theres is a paradise in these waters [mww] day 3

Plans are slipping through my fingers, everything that I have wrapped myself in and hidden behind has proven delicate. I call myself a free agent, but I am so easily drawn to the comfort of aid. Something. Someone to fall back on with a warm soothing catch. Two of my hiding blocks have faded away and now it is hard to pack away the vulnerability behind a girl from District Seven. Her bite is sharp but one girl versus a pack of devils is no fair match. Damn I am useless. No way in hell could I have survived life on the streets, my lifespan will be longer in this arena than out there.

I take one glance at Torren’s body, life swept away so harshly by a sword. There is no wonder the Ripred worshippers believe in an afterlife, the likely eternity of nothingness is not an infinite fate to look forwards too. Meh, if death follows a paradise then, I am ready. If it is a hell, then I am prepared because I already share a house with the devil himself. If it is total darkness, then it is total darkness. It will be too damn late to change it.

I haul my pack close to the edge of the river, daring to stand close to where the finest inch of water meets the soft bank. The deepest body of water I have ever stepped in is the metal tub my aunt keeps by the wood stove. This thing I stand by is a total death trap.

Dropping all my belongings in a dry spot, I sit down while pulling the heavy armoured shoes off my feet. There is a daring spirit pinching at my neck, begging me to use this moment of equilibrium to at least taste something different.

My naked toes send a spiking sensation up my legs as they meet with the icy cold water. The thought of frostbite cripples me with anxiety but it is not long before my body quickly grows immune to the temperature. Rolling up my trousers, I dare to step in a little deeper, the water meeting just at the bottom of my knees and that is as far as this drowned donkey goes. I am not stupid; I know I cannot float.

I turn to the girl from Seven, a key to my survival and I have barely conversed with the girl. Well it is just me and her now, we may as well try to get along even after those sour words I vomited earlier. ”Hey Sapphire, Torren wanted to strip off earlier are you daring to do it in his memory and come in here with me?”

The only movement in the water is the little boat that seems to be following a circuit, I noticed it during the fight. If only I could swim, getting on that boat would really be a thrill. ”Can you swim? I want to get on that boat.”