Under Murky Waters

“ISN’T THE SUN simply lovely today?” Mr. Langford’s eyes were shut, his hands rested on his hips while facing the skies.

The salty sea breeze kissed at Zale’s lips, wind caressing each and every strand of his eyelashes. True, the sun was magnificent that very afternoon. It was golden, round, and perfectly unobstructed for there were no traces of clouds in the sky. Then again, he hadn’t expected anything less for a summer’s afternoon. The season had always been beautiful near the shores of Limebarrow and it wasn’t any different this time.

“Yes,” Zale agreed, “beautifully bright and warm.”

Even though the temperature was climbing and Zale could almost feel perspiration begin to show, his words held an edge of coldness in them. Mr. Langford noticed. He only did because he, too, was desperately trying to conceal that same chill in his tone.

“It’s been a year, son. She wouldn’t have wanted you to feel upset because of her. That was a choice she made and Cordelia always liked it better when people respected her decisions.” A huge hand landed on Zale’s shoulder, patting it once with a cloud clap.

“I just hope that this time, death will no longer be cruel to her,” came Zale’s soft reply, barely even heard if Mr. Langford hadn’t strained his ear.

How long had it been since Cordelia taken her own life to save the people she loved. No matter how much time passed, how it receded and crashed like the tides of the sea, it wasn’t enough to recover what Zale’s lost. The day that Cordelia died, a piece of him died with her. It wasn’t because he was already in love with her but more so the fact that he was just beginning to consider her as a close friend and he had just accepted her as the woman he would marry in the future.

Perhaps it just wasn’t fate for their lives to end together. Their paths were crossed but their stars weren’t aligned to stay. In the end, Cordelia was still led away to a different future to his.

“I’m going to go below deck for a bit,” Mr. Langford sighed, gesturing behind him. Zale barely even acknowledged him before the older man left, cowering away to his room.

Nowadays, Zale no longer sailed for the adventure that awaited him on the other side of the horizon. Rather, he sailed because time blurred away quickly when he was out at sea. He could think of nothing better than to spend his days within an endless map, searching for another way to heal his tattered soul.

It could be that the sun was too bright that day. A ray of light caught Zale’s eye directly and he immediately shut his eyes on reflex. He turned, his back resting against the side of the ship while rubbing his eyes vigorously. When he could finally open them, it only further widened in stunned surprise.

Cordelia stood on the other side of the ship, a small but powerfully calm smile resting on her lips. She said nothing, did nothing, but Zale could already feel his heart speed up significantly.

“Cordelia...” He didn’t waste time, already beginning to cross the ship in staggered steps, suddenly unable to find the strength in him to walk.

However, when his hands curled around where her wrist should be, he was met with nothing but thin air. The image of her shattered to dust, blown away by the winds of the seven seas out into the open sky. His knees buckled and he dropped to the wooden floor with a resounding thunk. Zale’s eyes followed after where he envisioned her smile would be, scattered with the wind before disappearing into the trails of light left by the sun.

It wasn’t as though he really expected to be able to touch her, or for her to even be really there for that matter. In that moment, Zale was simply too relieved to see her that all reason fled from his body. Now that he was left alone on the ship deck, he realized that it was nothing more than a mirage.

She was truly gone.

Yet, somehow, the smile on Zale’s face was just beginning to blossom. Although small, it resonated with the same energy he saw within the image of Cordelia seconds ago.

Small, but powerful.

Even twice after death, Cordelia gave him the strength to live. That day, Zale buried all of his grief under murky waters and promised himself to never go searching for them again.