a puddle of murky sea water underneath me. It feels like I'm going to drown in my own vomit. I know it's too much water for a human to safely swallow; I know deep down that I'm supposed to be dead.

"Sydney?" A voice calls from a distance. I look up only momentarily, a shadow of a person lightened by the fire, before I begin hacking up water again. "She's over here!" The voice cracks with urgency and worry. Before I can gather it they're over top me, wiping the small strands of hair out of my face. Charcoal eyes stare into my own: Ollie. "Are you okay?"

I can't bring myself to shake my head. It pounds to furiously to even think. I hack up another puddle of seawater. My hand tightened around his wrist, and I pray he understands what I'm trying to say.

I'm not okay. I should be dead. I was dying. Why am I not dead?

Claire's voice looms over top of me, "She's alright?" I can feel the guilt radiating off of her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't... I had a buzz. I don't know what I was..." I wish I could tell her that it's not her fault—that I'm fine now. Everything's okay.

But is it really?

"I think so. Can you stand?" Ollie suddenly has his hands wrapped under my shoulders. My throat burns and itches, but I can finally get a decent breath. I try to stand, my legs aching with tiredness. I fall back into him and he stumbles back into the water. "I guess not." He says, trying to lift me out of the shallow waves.

"Here, I'll help," My vision is still too blurry to make it out, but JW's kind, deep voice is easy to distinguish. "Let's go over there." He points to the post I'd been sitting at earlier with Ollie. "We can lean her on that volleyball post and give her some water..." his voice begins to quiet, the sloshing waves in my head taking over.

"Wait a minute," Ollie pulls his hand away from my head, inspecting it. "She's bleeding."

"Oh my God, she's bleeding?" Claire paces around frantically, and then leans against JW. "Oh, this is all my fault. I'm so sorry—"

"Claire," my voice is hoarse and throaty, but I force it out. "Shut up." I try to say "it's not your fault" afterwards, but it's no use. It hurts too much to even breathe.

The boys lift me and begin to carry me. I groan, my back aching—my whole body aching.

"Oh, God. I'm so sorry..." Claire continues to ramble. I block her voice out, my head pounding too much to deal with it.

Make it stop. But it won't. There's an ocean in my brain—an ocean in the middle of a hurricane.

"Someone..." Ollie's voice goes out, but his lips continue to move. The ocean in my head is too loud to hear him. "...water. She needs water." Claire rushes off.

Ruby's lanky figure comes into view. "Wow, what happened?" A beer dangles limply from her hand. She says something else but I can't hear.

"Well, if you weren't kissing up on..." The ocean takes over. "...but of course you don't care, do you?" Ollie says angrily before Claire comes back with water, shoving it at Ollie as if it's my life force. He takes it into his hand and loosens the cap.