Richard:Present
My hands shiver as I hold the sapphire ring over the water. The water’s reflection dances on the elegantly-plated chain hanging down. I feel the cold as I bring my hands close to my chest over the boat, the wind whispering in one ear and screeching in the other. The seabirds caw and screech as they dive all around. The jewel glitters in the light of the sun and reflects its hue onto the band of silver.
The boat rocks slowly at first. Then all of a sudden, the waves rush upon me and the boat rocks wide. I drop to the deck, hitting my head on the side. I watch, helpless, as the ring flies over the edge of the boat, then my sight fades to black as I slip into unconsciousness.
*****
Mildred:Present
The stars twinkle above the surface, glittering faint against the darkness of the deep sea. I stare up into the waves as I walk along the seafloor surrounded in a massive bubble of pristine air. It reminds me of an aquarium with one of those domes you could crawl into and be under the tank. The currents pass over me carrying with them creatures from the depths and trinkets from sunken wrecks lost long ago.
Fish with eyes as big as houses, eels as long as roads. Fish that swim with speed and some that are gentle or slow, ones that shine and ones that glow. With bodies the size of ships or even the size of shrimp. There were colors galore and spikes and more. Then there were dolphins and other fine mammals, I could only wonder how far they traveled. They danced and they played but at the end of the day they left me alone again.
Things claimed by the waves brush against the rim of the bubble I dwell within, my little sanctuary from the graceful wrath of the remorseless sea.
I look out and see a light fluttering in the darkness, dancing to the song of the current as it passes overhead. Yet somehow it doesn’t flow onward. Instead, it soon escapes from the pull of the ocean--or the perhaps ocean relinquishes it--and it falls deeper and deeper until it flashes and it lands on the surface of my bubble.
The bubble shimmers and contorts as the object presses harder and deeper into the large space. Soon it appears a spike has pierced my perfect dome, and as the bubble struggles to resist for a moment I fear it will pop. Then all of a sudden the object flashes again and pierces through the bubble leaving it intact and falls to the sand.
I stare in disbelief as the object falls through the barrier, nothing had come through with such force. Anything that swam into the wall simply danced through the air around me and passed through to the other side. I’d reached out to feel the fish and objects that came through like ghosts, but my hands went through them like air. It felt as if I wasn’t here at all.
I run to the patch of sand where it fell. I dig for a few moments before uncovering a silver chain. Tugging at it gently, I pull it free, the silver shining with light despite the darkness around me.
I bring the chain closer to my eyes. It seems familiar. Suddenly, I see the object on the end of it-- a single band of silver encasing a delicate, small sapphire. The stone glows with a foreign light as I pull the chain apart with all my might. Strangely my touch meets it and still it is solid between my fingers. In the time I have been here, nothing has ever reacted to my touch, my clawing at the bubble proving fruitless. It has been both my prison in a way and my home. I did have not known anything else--or I didn’t think I did.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
As I hold the ring within my cupped palms it glows and chills so cold it pains my fingers. My hands burn with the cold as they pale and crack like pottery, leaving behind only a bony replacement.
I look over myself in shock and gasp as the cracks cover my skin, threatening to shatter the rest of me. I try to release the ring to throw it away from me, but I can’t move. I try to scream, but my mouth is gone. I try to run, but my legs do not obey.
The ring continues to glow as my skin cracks and falls to the floor, fading away. My long hair which flows gently from my head like a bed of seagrass falls to the sand, and then disappears.
*****
Mildred:Flashback
My head aches as I open my eyes, the light shines painfully through the window, and the alarm rings in the background in an incessant beeping. I reach a hand over to wake Richard, but find only empty sheets. I silence the alarm and slide through my messages, which include a text from Richard saying he’s already gone to work and won’t be home until late.
I reply that I’m awake and will make sure to save some takeout for him. A little time appears under it telling me he saw it, but there’s no reply.
I stroll through the living room and check the messages on the machine: There is one unanswered call. Who would have called this early? I look at the number and realize it’s from Richard’s office. As I press the button to play it, I hear a soft female voice saying, “Hey Richie, I enjoyed our dinner after work last night. Call me when we can do it again sometime.”
That voice - I know that voice. It’s that new assistant of his. Why would she be calling about dinner last night? He told me he was working late.
Maybe he caught a bite with her on the way home,I suppose as I go about my day.
Richard has gone out for dinner with co-workers before, I expect it when he works late shifts.But why wouldn’t he tell me? He always tells me when he’s going out with friends, why wouldn’t he tell me now?Our relationship was always perfect, Richard goes to work whenever he can get a shift, of course that leads to a hectic schedule.He told me he loves spending more time at the aquarium, and god knows that Rodney needs his help with Kid and Diana.Richard had raised the dolphins from calfs when their mothers died to disease. After some time they had refused to work with any of the other trainers.
I ask him that night while we’re eating, I ask him about the call from the girl. “It’s nothing Mill, just a new student who missed dinner with her friends helping me late,” I expected something like this but its sounds like an excuse the way Richard says it. I don’t buy it, he sounds nervous as he tells me. Over the following week, I get more of the same; he leaves early and works late, claiming he''s been training the dolphins for a new routine.
A month goes by and we grow more distant still. I don’t want to believe it, but the signs show themselves one by one. I begin to worry he’s having an affair with this student of his. One day I find a necklace in the dryer at the laundromat that doesn''t belong to me while I pull his clothes into the basket. It''s a simple heart locket with a picture of Richard inside.It could be a surprise gift,I suppose he’s given me jewelry like this before. Though as I look at it closer, it reminds me of a similar one I have already at home, except this one has a engraving on the inside of the lid.
A tear rolls down my cheek as I read it stare a the single letter,C. Neither one of our names start withCnor, either of our last names.
I storm back to the houseboat and ignore the news channel I left on the TV as I go to the phone and call his office. No one answers, and the boat begins to rock suddenly, as shelves fall and dishes shatter on the floor. I rush to the window and see a massive wave approaching. The phone rings in Richard’s office, and I rush up to it reading his number on the screen.How dare he call me! The bastard’s cheating on me with some student, after five freaking years!In my fury, I rush past the phone and into our bedroom and I throw myself onto the bed in tears. I don’t notice the room darken, nor do I notice the waves rocking the houseboat from side to side. Then I gather myself for a moment and the water goes still, and everything goes black as I let out my last breath of air...
*****
Mildred:Present
The ring shines in my skeletal hands and I remember the affair, the wave, and the call I wouldn’t answer. I remember everything about those months of agony he caused me, but most importantly, I remember I’m dead...