Image by bluebird6 from Pixabay
Minutes went by while Thomas kept on swimming, though it felt like hours, even days to him. Time seemed to slow down while you're under water, and Thomas briefly thought that it wouldn't be so bad to stay just a little while longer, the peace and privacy of his surroundings slowly enveloping him until...
Plop!
Having felt something briefly graze his left shoulder, Thomas was jolted out of his reverie.
Plop!
There it went again, just near his right temple, something was slowly sinking to the bottom of the pool. For a moment, Thomas thought it was glowing, but before he could get a closer look on the foreign object, another "Plop!" broke the surface of the water and hit him on his right leg.
Suddenly feeling a sense of dread, and briefly thinking it could be a hailstorm, Thomas just about reached the surface and took a gulp of air, when...
Thud!
Something hit him square on the chest! Instinctively holding the aformentioned area, he came into contact with something hard, albeit a little fuzzy. Opening his palm to get a closer look, he saw what looked like an oval rock which was faintly glowing red. Curious as to what was in his hand, he looked around to see who might've thrown away such an object when, just beyond the fence, he saw a young girl wearing a bright-red scarf that covered the lower half of her face. She was still clutching a similar object in her small hands when she suddenly ran off.
He was about to call out to her but thought best of it when he lost sight of her as she turned a corner. Shaking his head and deciding that was enough swimming for the day, Thomas decided to head back home. He stopped however, when he remembered the other 3 rocks that could still be at the bottom of the pool and opted to dive back down to retrieve them.
On the walk back home, Thomas couldn't help but wonder about the oddly colored rocks in his pockets, they were the same in size and shape, however they all varied in colors. He was right about the first one he saw, glowing a faint blue even on the bottom of the pool, though he was shocked to find that it was rough to the touch.
The other rock was of a greenish color that was a bit slimy, while the last one was of a translucent white. The latter proved to be difficult to pick up, as it was like grasping into thin air, if not for the slimy-green rock, he wouldn't have been able to get it.
Thomas was suddenly pulled back from his thoughts by the scent of freshly-baked bread being sold near the park entrance. Stopping in front of the stall, he was just about to reach into his pants-pocket to get some change when he realized he only felt course fabric.
Before he could think about the whereabouts of his wallet, he was jolted by the sudden barrage of sounds that went "Beep! Beep! Beep!" pass the street. Shaken by the overwhelming onslaught to his senses, Thomas realized his throat was feeling dry and that he needed a drink.
He was just about to head to the drinking fountains in the park when a flutter of something bright-red caught his eye. Seeing as it was the same girl from the pool, he decided to follow her just so he could give back the colored rocks that seem to be weighing him down now, when moments ago they didn't seem to weigh much.
Thomas followed the young girl till she stopped by the pier built on the beach. Instead of sand, the beach was filled with rocks of all size, made smooth with the waves from the ocean. The place was quite popular to both locals and tourists alike, as the rocks have been said to contain healing energies.
Looking around though, Thomas realized that the place was surprisingly deserted. "Unlike the last time I've been here... I was with someone..." Thomas thought.
"Do you remember who you were with, the last time you were here?" The young girl asked out of the blue, as if reading his mind.
Thomas was about to reply when the young girl turned around, her face visible now that the scarf had come undone. Thomas knew that face; He'd seen it before. Beside him, in a car, laughing as she was holding the rocks she took from the beach before... A honk. Tires screeching. Screaming. A loud crash... and then nothing.
Thomas jolted as the young girl took his hand and pressed the smooth rock into his palm, it glowed a pink color and was pulsing as if it was alive. "You should wake up now." The girl said, "It's time you open your eyes, dad."
This girl, not more than 6 years old, his daughter, Cassie.
Waking up, Thomas was greeted by bright lights and for a second, he thought that he may as well be dead. "But the dead shouldn't feel so thirsty..." he thought, before he noticed the beeping sounds coming from the various machines in the room and then a woman's voice, "Oh my God! He's awake! Thomas is awake! Call the doctor!"
He felt her before he actually got a good look at her. She was crying as she held his hand, while she caressed his cheek with the other. "Freshly-baked bread. That's what her hands smell like, even in a place like this." Thomas briefly thought as he croaked out, "Cassie...?"
Thomas never thought that the woman could cry any harder, "I'm sorry Thomas... It's been 2 years... Cassie, she's..." and cry she did as she leaned forward on him.
As he felt the wet, warm tears soaking into his clothes, he also felt his own sliding slowly down his cheeks.
Of course, he remembered.
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