Myah awoke with a startle, her sweating body clinging desperately to her tousled bed sheets. Her ceiling stared back at her quizzically, as if asking why she awoke with a gasp.
She let out a held breath, thankful for the security of her somewhat damp blankets, sunlight kissing her eyelids through the flowing curtains.
As she turned her head to check the time, her neck creaked like an old doorknob and she furrowed her brow and took the creaking pain. She prodded at her phone, checking the time. It was still early in the morning, with plenty of enough to ready herself to meet…him.
Her cheeks flushed, remembering her dream, remembering her flashback; remembering the merman mirage that failed to ferry her to death, instead leaving her on this island to wonder if he even existed in the first place.
But there was only one way to find out, and that was by meeting Aryn at the time he had arranged.
With her heart pounding heavily in her chest at the thought of him, Myah swung her legs over the edge of the bed, wincing as she set her feet on the ground. She was still in her school uniform, crinkled and filthy from…
She let that thought trail off...
She slowly turned to examine her bed, knowing exactly what to expect, and not excited to see exactly how bad it actually was.
Cream colored sand sprinkled her bed sheets and pillow. As she lazily tried to dust it off, she realized there was still sand sticking in the creases of her arms, her neck, and her ears. After a few attempts of brushing the stubborn sand off of her, she slowly stood and opted for a quick shower. She didn’t have the energy to try and tackle every grain of sand on her own.
After a quick shower and countless attempts at brushing every impossible knot from her long tresses, Myah soon gave that battle up and tied her hair in the messiest bun she could muster.
She turned to the mirror and gave herself another look over now that she was out of her dingy school uniform. Her skin was still bright around her face, but she couldn’t help but to hang on her reflection’s eyes. They were once so bright and charismatic. Looking now, it was as if she hadn’t slept in weeks. They were sullen, and sank into their sockets. What would Aryn think, seeing her like this?
She gently sandwiched her face between her palms, still in disbelief that she had a date with a merman.
Letting out another breath, she repeated to herself that the only way to confirm this experience was even real was to meet him again as he had instructed. If she stayed hooked on this disbelief any longer, she’d miss her only chance to prove he absolutely was just a figment of her imagination.
With this new determination, she gave her reflection a curt nod and started down the hallway.
She checked her phone again. She still had time to meet him. Opening her texts, she reread her last message from Rebecca.
“Went to the library and market for groceries. Will be back in time for lunch with fresh snacks!”
Myah slowly made her way down the staircase as she read, knuckles white on the railing as she traveled one small step at a time. She had until lunch to confirm Aryn’s existence and get back home without Rebecca suspecting a thing. That was at least four and a half hours, and she’d need every second at the pace she was going.
Tucking the cell into her back pocket, she finally limped her way down to the tall heavy door and swung it open.
The open door greeted her with three hard knocks to her forehead, and she stumbled back. Her weakened legs gave way to her sudden jerk, and she fell to the ground, groaning so loudly it was as if her skeleton were moaning in pain with her.
“Myah!!” she felt a hand that was not her own on her head, checking for any bruising. Then the voice quickly turned to a scolding, their hands pulled away. “What were you doing down here? Where are you going?”
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