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~ Day Dreams ~
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~ Chapter Two ~
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~ Heavy Burdens ~
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~ July-Thirteenth ~
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~ Eleven-Years-Old ~
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~ Jake's POV ~
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Seeing Hazel's face light up with a smile was always the highlight of my day, especially when I was the one to cause that happiness. Hazel had suffered so much, yet it seemed like barely anybody else noticed it; I suppose that just meant that she hides it well—but I noticed it, and I noticed her. I saw the suffering, pain, the sorrow and the hurt. I noticed you, Hazel; I always had.

Hazel had always been strong, the strongest person I've ever known. My feelings towards her had certainly grown over the years, but I had always felt protective of her; the thought alone of losing her scared the living hell out of me. If I ever lost Hazel, my life would never be the same.

I believe that Hazel deserved a better life than the one she was given, and I take the responsibility of teaching her that there is more to life than the one she was given; not everything is black and white as she seems to believe it is.

How would I be able to show her that there's more to life if I have lost her so soon?

Right before my eyes, Hazel was sinking fast, barely staying afloat. I screamed for help, my lungs burning, but no one heard. Bolting towards her, faster than I thought I was able to move, I scrambled through the water, heading straight for her as she continued fighting the water threatening to consume her.

I didn't even think of myself, about the fact that this decision would also put me in danger... The only thought in my mind was of her, wanting to make sure that she was safe; it's always been her.

It was all my fault! How could I let this happen? Why didn't I stop her, why didn't I notice earlier that she was drifting away? I would hate myself if I didn't do everything within my power to save her. I am so stupid, it's all my fault... How could I have let her go???

My mind was focused solely on Hazel's hand outstretched, reaching for me; my small yet strong build allowed me to propel through the water towards her. The current was strong, doing its best to pull me along, but I was stronger. I had to be stronger—for Hazel.

I watched as I saw Hazel slowly begin to sink underwater, beginning to lose sight of her under the waves; her cries stopped. All at once, a chill ran down my spine as the weight of the situation was weighing down upon my chest, causing a tight pain.

I cannot lose her, and the water is trying to take her. I had to save her, there was no other way; nobody else was coming to her rescue, which meant it had to be me. I had to save her.

"Hazel!" I shouted, fighting my way against the current. My hands grabbed hold of her, pulling her head above the water; relief consumed me as she began gasping for air, her hands wrapping around my neck and coughing as she struggled to flush the water from her throat.

"Why?" Hazel choked out, beginning to sob on my shoulder.

I knew what she meant; I knew that in most cases, coming to her rescue would have been a death wish, but it had been my decision to make and I had chosen her. I had no time to argue with her so I said what any other eleven-year-old boy would say, "Hazel, I've got you and you're okay now," I said gently.

Hazel hugged me as I continued to keep us afloat, "I'm so sorry, Hazel, but you need to listen to me and what I'm about to ask of you," I said quickly. She was struggling for air, but she was definitely breathing.

Hazel nodded in understanding, listening to my next words carefully alongside a sniffle or two. "Okay good. First, do not let go of me, okay? You're going to hold onto me as tight as you can," I said sternly.

Hazel nodded in reply for the second time, her head resting in the crook of my neck.

"Good. I need you to stay calm and float on your back for me. That way it will be easier to pull you along with me while I fight the current, okay?" I said, looking at her face intently.

Hazel leaned back, biting her bottom lip and squeezing her eyes shut, blocking out the afternoon sun from her vision. With her back flat on the surface of the water while I kept her afloat, as her beautiful copper hair shimmered in the sunlight above.

A small smile formed on my face as I felt Hazel's weight in my arms. Thoughts began racing through my head as I struggled to form a plan to get us out of this mess.

Mustering up all my strength, I said calmly, "I've got you, Hazel, and I'm never letting you go again."

"This must have been such an ordeal for Hazel to go through—alone," I thought to myself as I gently wrapped my hands around Hazel, guiding us both through the uneasy waters. We floated around the riptide, the ocean carrying us further into the dark sea before we came back around toward the clearing.

It felt like we had been in the water for hours, and I was tired to my core and chilled to the bone. Glancing up, I realized suddenly that we were now in the clear; Hazel hung close by, holding onto my arm for dear life. Our bodies sloshed through the void of water we had been trying desperately to escape from.

Exhaustion overwhelmed me, the salty water stinging my eyes as they began to feel heavy from this whole ordeal. I can only imagine how Hazel felt while fighting against the ocean, the instinct to breathe is too difficult to resist as every fiber of your being longs for oxygen; her lungs must be burning.

