Free Larissa Learns to Breathe by Ruby Laska Page B

doubts about whether it had been used as a path at all. The handholds were few and far between, and almost no vegetation grew this far down. If she tried to make it the rest of the way, she would be taking her safety in her own hands. And if she fell from here, she could easily injure herself…if she broke a limb, and couldn’t make it back before the tide turned, she could end up—
    Larissa shuddered. She might be having a bad day, but she certainly didn’t have a death wish. “Okay,” she called. “You were right. I was wrong. This was a dumb idea.”
    A burst of cold wind made her look up to the east, where a mass of dark clouds hovered along the coast. Where had that come from? The weather had been perfect, not a single cloud in the sky. She carefully reversed herself, and began climbing back the way she’d come down, vowing that she would reward the dog for keeping her secret. This had to be a greenhorn mistake, and she didn’t need the staff of Cupid Island thinking she was dumb on top of rude.
    At least it was easier going up than down. Bluebell barked encouragement, no longer pacing, clearly overjoyed that she had come to her senses and was on her way up. She stepped carefully, placing her hands into the hollows of the rock face, grabbing only the thickest vines, and—
    She had a handful of vegetation and was close enough to the top to see the whiskers on Bluebell’s snout, peering over the edge, her paws scrabbling in anticipation, when there was a great ripping sound and the plant tore free of the wall. She must have loosened its roots on the way down, weakening their hold on the fissure in stone, and now she was holding only the last few stems, wobbling as she desperately tried to regain her balance. Then the plant broke free, flying from her hand and spiraling down into the water below. Larissa screamed, Bluebell howled, and then she was airborne.
    It didn’t take long to fall, but in the split second before the water rushed up to meet her, Larissa had time to discover that she was quite full of regrets. Regret that she hadn’t tried harder to get to know people instead of outperforming them, that she hadn’t learned her way around Manhattan rather than taking the same subway back and forth to her office for six years. Regret that she hadn’t tried harder to make the dog business work, that she hadn’t taken the Latin dance class she’d seen advertised down the street, or bought that fuchsia teapot she’d admired in a shop a few steps away from the Chelsea Market.
    But one thing she knew in the millisecond before she hit the cold water: she didn’t regret Tommy. Everything she’d done with him, she’d do again in a heartbeat.
    Larissa fell in with a splash and the water closed over her head for the second time in two days. Just in case, she kicked down as far as she could, but today her luck didn’t hold, and her feet didn’t touch bottom. She bobbed up to the surface and her face broke the water and she gasped for breath, feeling the sun on her face before the water closed over her again. Her muscles were like lead and she had no idea how to stay afloat, and the more she thrashed the more she seemed to sink. Panic made her thrash harder as she struggled to get to the path along the cliff, but the undulating waves seemed to be carrying her farther away. She managed to get her face above the surface a second time and sucked in as much air as she could.
    There was a splash next to her as something hit the water, and a great snuffling sound, waves churning and water droplets arcing against her face. Bluebell! The dog was swimming toward her, snout skimming the surface, eyes bright with determination. She gave a single bark, seemingly intent on preserving her energy, and Larissa reached for her collar, terrified she would drag the dog under with her. But immediately Bluebell reversed course and started towing her toward