Tide

"You really don't remember a thing, do you?"

The white wash crashed at our feet, the water speckled my trousers. It was cold. Freezing, in fact. I don't know if I've ever felt the ocean this chilled, if I did I wouldn't remember.

"No," I said to her.

She was toeing the sand, making little smile faces and letters for the sea to come and claim. The breeze was relentless and salt-filled, and it tossed her short brown hair around her face. It was a quite lovely face.

"Not even my name?" she asked.

"Not even my own."

She held her hands behind her back, pensive. I myself had my hands shoved in the empty pockets of my jacket. When I'd first woken up this morning with no memory of this life, the first thing I'd done was check my pockets for any tangible items that might help jog my memory. I'd come up empty handed.

"Why did you do it?" the girl asked me. "Ah, I suppose you wouldn't know the answer to that either."

The wind carried the silence on a frigid current before I decided to speak.

"I'm sorry."

Her toe-- in the middle of outlining the letter 'G'-- paused for a moment, then resumed.

"For what?"

"I don't know."

She huffed out an irritated breath.

"I just-" I began. "I have this feeling that I've done something horrible and I haven't a clue what it is. Perhaps I don't want to know. Maybe I wanted to forget."

The girl didn't answer me.

"Maybe," I continued, "it had something to do with you."

This time, she looked up. The sun had already set a while ago, but the remaining light lingering in the sky made her hazel eyes burn with brilliance. She had a scar beneath her nose. I wondered where it came from. I thought that I once knew.

"Maybe it did."

The tide rushed in again, drenching the hem of my jeans. She was spared, hitching up the white fabric of her dress.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"What's yours?" said the girl.

I clenched my jaw. This girl was as infuriating as she was beautiful.

"Why did you ask me to come here?" she demanded.

"I'm not sure of that either. When I woke this morning and realized I had not a thought of my own, I went in search of a phone. I'd thought if I could talk to someone, maybe they'd help me remember something, anything. But when I went to dial, yours was the only number I could muster. I didn't even know who it belonged to."

She laughed softly, as if in secret. It was random and confusing, and even without my memories I knew it was the most darling sound I'd ever heard.

"The real question is why did I agree to come."

"Please," I began desperately, "tell me who I am."

She looked at me with finite sadness. I could tell she felt sorry for me, but it was leashed by whatever I'd done and could not remember.

"I don't think you want to know," she said.

"Please," I repeated.

"You're a coward that erased his memories instead of facing the reality of his actions. You messed up and then left everyone else to suffer while you strayed into blissful ignorance. Now you can stay there if that means you won't burden us anymore." Her tone was bitter, but her voice was undeniably sweet. I could imagine her in a distant life crooning sweet nothings into my ear in that same candy voice of hers. "Enjoy your new life. Don't waste it."

I could not yet decide if I totally regretted my decision to erase my memories, after all I had to have had a pretty good reason. What I do know is that I regret forgetting who she was.

Just as another wave came crashing on the shore, she began to turn away and take her leave. The last of the sunlight was finally fading away and the sea turned to a cold pool of twilight. I looked to the sand where she'd left her toed scribbles. The letters 'G' and 'J' with a cross between them remained inscribed even when the water cleaned away everything else.

i dont have anything else to add to this story and it would take me. while to think about what i could add but i only have about an hour left of this so im just trying to get my word count in LOL. So yes dont read this part, if you so please. I'm not really trying to enter this as a competition but i need to practice my writing so im trying to make entries every single week. Anyways, to fill the writing requirement I'll go on a ramble. I think i might have covid at the moment HAHA which is unfortunate. However I am not much of an active person to begin with, so it does not hinder my schedule so drastically. It just makes for a sluggish brain and a sore body. I'm trying to finish my painting but I get unmotivated easily. That part is un-covid-related, im just lazy on that account. And to finish, lets see.... I used the initials of myself and someone I am fond of. In this story, I would be the J and he G. I will say no more on this matter because I am a coward and i refuse to acknowledge any true feeling I may have. Please do not remind me either. I did not disclose a gender of our narrarator however, so they may be whomever you'd like. I hope this (very) short story was enjoyable to read as it was to write. I'm learning to be more spontaneous this year and go out of my comfort zone in writing. Some authors I will be studying more is Leigh Bardugo, Laini Taylor, Maggie Steifvater, and Stephanie Meyer's Midnight Sun. I just noticed they're all women. Wonderful. Happy New Year.