It was a sunny, bright, and beautiful day. Not too hot or cold. I thought about how I adored this perfect temperature while watching the waves elegantly morph into one another. My younger sister and I chartered a water taxi to take us from Venice to Bevazzana, where we own a small cottage left behind by our parents. I wanted to enjoy this beautiful day but every time I attempted a smile, or even a grin, my muscles wouldn't react. It was as if someone had severed nerves in my brain and my face was completely unresponsive.
My sister was upset. I could tell that shock had began to root itself so deep inside of her that is was transforming into sadness. Fourteen is no age to have a serious relationship, but it’s not her fault that her body grew three years faster than her mind. My family and I always treated her like she was older and more mature than the other kids her age. I thought escaping London for the summer and moving to Italy would be a good idea for us after our parents passed away. How was I supposed to know that both of us would fall in love?
We met on my fifteenth day in Italy. I was sitting on the edge of a dock, reading the only English newspaper I could find for sale, when he shamelessly interrupted me for directions. He laughed at me so blatantly it made me turn red. I was obviously no help, but I sat on that dock every morning for the next sixteen days, and he returned each day, making me laugh and smile, helping me escape the sadness I left behind in London.
My sister rushed into the apartment and came to me on the balcony. Out of breath from sprinting up 14 flights of old stairs, she was smiling for the first time in seventeen days. “I have a date tonight!” she exclaimed. “He’s beautiful, tall, and amazing. You have to let me go, you just have to!” There was only one answer I could give her. Her happiness was mine as well. She had started seeing him every night, and always came home before I was asleep. And then one night she didn’t return. The following morning I awoke to my sister staring out of my bedroom window, and into the sky. Once a beautifully delicate bird, she mistakenly rid herself of her purity too early, and shattered her innocent outlook on life. She begged me to get us out of Venice.
I went down to the dock for my daily dose of happiness. It had seemed that destruction and despair had decided to follow me wherever I traveled in an attempt to escape it. I had my secret weapon though. He found me every morning to relieve me from my misfortunes. Life had decided that today, no one was going to win. My portal from distress didn’t come to take me away one last time.
Waves crashing against the boat, salt from the water beginning to rest and accumulate onto my skin, my sister and I were once again on the run.
Inspired by “Seatime” by Byron Otis
