Page 5 of Forbidden Knots

"What brings you here?" she asked, still curious as she continued applying sunscreen.

"Want some?" she offered, holding the entire tube in front of me.

"No," I simply replied, closing my eyes.

"Well?" she prodded.

"My parents divorced, so they sent me to my grandma in Italy," I explained. "What's your story?"

"Oh," she replied, "I'm just here on holiday with my brother."

"Interesting," I mused.

"Not so much. He's in his thirties, and he brought me here just because he felt guilty because our parents died."

I turned around to face her, slipping my sunglasses to the tip of my nose. "I am sorry," I said.

"Sometimes I wish..." she started, but then she shook her head, "Never mind."

"How did they die?" I asked, then lay back on my towel, blushing that I had even asked such a question to a stranger.

"It was just adumb accident," she said. "They crashed." Then she chuckled, "I blamed my brother for such a long time for it, but then I was equally to blame for letting them go."

"I learned a long time ago that we can't change what happened, but we can change how we feel," I whispered. "I am sure no one is to blame. Don't live in that blame."

"You are wise, Thalia," she chuckled. "My brother would hate you, but I would like to be your friend."

I smiled at her. "And why is that?"

"He just hates people who are wiser than him," she said, looking at me.

"Are you calling your brother dumb?" I laughed. "We can be friends."

"Okay," she said, laying down next to me, her pink hat slipping from her forehead. "Friend to friend, you need sunscreen. Your skin is almost cherry red."

"I'll skip," I whispered. "I like the feeling of the sun on my skin."

"Well," she chuckled, "you might as well get cancer from that much sun."

"Ha," I chuckled back. "Let's not think about that."

"Did you ever think about it?" she asked, standing above me. "You know... dying?"

If she were a man, she might have creeped me out, but in the few minutes I'd spent with her, I felt a connection. I sensed she carried the same wounded soul with clipped wings that I did, and we both harbored dark thoughts that needed some light.

So, I replied, "Never. We'retoo youngto think about it. We should enjoy."

Standing up, I offered her a hand. With a nod to the left, I grasped her hand and pulled her along as we both jumped off the cliff.

Her screams were louder than mine, but just before we hit the water, she glanced at me and laughed.

I closed my eyes, feeling the seabed beneath my feet and the bubbles on my skin as I hurried to swim to the surface. Opening my eyes just a little, I squinted to see the sunlight touching my face as I floated up, catching my breath, my hair in disarray. As I turned my head, a splash hit my face, and a loud chuckle echoed nearby.

"I lost my favorite hat," Sophie said, still chuckling. "But I needed this."

Turning around in the water, I asked her, "Do you often have thoughts? You know... about death?"

"Just sometimes," she answered.

---