Free Guard My Heart by Aj Summer

sitting
on the beach staring out at the vast expanse of black water. Her shoes are off,
and her toes are digging into the sand. She turns her head when she hears us
approaching and looks up at us with a smile on her face. Just a sweet smile,
not an I-know-what-you-did-and-will-tease-you-about-it-later smile. I love my
sister, and she’s not nearly as annoying as I make her out to be. Okay, well
she really is, but that’s only because she has so much unhappiness in her life
that when she gets a chance to laugh she takes it. And sometimes it pisses me
off, but I get it.
    I don’t know how long we sat there, but eventually Jenna
lays her head down on my lap and falls asleep. When my back starts cramping up,
I lie back against the cool sand with my arms behind my head and stare up at
the stars. My sister sighs softly, where she lies sleeping on Jenna’s stomach.
We miss curfew, but no one comes looking for us, so we don’t bother going back.
When the sun starts it’s lazily ascend into the heavens, coloring the sky in
pink and light orange hues, I close my eyes and drift off to
sleep.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END
     
    It’s an old cliché but it works. Because the moment I
opened my eyes I was one step closer to death.
    I wake up to fresh sea air in my lungs and girly giggles
in my ears. I sit up stiffly, surprised not to find any sea creatures stuck up
my ass. My sister and Jenna are playing in the surf. They seem to be running
toward the receding water and then running back up the beach when the wave goes
out again. I can’t help but laugh at Mia when she waits too long and ends up
looking like she’s competing in the 110 meter hurdles. Yes, she’s lifting her
legs that high. I stand up and walk toward them, stripping my shirt off in the
process.
    The freezing water engulfs my feet but I don’t mind. The
way the receding wave sweeps the sand from under my feet intrigues me too much
to be put off by a little cold water, and I walk in deeper. I don’t run back
like the girls when the waves start coming back in. I stand and wait for it to
crash around me. My jeans are soaked through in seconds. I don’t even want to
know how I’m going to get rid of all the sand. I stand on my toes to keep the
water below my waist. Big mistake. The next wave knocks me over, and I’m
engulfed in water. I hold my breath and squeeze my eyes shut, in an attempt to
keep the salty water out of my sockets. I can feel the water tugging me deeper.
My lungs start burning. I kick my feet out in search of the bottom. For a few
seconds, I can’t find it and panic sets it. That’s until my hand hits sand and
I realize I’m floating sideways. I laugh at myself and maneuver my body until
my feet are firmly lodged in the loose sand. My head breaks the surface, and I
take a deep breath. I try to open my eyes, but the water burns it, and I squint
toward the beach. I’m quite a ways out, and Mia and Jenna are standing on the
beach, hands shielding their eyes, skimming the surface to look for me. I try
walking towards them but the waves are too strong and the tide pushes me back
out deeper. I’m an alright swimmer, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to get
back, but after countless times of being pushed and pulled in the surf, my arms
and legs burn with exertion. Every time I think I’m finally making headway, a
bigger wave comes and pulls me back in. I’m breathing heavily and I’m getting
tired. I can hear Mia calling me from the shore. Her voice is panicked and
shrill. A big wave builds infront of me, and I swim towards the crest with all
the strength I have left. I use the force of the wave to propel me forward and
paddle for my life. The wave pushes me within meters of the shore. I thrust my
legs out, and my feet find an even piece where I can walk to the shore. Mia and
Jenna stand waiting for me. Mia looks kind of pissed, kind of relieved, but
when I get to her, she bursts out