Prologue

Splash splash choke cough

I could see my parents fighting on the shore, neither of them watching me. I could feel something wrap around my ankle pulling me under further into the water. I cried out for them but their screaming voices rose above my choked cries for help. I couldn't breathe! Why wouldn't they just look and see I needed help? I admit, it was stupid of me to go further out when I barely could swim. I was the dummy who decided it would be great to see how far out my feet could go before I was wading in the water. But when I felt something wrap around my ankle and drag me down under the rolling waves, I knew I had screwed up.

Mom....dad....help...

I felt the burning sensation as the last of my air left my lungs and I was no longer able to reach the surface. I could feel each muscle slow as everything seemed to stop in my body. My lungs ached as my vision began to blue. It was peaceful, in the water. I could see the beauty of the ocean as my vision began to fail. The fish swam around me even as I slipped further into the kelp that had trapped me. But one fish seemed a little too personal. Why was it coming to me? My eyes felt heavy as they closed, letting the sea take me to the next life.

"Maya!"

Who's yelling? Who's shaking me? I could feel a firm shake on me trying to rouse me from my sleep. As my eyes opened, the bright sun painfully attacked my sore eyes. As I winced, a shadow blocked the sun and touched my cheek. "Thank goodness you are awake." I couldn't even groan as I turned quickly to my side and coughed out a lungful of water. As my vision began to clear, I could see the silhouetted figure move in front of me as they rubbed my back. "Easy, easy.  Your parents are coming. Just breathe." I looked at the soothing voice, their face hidden by the bright light that assaulted my vision. The one thing I could see was their eyes. The ocean has been invading my mind as I could have sworn their eyes were made from it.

"Maya!" Dad yelled from somewhere nearby.

The figure before me looked up quickly before kissing my forhead. "Rest. You need it." I felt my eyelids close again as they pulled away from me. The splashing water of the ocean lulling me into a deep slumber. I heard my father yell for me again before everything blissfully fell away. I was so tired. And those eyes, those gorgeous blue eyes, made me feel safe and protected. I don't remember when they got me to the hospital. I woke up surrounded by nurses and my mother sobbing into my father's chest. They told me I was lucky to be alive. If the waves hadn't pushed me onto shore, my parents would never had found me. Was it the waves? I feel like something else happened, but, I can't remember.