Lost in The Waves

Evelyn Thorne was at a door that she hadn't stood in front of for over a decade—the door to her grandmother's house. After the tumbling crash of her art career, the only option she had left was to go back home. She knocked on the door, and it opened. “Evelyn! So good to see you!” Elelyn’s grandma said excitedly. “Please come in! You're just in time for tea!” She said, pushing her in the door. Eveyln sat down in the living room while her grandmother went to get tea from the kitchen. “I’m so sorry to hear about your art career not going as you hoped, dear." She said in a sad tone from the kitchen. “Yeah, I was hoping it could work out and I could be what I had always dreamed to be,” Evelyn said with a sigh. She had always dreamed of being an artist since she was a kid. She moved to LA as soon as she graduated to try to give her career a kickstart, but it ended up failing after she was denied from every job she had applied to. Everyone told her art style was too unique and odd, but that's how she liked it; she wanted it to match her. "So, what do you plan to do in the city, dear?” Her grandma asked. “I'm not quite sure yet,” Evelyn said, sipping her tea. "Well, I'm sure you will find something; you always do,” her grandma said quietly.

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Eveyln went in her car and drove into the city. Her hometown was a very small seaside town with just under 1,000 residents. It didn't have much, but it was her greatest memory. She had grown up here, lived here for over two decades, and now to be back after all these years. It felt good. She went by the local grocery store. She had remembered spending hours in this place while her grandma bought groceries; it took a long time, but the treats she would make with the groceries were worth the wait. She bought some groceries for her as all of her grandma's groceries were—well, not the greatest. She walked up to the register, and there was a vaguely familiar man there. He had short blonde hair and a slim appearance. She found him kind of cute, but that may be too soon to say for just a random guy she just met in a grocery store she hasn't been in for over a decade. ”Your total is $22.26.” The man said, pulling her out of her thoughts. She reached in her bag and pulled out $50. “You can keep the change, since you're cute.” The man began to blush a little and put the money in the register. “Have we met before?” They both said it at the same time. “My name is Evelyn. Evelyn Thorne.” She said confidently. “My name is Brian Hollis,” he said. Eveyln began to grab her bags. “I think we need to discuss this further, but maybe some other place than the grocery store,” she said, laughing. She wrote down her number and gave it to him and then left the store. She visited the art gallery just to see how the art was in the area. The art galley was mostly empty ; No art or people. There were some interesting prices there but none of them were really her style. She picked up a job application and then left. She then went to the local library. Along with being an artist she also loved reading. Like the art gallery it was mostly empty she picked up a few books on the town and some on art. Finally on her journey across the town she went to the museum. She remembered being here once but she couldn't quite remember when ; it was a distant memory of her's. She walked in the museum and saw a group of kids there and then she remembered. (Flashback) She was around eight years old when she went on a class field trip to the museum, it was in history class and they were studying the revolution. The town was a Hotspot during the revolution. She had a group of friends she remembered but she couldn't remember much about them. She came back to the moment and walked around the museum. She saw it was almost exactly as she remembered it. Other than a few exhibits nothing had changed. Really nothing in the town had changed. It was just how she remembered it even though it was so distant it felt so close to her. She went to her car and drove back to her grandma's house. “Hey dear, how was the town?” Her grandma asked. “Good, Do you know a man named Brian Hollis?” Evelyn asked her grandma. “Yeah, he works at the store, he's a nice kid. You know you two just to be best friends” She said. “I knew he seemed a bit familiar,” Eveyln said. “Yeah you and him were in a whole group of friends, the six of you were inseparable” Her grandma said reminiscing. “You remember what happened to them right?” She said, changing to a sad tone. “No, what happened?” Eveyln said concerned. Her grandma sighed and sat down with her and held her hands. “You six used to go to the beach by this old lighthouse everyday, it was your hangout spot” Her grandma said. “And one the waves got too high and all but you and Brian were lost in the waves, nobody knows what happened they may have drowned, they might still be lost to the sea today” Her grandma said. It couldn't be true. It sounded like some campfire story but as much as she tried to deny it the memories came to her. (Flashback Part 2) They were all having fun running across the beach as the lighthouse bright lights shined on the beach. The waves suddenly crashed on the beach larger than they normally did. None of us noticed this though and just continued playing. Then the waves crashed massively and swept away everyone but Evelyn and Brian. Eveyln tried to run and save them but Brian grabbed her hand and started running. The waves were becoming bigger and bigger and it was too late to save them. She remembers their screams as they ran,she wondered how she could possibly forget something like this. “What happened after?” Eveyln asked her grandma. “Well I'm sure you remember our police isn't really good, the best thing they could do is report them missing.” Her grandma responded. “You and Brian spent weeks in therapy. The experience was traumatizing for you both, they basically erased it from your mind in a way, that's why you probably don't remember much of it.” Her grandma said. “I'm not sure what happened to Brian he seems well off so maybe they did the same for him.” Her grandma said, sighing. “Wow,” Eveyln said, shocked. Eveyln and her grandma ate there dinner in silence after that. She needed time to process it, four of her friends lost in the sea and she just forgot? It didn't make sense. She finished her dinner and went to lay in her bed. She had to find more answers and soon she would.

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The next day she texted Brian to meet her down by the lighthouse that night. She wanted to talk to him about what happened that night over a decade ago.

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Brian met her at the lighthouse and Evelyn laid down a towel for them to sit on. “So I think I found out where we know each other,” She said. She started to begin the story but just as she started Brian stopped her. “It’s okay, I know,” Brian sighed. “They never fixed me, they kept on making me try to forget it but I just kept remembering their screams.” Brian said with his voice breaking. “I just couldn't forget it- it's hard to forget something like that” Brian began to cry and Eveyln began to hug him. They stayed up till 3am that night talking. Crying, laughing every emotion came out.

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3 months later….

It was the big day Eveyln and her boyfriend, Brian were at the town Square unveiling a mural Eveyln had created herself. On it were the 4 children painted and a beautiful beach with the lighthouse painted in the back and 4 simple words painted in blue in the center. Lost in the waves.