Chasm

Her little body was lifeless on the ground. The beach still had footprints of her life embedded into it. The beach fire that had coals, still burning.

The Ocean.

The Ocean took life. The Ocean chasms brought life to a halt. The Ocean chasms destroyed any remnant of what happened within itself.

PROSPERINA

The sand shifted between my toes with every new wave and bitter touch of cold. The earth trying to pull me deep into the ocean's unsearched depths, while miles of sand stretched forever on each side of me. Little brown crabs were scattered across the sand, making trails with mushy seaweed. Our little home sat by itself on an endless eroded beach. Though loud waves and obnoxious animals were everywhere, the small stucco home stood out. The plants busting out of every window made sure that it was noticeable.

One little arm wrapped around my waist while giggles echoed along the beach. I spun around, grabbing Flav to hug her, when I saw it. The biggest bug that could ever fit into a seven-year-old's hands. Staring point blank into my face with little twigs for arms, grasping for anything other than her. She loved her bugs, her pets, her plants. They were hers and hers alone. I certainly didn't want them.

“Aw, Flav!’ I said trying to look as excited as she was.

“I have MORE!” She said, reaching into her bag. I grabbed her little bag and closed it as quickly as I could.

“How fun, Flav, but we have to go inside now! Bugs have to stay outside.” She had built a little paradise, or so she thought... They didn’t last more than a couple of days with salt water or being eaten by the others. She loved her bugs, but never noticed that they were disappearing or that there was still only 20, though she had brought home new ones about every few days. Oh to be little and clueless.

FLAVIA

“1 bug, 2 bugs, 3 bugs,” she counted. “You can go here, Mr. Capecchi.” Flavia placed the big bug on a round green leaf. “You better not eat your new friends,” she whispered to him, knowing her sister was definitely not prepared for the gruesome details of a bug's life. “My mum is coming home soon with all sorts of new things for your house. She may even like you more this time,” she convinced Mr. Capecchi… the bug.

Flav sat up, dusting the sand off her knees, and walked up the steps into their minimal home. Like routine, Flavia looked at her Sister and asked the same question every day and got the same answer every day.

“When is Mum coming home?” She asked with a tint of hope is her tone.

“She'll be back soon!” Prosperina said, confidently, but knowing that was probably not true. She had been gone for months. Flavia ran towards the open window to peer down at her bug paradise. Still 23 bugs.

PROSPERINA

Every day I watched this girl take care of her pets like they were family. She needed something to distract her. I had the living breathing ocean and she had living breathing bugs. Well, for short periods, at least.

Dinner was quick and simple. We sat eating fish, again. The same fish as the night before, but with different seasonings to spruce it up. I got up and placed our dishes in the sink. I turned around to see a little box of matches and a chunk of wood that were patiently waiting with a smiling Flavia.

“Can we sleep under the lanterns tonight? Pretty please?” She asked, showing all her teeth.

“You want to sleep under the stars?” I asked teasingly.

“YES!!” She yelled, already knowing it would always be a yes.

The summer was coming to a close, but the nights were still warm enough if we bundled up in blankets. Clear and spotless, the sky seemed to stretch on and on like the ocean. Stars clustered together creating white patches, like currents, while sparks flew into the air adding to the brightness. The heat of the fire caused my face to blush. I looked through the fire to see Flavia’s nose scrunched up with her eyes and finger pointed high counting the stars that she liked to call lanterns. The redness of the heat brought out her little features, while the shadows created a sharper contrast of her face. She turned over to see me staring at her.

“Prospi?” She said to me, turning back to look at the sky lanterns.

“Yes?” I said.

“Do you think bugs can swim?”

“Flav, no. Bug’s can’t swim. At Least not the bugs you have, and neither can you.”

“I know!” she laughed. I knew she was imagining her little bugs swimming with her in the water.

She grabbed her blankets and came to the other side of the fire to snuggle. We turned our backs to the fire and stared down the ongoing beach, below the endless sky, next to the boundless ocean.

“I love you,” I said tickling her little ribs. She giggled back an I love you. The heat on my back was soothing and easily sleepable too. My eyes were closed and I drifted into sleep without realizing that the fire had turned into puffs of smoke and embers.

FLAVIA

Flavia quietly got up and went to check to make sure her pets were sleeping as she did every night. Grabbing Mr. Capecchi, she squeezed the big fat bug between her hands.

“I will teach you how to swim,” she told him fearlessly. She walked down the beach, kicking the sand out of her way triumphantly. Her feet touched the water that was much colder than she expected.

Putting Mr. Capecchi down, she edged him towards the water. “Scooch!” She whispered. Without realizing it, she had pushed him further into the water than she thought and suddenly a wave reached further up the shore than the rest. Mr. Capecchi was dragged into the water. She reached into the water desperately searching for her little bug. She walked in knee depth when a wave bigger than the others knocked her onto her back. It pulled her deeper. The undercurrents easily taking her body into themselves. She reached towards the ground but it seemed to be further than it just was. When she stood up her toes grazed the bottom of the ocean floor for a moment but lost traction. Her arms reached up to nothing but black that instantly surrounded her.

Flavia moved her arms to grasp for something, for anything. She tried doing what she thought was swimming but hit hardness. She hit the floor of the ocean. It tricked her. She pushed herself up towards the surface gasping for a breath of air. She was at the top. She grasped for breath when another wave rolled over her, catching her body in its circular movements. She screamed, but no one heard her. She swam, but the surface seemed further. Everything stopped. Her eyes opened, but she was surrounded by darkness. Silent darkness. What was so loud moments before was utterly silent. Light burst from the sides of her eyes, sparking like the fire. Like the sky lanterns exploding before her. Her body stopped. Everything stopped, she drifted with the waves, but lost feeling. She no longer felt the waves. She no longer felt the bitter cold. She no longer felt the water that burnt her lungs. She no longer felt anything.

PROSPERINA

Her little body was lying lifeless and stiff before me. Her hair covering half of her face. I pushed everything aside and put as much breath into her body as I could. She was blue, feeling colder than the water. I grabbed her hands putting them as close to me as I could get them. Tears burned my skin as they slid down my face. She was my distraction and she was gone. Moments, if I was a moment quicker, I would have grabbed her. My fists hit the sand as sobs echoed up the beach, desperately needing to be heard.

No one came.

The beach still had footprints of her life embedded into it. The sand remaining as if nothing had happened. The beach held onto the life it had hours earlier, but the ocean…

The ocean took life. The ocean chasms brought life to a halt. The ocean chasms destroyed any remnant of what happened within itself.