Woman of the Sea

Water surrounded me as I sank. Deeper and deeper into the ocean, but I wasn’t scared. I felt completely calm as the water filled my lungs. I felt peaceful, I felt at home. When I finally hit the bottom I rolled to my stomach and buried my hands into the sand. I smiled to myself.

Why am I smiling? How am I not screaming for help? Why am I not trying to swim to the surface? I kept smiling and began to swim forward. When I went to kick my legs they moved as one. Had someone tied them together?

I looked to my legs to see-

Sunshine peeked through a gap in my curtains hitting me directly in the face. I squinted my eyes open and groaned. Quickly I rolled over and covered my face with my comforter only to have my alarm go off five seconds later. I sat up and glared at my alarm clock before turning off the deathly beeping.

I tore my blanket from my body and just stared at my legs. They didn’t look any different, the same two legs I’d been using my whole life. But what had I seen in my dream? Something not normal but the whole dream seemed fuzzy to me. I shook it off and got out of bed. I opened my curtains all the way and had to squint my eyes closed from the sun. I heard a laugh from outside and looked down to see none other than Kyle Green smiling up at me.

Kyle has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. He also just so happens to be my next door neighbor. When I was 2 years old I was adopted by my dads and when they introduced me to the next door neighbors I guess Kyle and myself clicked instantly, which was great since his mom Susan and my dad James are best friends.

I opened my window and glared at him, “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothing at all,” he replied smiling. Kyle has one of those smiles that makes your heart melt. That’s probably how he gets so many girls fawning over him. I never felt that way towards his smile though. His smile made me melt in a way that made feel safe and loved, I never found myself melting because of a lustful appeal. He was my best friend, my brother in a sense. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready? Last day of school, and we all know how long it takes you to get ready.”

I looked at my clock. 7:05. School didn’t start until 8:15 but, like Kyle said, it takes me a long time to get ready. “You’re right. You better not leave me this time Ky! You know I hate walking alone!”

He laughed, “Well you better hurry. I’m leaving at 8 o’clock! No later.”

I smiled down at him, “Yes sir!” I turned back toward my room and skipped to my closet. I pulled out the dress my dads had bought me last week that I had been saving for the last day of school. The dress was an Audrey Hepburn style halter. It was teal with white polka dots and four white buttons up the chest. Totally my style, which wasn’t hard because I thought of everything as my style. I’m one of those girls who will dress super girly one day and the next day will be dressed totally different.

I grabbed my undergarments from my dresser and went into the bathroom. I turned on the shower making sure it was nice and cold before undressing and stepping in. My dad’s always thought I was weird for taking cold showers but whenever it was brought up my dad Richard would always say, “Hey, at least she leaves us the hot and steamy shower.” He would always fallow it with a wink to my other dad who would wink back. I always replied with a groan and a “Gross!”

As the cold water ran down my body I moved my face under the shower head and closed my eyes. Images from my dream came back into my mind. I was drowning, but I was happy. I felt the water filling my lungs but I didn’t feel scared. The water was like oxygen.

I took my face away from the water shaking away the thought. This is what caused me to take too long getting ready. I always got into deep thought while taking a shower or a bath. I’m sure that’s normal for most people, but I don’t think that they think about what I do. I think about swimming, living in the ocean. Maybe because I loved it so much. Ever since I was 10 I was on some sort of swim team so maybe that’s why.

I finished washing up and stepped out of the shower. I dried off and slipped on my dress, it fit my curves perfectly. I dried my hair and put on some make up. I never put on a lot though, usually just eye shadow and lipstick, sometimes lip gloss. I was blessed with near perfect skin so I never needed foundation. I wouldn’t want to cover up the light freckles across my nose. I smiled at my reflection before going back into my bedroom. I glanced at the clock. 7:55. I quickly slipped on my sandals and grabbed my flowery backpack before running down stairs.

Both of my dads were downstairs, Richard was making eggs while James sat at the table reading the newspaper. Both of them were model material, the definition of tall dark and handsome. My dad Richard was a proud Latino man who usually had his dark brown hair slicked back. He is a businessman, a manager at a bank in Astoria, Oregon. James, my other dad is a light skinned black guy, his hair usually buzzed short. He works locally in Sandy Beach at a shop he opened up for tourists who passed through on their way to Cannon Beach, the real tourist attraction.

Sandy Beach is a small town right below Canon Beach, if you pulled up a map or even googled the name you probably wouldn’t find it. With a population of 542, it’s one of the smaller towns in Oregon. It was perfect for me though, not too many people and a lot of trees. We are also right next to the ocean so my friends and I spent a lot of time at the beach.

“In a hurry are we?” Richard asked as he tossed me an apple.

I caught it, almost dropping it and smiled at my dad. “If I don’t leave now Kyle will leave me behind again.”

“Well you better get moving!” James said before giving me a kiss on the forehead.

“I love you daddy! And I love you too dad!” I called as I raced out the door. I called James daddy and Richard dad, just so no one would get confused when I talked to or about them. It happens more than you’d think. Some of the parents in the town didn’t like the idea of two guys being married and having a child but I never let that get to me. I love my dads no matter what and none of the kids my age said anything so I never thought much of it. I just knew what my dads told me, some people just don’t understand love.

“Well look who finally made it out of her house.” Kyle stated looking at his watch, “7:59, I think that’s a new record.” He began to applaud sarcastically.

“Oh shut up!” I laughed.

The walk to school only took 5 minutes, which gave us enough time to go to our lockers to drop off our things and meet with our group before the bell rang. Kyle and I walked to the side yard of our school to our Douglas-fir tree. I saw our tree because that’s where our group hangs out during the school year. When school isn’t in session we usually are at my house, Kyle’s house or at the beach.

As we approached the tree I saw the rest of our posse. There was four of us total, myself-Avalon Pierce, Kyle Green, Jennifer Hunt and Benjamin Tanner. I met Jenny on the first day of Kindergarten and we hit if off right away. The same thing happened with Kyle and Benjy but in 5th grade when Benjy had moved here with his parents.

“Ava!” I heard Jenny holler.

“Jenny!” I called back before running to her and jumping into a hug. Jenny was different from most girls in our school. She kept her chocolate brown hair short and dressed like a guy. A lot of girls kind of backed off from being her friend, fearing she would try to make them be lesbians. Yes, she did like girls but that never bothered me. That would be like me not wanting to be friends with Kyle or Benjy because they might try something with me. It was just ridiculous.

“You never greet me like that.” Benjy pouted.

“That’s because Jenny is my lesbian lover.” I joked. I was close enough and comfortable enough with Jenny to joke like that.

“How do I keep forgetting?” Benjy laughed before giving me a one armed hug. “Nice dress. Very Aubrey Hepburn.”

“Thank you,” I did a little spin to show it off. “That’s what my dads said. It’s very 1950s.”

The four of us sat at our tree and talked about our summer plans before the bell rang for us to go to class.