“I know what you’re thinking.” Came a voice outside of the visions. A voice strange, and cold. A voice that didn’t belong.
Flashes shot through Isabelle’s head like strobe lights. One second her child was there, right in front of her, laughing and clapping his small hands at the waves crashing on the beach. The next minute he and Isabelle were demolishing other sand castles; sun shining down on his blonde, baby hair. The next, he was running for the first time, out to the water. The farther he got, the more Isabelle’s smile grew.
Then there were other flashes… flashes of rip tide and under toe.
“I know you feel guilty,” came the cold, outside voice. “But there is no such thing as guilt. Only the fear of getting caught.”
Isabelle was back on the sand then, grinning as Jonathan knelt next to her and helped her pile wet sand into a mound.
“Come, Jonathan, let’s make the biggest sand castle ever. It will be bigger and better than all of the other’s on this beach. And we’ll have done it together. Alright?”
“It’s the day after, so the fear is still fresh.”
Isabelle looked up from the sand castle they were building and out over the mounds of sand. No one was on this beach, for it was a private beach and late in the day. They had the entire afternoon to themselves.
So they continued to play in the sand until the figure of a man came into view, walking towards Isabelle and her child building a sand castle.
“Look, Jonathan! There’s Brady. Let’s call him over.” She began yelling to the figure walking towards them.
Brady stopped and raised his arm, waving at the two of them.
“Jonathan, look. He sees us. He’s smiling. He’s waving to us, Jonathan! Let’s invite him to come and build sand castles with us.”
“It is natural for the mind to slowly come to a closure and begin to shut down. But tomorrow, you will wake up, and it’s going to be the same world. Nothing has changed.”
But before Isabelle could raise her voice to call Brady over, he turned and slowly began walking away. Isabelle could feel her stomach dropping.
“Brady? Brady, where are you going? Brady over here!” Isabelle began waving her arms frantically in the air, high over her head as if to get Brady’s attention. “He doesn’t see us, Jonathan. We must call louder. Brady!”
Brady disappeared.
When Isabelle looked at her side to see why Jonathan had not helped her call to him, she saw him running and forgot about Brady. Just like she had just forget about Jonathan only moments ago.
Jonathan was running. For the first time in his life, he was running.
And then she remembered.
“Jonathan! Jonathan, stay out of the water!” His fading figure continued to get closer and closer to the now roaring waves, the white angry foam of the water waiting only inches away from devouring her son.
And then he was gone. Disappeared. Just like Brady.
She was alone.
“Jonathan! Where have you gone? Oh it’s so dark out here… When did it get so dark? Jonathan, can you hear me? I can’t see! Oh my God, Jonathan, help me I can’t see!”
Isabelle collapsed on the sand of the beach, clawing at her skin with her nails as if she had a mad case of poison ivy. Her eyes began to roll back into her skull and she began shouting nonsense.
Paramedics arrived within only a few minutes when someone who lived on the house on the rocks complained about a girl lying on the beach, screaming phrases like “Same world…” “New man…” “Nothing has changed…” while tearing at her skin with her fingernails.
When they got Isabelle under control, they scoped the area to see if there were any cause for such insanity and they found nothing.
No body washed up to the shore.
No sand castles to prove her story.
It was as if Jonathan had never really existed.
“This infection, this… insanity of yours has somehow slipped beneath the notice of the world.” The psychiatrist noted as she circled above Isabelle who was drugged beyond belief. So much so, that she could do nothing but stare off in space and listen to the words that were floating around her, torturing her.
“I didn’t kill him,” she tried hard to say. But Isabelle didn’t know if the psychiatrist had heard her or not.
“And then, and only then, will you shed your cocoon and become something entirely new. This is your second chance.”
Flashes shot through Isabelle’s head like strobe lights. One second her child was there, right in front of her, laughing and clapping his small hands at the waves crashing on the beach. The next minute he and Isabelle were demolishing other sand castles; sun shining down on his blonde, baby hair. The next, he was running for the first time, out to the water. The farther he got, the more Isabelle’s smile grew.
Then there were other flashes… flashes of rip tide and under toe.
“I know you feel guilty,” came the cold, outside voice. “But there is no such thing as guilt. Only the fear of getting caught.”
Isabelle was back on the sand then, grinning as Jonathan knelt next to her and helped her pile wet sand into a mound.
“Come, Jonathan, let’s make the biggest sand castle ever. It will be bigger and better than all of the other’s on this beach. And we’ll have done it together. Alright?”
“It’s the day after, so the fear is still fresh.”
Isabelle looked up from the sand castle they were building and out over the mounds of sand. No one was on this beach, for it was a private beach and late in the day. They had the entire afternoon to themselves.
So they continued to play in the sand until the figure of a man came into view, walking towards Isabelle and her child building a sand castle.
“Look, Jonathan! There’s Brady. Let’s call him over.” She began yelling to the figure walking towards them.
Brady stopped and raised his arm, waving at the two of them.
“Jonathan, look. He sees us. He’s smiling. He’s waving to us, Jonathan! Let’s invite him to come and build sand castles with us.”
“It is natural for the mind to slowly come to a closure and begin to shut down. But tomorrow, you will wake up, and it’s going to be the same world. Nothing has changed.”
But before Isabelle could raise her voice to call Brady over, he turned and slowly began walking away. Isabelle could feel her stomach dropping.
“Brady? Brady, where are you going? Brady over here!” Isabelle began waving her arms frantically in the air, high over her head as if to get Brady’s attention. “He doesn’t see us, Jonathan. We must call louder. Brady!”
Brady disappeared.
When Isabelle looked at her side to see why Jonathan had not helped her call to him, she saw him running and forgot about Brady. Just like she had just forget about Jonathan only moments ago.
Jonathan was running. For the first time in his life, he was running.
And then she remembered.
“Jonathan! Jonathan, stay out of the water!” His fading figure continued to get closer and closer to the now roaring waves, the white angry foam of the water waiting only inches away from devouring her son.
And then he was gone. Disappeared. Just like Brady.
She was alone.
“Jonathan! Where have you gone? Oh it’s so dark out here… When did it get so dark? Jonathan, can you hear me? I can’t see! Oh my God, Jonathan, help me I can’t see!”
Isabelle collapsed on the sand of the beach, clawing at her skin with her nails as if she had a mad case of poison ivy. Her eyes began to roll back into her skull and she began shouting nonsense.
Paramedics arrived within only a few minutes when someone who lived on the house on the rocks complained about a girl lying on the beach, screaming phrases like “Same world…” “New man…” “Nothing has changed…” while tearing at her skin with her fingernails.
When they got Isabelle under control, they scoped the area to see if there were any cause for such insanity and they found nothing.
No body washed up to the shore.
No sand castles to prove her story.
It was as if Jonathan had never really existed.
“This infection, this… insanity of yours has somehow slipped beneath the notice of the world.” The psychiatrist noted as she circled above Isabelle who was drugged beyond belief. So much so, that she could do nothing but stare off in space and listen to the words that were floating around her, torturing her.
“I didn’t kill him,” she tried hard to say. But Isabelle didn’t know if the psychiatrist had heard her or not.
“And then, and only then, will you shed your cocoon and become something entirely new. This is your second chance.”
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