Jax Louren;; D4;; DONE

Here to stay
Walk along
Eyes in front
Never look back

---

The great waves of the ocean lap at the boy's shoeless feet. The ugly part of the water, touches his toes and covers it up to his ankles. The water moving back and forth. Each time bringing tidings from the surf. The rushing waves covers his lightly colored skin with some washed up sand and debris. The boy is mesmorized by the ocean foam thats been washed up with each furious wave that is cast out. The rejected. The unwanted. The dead part of ocean that has no use being part of the bigger picture anymore. It dumps it's contents willingly toward the shore, and thus, dumps it upon the boy. Over and over in a repetitive fashion. The sea foam that will never be part of the sea again, only to just be dried up by the sun everlasting rays.


The wind suddenly picks up, carrying itself around Jax, blowing his chocolate brown hair just enough to keep throwing it in odd directions. He doesn't budge or swat at his hair, though. Instead, he leaves it alone, allowing it to do what it wants. He has no use to worry about the way his hair is. He leaves it the way nature intended. Natural. Even his complexion isn't touched by nothing but the salty water he used to dive into each morning. Even though his complexion isn't perfect, he sees it as himself. Natural. No need to change. Why should he? Or for whom?

Jax watches with a keen eye. His wise gray-blue eyes seem full knowledge that comes from years of listening, but his facial expressions will say otherwise, like always. He will listen to the waves. Listen to the wind. His peers. His parents. Everything he takes in but never really tells. The knowlege that he soaks up, is his own and only his. His voice is just as deep just as his thoughts. Even though he appears to be the quiet type at times, he is quick to say what's on his mind. Sharp. Witty. A quick tongue will he bite when he knows he's wrong.

He picks up a shell discarded next to his foot by the ocean. He plays with it in his fingers, turning it every which way, spotting immediately the creature's leg that appears from within the shell.

"Your just like me. Different from the rest." He sets the shell aside, watching the creature suddenly appear. The small crab within exits from it's hiding place and begins a journey anew. Upon the sandy shore that Jax as occupied.

"The ocean is natures healer."

He hears in his head. Says the voice of the people that has been around him. The voice of his own reasoning. Everyone tells him that the ocean has enough space to contain every problem. Every fear. Every sorrow. But for Jax, he fears that his pain is far deeper than the ocean will be able to store. Death isn't something that is done and gone. It lingers. It keeps. It reminds the people around that it will come for you one day, ageless or not. Death will come. Just as it did for his closest childhood friend. Just right out of the blue. Right in the middle of the ocean. Gone. Vanished. Never heard from again. The once happy personality of Jax is gone, with only a faux smile left in its wake, but the joy inside, forever gone. Just as fast as the ocean that took his brother, his childhood friend.

"Time heals all wounds."

"That's a freakin lie... or is it?" He asks himself. That age old phrase is worthless. All the people that were closest to him are gone. Dead. Covered in the earth or submerged somewhere in the salty water that seals their fate. "Time heals all wounds..."

Once again, those words plays in his head. He looks to his feet, covered in the minicule particles of sand. Tiny bits of shell washes up beside is foot, one peice even grazes his toe. It runs against the skin, barely even a tickle. Earnestly he looks at it, his muscles arms dangling uselessly over his knees. His eye peering at the broken edges under the water. The broken shell. The fragment. A piece of something that once was whole. His heart resembles that fragment. The broken one. How each and every piece, they wash up on the shore. To wait out an eternity sitting on the sand, just like him. Maybe? But, maybe someone will pick them up. Perhaps, someone might be able to do something creative with the jagged edges. No matter what, the peices will never become a whole again. Always lacking that stuff that seals it shut. Takes away the line of imperfection.

The water begins its rise. He digs his toes deep within the wet and squishy sand, pushing it until his legs extend fully. His gaze now going out far into the ongoing water itself. He lets his long and scarred fingers grab a handful of sand within his tight and forceful grip. The waves are growing furious the more he sits and waits. He then releases his hand of the sand, the grains going back into the lapping waves. In and out. The water acts as though he breaths with the ocean. Breathing in and out. Letting the crisp morning air fill his lungs. Courage. That's the stuff he needs. The longer he anticipates going into the water, the more scared he will become. So, it's now or never. The ocean shouldn't be allowed to take away his love for it. The ocean only wanted to devour just that one sacrifice, he was just lucky it wasn't him. Lucky that the ocean spared his life for the rest of his family; his mom and sister. One question remains: would he become the sacrifice today? Would he allow himself to be swallowed whole and thrown about within its salty grasp?

"Not today. Today, is a new day. It's do or die. Live like it's your last. Go and live, damn it. Quit letting it rule your life. It's been three weeks. You live for the ocean. Go...!"

With that, the boy stands up, his voice giving him confidence. A smile and grin upon his face. A true spirited boy that wants to live; has the courage to get up and face the thing that nearly took his life away. The thing that took someone else's life. A sigh. A deep breath. Slowly but surely, he enters the water. His gray-blue eyes staring straight through the rolling waves. He will overcome this frightful beast. One step at a time. He stops though. Relieving himself of his t-shirt. The morning sun that rises in the east begins to prickle his skin. His less than perfect abs. His less than skinny physique. He scratches at his side, then stretches out his calves. Back into the water he aims to go, but first he throws his shirt, long and hard. The force of the throw so perfectly done with the strength in his arms. The years of reeling in the catches from the boat. The years of swimming. The wind carries it, letting it fall somewhere in the sand to be forgotten.

He rubs his hands together, generating warmth and nerve. Any second. Any moment. Then suddenly, he is gone! Deep within the water of the sea, Jax disappears feeling the release of the last three weeks. He is finally free of that fear. Free to move on. A boy full of confidence. Full of nerve. He won't let anything pull him down.


WC: 1270