Chapter 1
With my hand against the window, I could feel the cold drops of rain pitter pattering against the thick glass pane. Fat globs water slid down the misty window, leaving dry trails behind them. I don’t entirely know how long I’ve been out here. Could be a week, could be a year. All I know is that it’s been raining the whole time. I’m beyond calling for help. Nobody ever answers anyways.
My right hand traced the cover of an old and battered notebook in my lap. The pages were yellowed with age, and scrawls of ink covered them. Maybe once the letters had been intelligible, but the ink had now bled down the pages. I stared at the messy handwriting hard. My handwriting. What had I written here? I can’t remember. In fact, I can’t remember anything anymore. Nothing except this boat, the ocean, and this notebook. I don’t even remember my own name.
The grey sky ahead and the sea below is all I ever see. No birds soaring up above, I can’t even recall the last time I saw something living. Just me and my boat.
I brushed my fingers through my matted locks. The long blond strands had woven themselves together, and were impossible to comb apart. Not that there is anyone to see it anyways. I crawled into my bunk and lay still, listening to the loud creaking of the wood above and beneath me. The ocean lapping against the hull of the boat created a soft rhythm which echoed my heartbeat, slow and steady. As my eyes closed, the sea sang me to sleep.
White morning light streamed in through the skylight above my head, and I blinked rapidly. The smell of seaweed drifted in from outside, along with another scent, an unfamiliar one. It was sweet, like flowers with a slight muskiness. I tore my body from my warm sheets and slipped a loose shirt over my bra. When I opened the door, the smell was even stronger, almost too strong...
"Hello, there."
I turned around with a start, and jumped back in shock almost immediately. A boy, probably about 17 was standing there. A boy. How could he have come here? He was wearing a collared shirt and a pair of black jeans, and his mop of black hair hung loosely over one eye. He had a slight form, and was just a few inches taller than I. I rubbed my eyes hard, not believing what I was seeing.
"Who are you? and why are you here?"
He chuckled, his dark eyes squinting.
"Why don't you tell me?"
I shook my head and closed my eyes tight.
"Your not real, are you?"
He looked at me with a strange expression on his soft features.
"I'm real as you are. In fact, more real perhaps. Look at yourself. Your fading away already..."
My eyes shot from the floor to his face in a moment. "What do you mean?" I asked.
He looked out to the horizon and ignored my glaring. "Your fading, and I'm already gone. What an unlucky pair."
"Please, tell me what's happening. Am I going mad? I must be."I begged. "Please, Ive been alone for god knows how long and you're the first person- or whatever you are, I have seen in forever!"
He looked into my eyes and touched my cheek with a cool hand. "I promise I'll tell you everything when the time is right. For now, I can't say anything. Trust me."
His eyes had such a strange look in them- almost hungry. He planted a kiss on my forehead, a sweet, musky kiss, and disappeared into the ocean air as if he had not been there at all.
