Weather, Stone, Heart.

The sand burned my bare feet. I dashed across it's surface, slipping and sliding except for the few bits of hard, packed sand, chasing after the roaring wind and frothing ocean.

The sun was glaring in my eyes, enough so that I pulled on a sun hat as I ran, holding the brim over my face until the shade was a cool relief. Something about the atmosphere made me laugh and smile from ear to ear, the sun almost burning hotter in answer.

My childhood friend, Sammy, dashed after me until our feet hit the icy waters, sending tons of rough kisses across our legs as salt water lapped at our skin. The ocean reflected the sunlight even as it rose and fell and folded over itself, glimmering on the surface and dark beneath it. A huge wave crashed over me and Sammy once we were deep enough, all until we were sent skittering back to shore with laughter.

I took off my soaked hat and flopped it onto the towel we laid out, each of us dripping wet as we settled down and let the sun warm our skin again.

"It's a beautiful day!" Sammy said over the noise of the ocean, splaying out on her stomach. I laughed, grabbing a drink and laying down similarly, enjoying the feeling of heat crawling on my back. The breeze died down enough that I could enjoy the warmth without it intruding with cold whips, my whole body going lax with happiness.

It only lasted a few moments before Sammy was standing, adjusting her swimsuit over her chest, and said, "C'mon! Let's go back in!"

"But the sun feels so good," I said into the towel, pulling my soaking hair over a shoulder so my neck could be warmed too.

Sammy laughed. "You're butt is hanging out!" And she dashed back into the water, me crying in outrage.

As the day wore on, more people spilled onto the beach in dark speckling dots, stretching across the strip of sand and water unevenly. A lifeguard even settled into the chair that overlooked the entire bay, their large red lifeguard floaty visible from everywhere.

Sammy and I got so far into the water, that with every wave, we had to duck under for a second instead of jumping over it. The cold ocean swayed at our shoulders as we swam lazily, holding breath contests and splashing each other until we were sputtering with laughter, salt water burning our noses.

We both ducked under at the same time on the count of three, my hands pushing against water as I sunk to the sandy floor, everything silent and still except for the faint brushes of a current.

I held my breath, eyes clenched as I tried to beat Sammy, and the silence stretched on for what felt like ages. A heavy gush of icy water pushed against me suddenly, and from the screams I heard above the surface, I knew a wave larger than usual had swept over.

My lungs burning, I pushed to the top of the water, gasping for breath as I did.

As I blinked a couple of times, ears clearing of water as well, I noticed the shouts and cries were still ongoing. And when I glanced around, my eyes were met with red, frothing water.

Red - like blood.

I screamed, diving beneath the surface to try and grab Sammy, but I couldn't find her. Maybe she'd already swam back to shore, I begged myself, and began to swim away from the pooling surface of red.

Lifeguard whistles were blowing, and other people were similarly hopping to and fro to reach the sand, the sun suddenly hiding behind a cloud until a shadow was cast. My heart was in my throat until I could hardly scream or say anything, that feeling of something nipping at my heels forcing me to surge forward in panic.

I made it to shore, and turned back around to scan the waters, panting heavily. And there was Sammy, crying and sobbing as she swam oh so slowly in the deep water, a dark shadow behind her.

"Sammy!" I screamed, voice reed thin. "SAMMY, HURRY!"

The world turned dark and cold, a wind lashing around me as I cried out again and again, my feet taking me to the edge of the water but no further. I shook with fear, throat shredding as I screamed and screamed and screamed.

As snow began to float down, I watched as my best friend was dragged beneath the surface.

***

There were no more sunny days. There were no days at the beach, or hiking in a summer heat, or running in the cooling afternoon.

No; there was a constant snow that only sometimes stuck to the ground, nipping coldly at the skin of anyone who dared to face it. On any days that I felt virtually okay or fine, the snow lightened up until a still silence fell that echoed within me.

No one in the world was surprised by it, not when they heard that my best friend had been killed. Only I had been dumbfounded by the snow that had began to fall on a once-hot day, one that had started at the very moment I watched Sammy forever disappear beneath the ocean in a wave of blood.

Everyone did what they could to cheer me up, everyone from family to neighbors to complete strangers on the street. And it was only on my eighteenth birthday, a few days after Sammy died, that they revealed to me my heart of stone.

I was known as a weather stone; my emotions were directly transferred to the world through my heart, and the weather reacted to it accordingly. So I was not all that surprised when a blizzard whipped across the world at Sammy's funeral, no matter how hard I tried to be happy so she could have a sunny day to be buried like she deserved.

It lashed at my skin and clothes as I stared at Sammy's smiling picture above her empty casket. There was nothing of her to put in it. There was no way to properly send her off. There was nothing I could do for her, even in these last moments where everyone had looked at her like a departed soul, not one that smiled and laughed and languished in the sun. She was gone.

The wind and snow tore the picture of her away. All the candles blew out and the flowers that were already struggling to survive were torn apart and littered around.

"You were supposed to be my maid of honor." My eyes burned, throat choking up. "You were supposed to be with me until I grew old. Was that too much to ask?"

The snow turned into pouring rain.

"Why couldn't you just f***ing swim! I taught you how to swim when we were younger!" My voice broke. "You could've swam and I would've gotten you!" I screamed once more, voice near-failing. "I would've gotten you. And then I could've been taken. Not you. Never you."

The world turned still, the rain and snow and everything ceasing until it was perfectly still.

And I said goodbye.