Object Inspired

Sometimes, I wish I was the sea. The sand is smooth under my feet, the waves are crashing, deafening my ears to the children playing nearby. I took a deep breath and the salty air filled my lungs.The ocean has always had a calming effect on me, at least when it's sunny. Bodies of water best reflect human emotions in my mind. When the ocean is raging, it's dark and loud. Many people, when angry enough, are loud. Their faces become clouded, and minds too, from all reason. Rationale doesn't exist when human emotions are pushed far enough. Emotion never clouded my mind. Even when I was angry, or panicking.  

The worst day of my life was a stormy day, and my sister,  and I decided to visit the beach. We walked to our favorite cove, and sat under the lip of a small cave. My sister was five. I was nine, and fiercely protective of her, due to the revolving door of my mom’s sleazy boyfriends. One after the other, they seemed to get worse and worse. So she became my responsibility. My mom named her MaryAnn, but that had never suited her, so everyone just called her Annie. My nickname was Cassie, so we were a fitting pair. While sitting in the cave opening, we played every game we knew. Tic-Tac-Toe in the sand, Rock-Paper-Scissors, and our favorite Hide-and-Seek. It was my turn to seek, so I drifted towards the nearest cave wall and began counting. I heard her quiet footsteps, until I got to twelve. Normally, she didn’t hide that fast. I lifted my head and my eye caught the sky from the cave opening. It was darker than before; it was going to storm. If we didn’t leave soon, we’d be stuck in the cave for the night.

“Annie? Where’d you go?” I said in a sing-songy tone. I peeked into the cave. No Annie. It was small, about the size of my bathroom at home. If she wasn’t in the cave, she had to be outside. Annie never wandered far, she’d be close. I tip-toed quietly outside the mouth of the cave.

“Annie?” I whispered. As a five year old, her hiding spots consisted of skinny fence posts and rocks that barely hid her. I looked over her usual spots. Something felt off. My breath hitched, and I felt my hands start shaking. My head snapped to the left at the sound of a swift shuffle and running on sand. Instinct took over and I pushed my feet onto the sand and into a dead sprint. A large dark figure was running towards the sidewalk back into town. Annie’s arm was stuck in the man’s grasp. The panic rose in my throat. I think I was screaming, but I can’t remember. I wanted to look around to get help, but I couldn’t take my eyes off Annie and risk losing her. It began pouring, and suddenly running became easier on the packed sand. The man had dragged Annie onto the sidewalk. No one was around, and our town was at least a 10 minute walk from the beach. My head was pounding, and my brain was running through so many thoughts. Only a few stuck: help, car, and information. I knew I needed help; I couldn’t wrestle her away by myself. He probably had a car somewhere nearby, and I couldn’t let her get into the car. And information: I need to see his face, or something I can tell the police.

Author's Note: I was really inspired by the seashell, which was one of the first objects we looked at. Something about the ocean is so mysterious to me. It was pretty difficult for me to write an object inspired piece, because thats normally not what I gather ideas from. It was cool to experience a new way to get ideas, but it was difficult.