At long last, my feet touched the shallow ocean floor and I used my upper body strength to pull Hazel back toward the shoreline. Once we were out of the water and safe on land, I led Hazel toward our willow tree as the afternoon breeze began blowing over the skin of my body, causing goosebumps to break out on both of our bodies.

I pulled Hazel close, hugging her for what felt like years before finally letting go. We were both cold, shivering through the wind as her arms held me and her head rested on my chest. I wanted to cheer her up, to make her happy, but I did not know how. The first thought that popped into my head was a friendly game of rock, paper scissors, so maybe that would help put her mind at ease...

* * *

"Hehe, I won," Hazel chuckled, her smile not quite reaching her eyes.

"Best out of three, hey?" I said with determination, raising my thick eyebrows in response.

"Hmm... okay," Hazel said, biting her bottom lip again, "But I'll only beat you again."

* * *

"I did warn you," Hazel said in a playful, mocking tone as she poked her tongue out toward me.

"How do you always win at rock, paper scissors, Carrots? What's your secret?" I asked, pretending to be sullen. "Wait, I know... you're cheating?" I crossed my arms while I looked away, pretending to feel embarrassed about losing to a girl. I was just trying to make her smile, because whenever she smiled, I knew everything was going to be okay.

We both chuckled loudly, the wind catching our laughter and echoing it throughout the atmosphere. Today had been more than adventurous, and in the end had simply become a troubled mess. Nevertheless, it was still our birthday and that was a cause for celebration; our traditional ice cream cone had always done the trick, and it seemed as though it always cheered Hazel up.

"Hazel—" I began, before Hazel burst into tears before my eyes.

"Jay, I'm so s-sorry... I'm sorry that I put you in danger," Hazel sniffed, her face turning scarlet. "It was stupid and immature of me to swim out so far, I lost track of my surroundings without realizing how far I swam. I am so sorry," she continued between sobs.

The weight of her words sounded heavy in her voice as she continued, "To make matters worse, I didn't get you anything for your birthday, yet again! I feel awful, I'm such a terrible friend!"

Hazel pointed her face down as she said the last few words, tears trailing down her cheeks as I pulled her into a comforting hug.

"Aw Carrots, I don't need a birthday present. You wanna know why?" I asked, looking at Hazel's face as she continued to stay silent. I wiped a fallen tear from her freckled face and continued, "Because spending time with my best friend in the whole world is the best gift that I could ever have, let alone ask for."

Hazel's eyes opened with surprise. "Really? Do you really think so?" she asked, looking bewildered.

"I am absolutely positive; there is no better gift than your presence, Hazel," I said with a smile that caused Hazel's face to light up in response. Then my smile faded as I thought about how I almost lost Hazel, and that scared me. A blank expression crossed my face as I realized just how much I needed her; how much we needed each other.

Hazel and I lay side by side, gazing at the beautiful sky together as Hazel continued to gently sniffle.

Mosquitos flew around us and crickets began to chirp in the distance; the sun had set beyond the horizon and was now out of sight. I hadn't realized that the moon and stars had become visible as dark clouds rolled over the dusky, dark sky.

Hazel's body suddenly jolted, as if she had remembered something important. "Jay, we forgot our ice creams!" she said, glancing briefly toward the other side of the beach where the vacant bicycle-stall stood on the beachfront.

"I'm sorry Carrots, but considering what happened, it's no wonder we forgot," I said gently, doing my best to reassure her. "How about on Monday after school we go and get our ice creams?" I suggested as my eyes met hers.

"Okay," Hazel agreed quietly, her plump lips forming a small smile that faded almost as quickly as it had appeared.

We aimed our attention towards a sudden and irritated voice that was coming from behind us. It sounded angry, and we were silent as we glanced at each other before looking nervously in the direction the voice was coming from.

We sat ready to spring to action, curious but frozen, the voice bellowing from what sounded like the parking lot of the beach; for some reason, I was beginning to quiver with unknown fear...

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~ Cheers ~
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Please, tell me in the comments what you thought about Chapter Two? 🙈 I'll be greatly appreciated, thank you, you very kind soul!
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~ Chapter Two ~
~ Dedications ~
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HeliiBoh
DebMorey
PeterPetruzzella
CaitlinWoodward9
DaniJones_14
ChloeMayerhofer
savvvy1998
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You guys should totally check out PeterPetruzzella short story! Lighthouse. It's amazing! Please also go check out Peter's YouTube account pure56 for awesome content on movies, tv-shows, and game reviews!
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You guys should totally check out ChloeMayerhofer story! Fallen! It's awesome!
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C.Morey 🥕 xoxo
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