The usually tumultuous sea stood calm and serene, perfectly mirroring the pale blue skay above it.
Alex closed his eyes and winced in anticipation of the brutally cold water he was about to walk into, as he felt the sharp heat of the white sand burrowing into the soles of his feet.
Taking a deep breath in, he opened his eyes and started to take a step forward.
Holding his right hand, gripping so tightly that he was cutting off ciruclation, was a tiny little boy. His grip on Alex's hand prevented any kind of forward progress. His dirty brown hair swirled and danced around his face, as the wind slowly began to pick up. The boy's dark brown eyes, open wide and filled with terror, latched onto Alex's, seemed to plead with him, to beg him for some kind of salvation.
Alex's heart sank as he saw the tears welling in that little boy's eyes, and felt the pain as the grip on his right hand tightened further.

"You have to be brave," Alex said, as he dropped to his knees, looking straight into the eyes of this small child. "You can be afraid - that's ok. But you have to face those fears"

The little boy was shaking with fear, the tears streaming down his face openly, catching onto errant strands of hair.

"Look at me," Alex said, as the boy's eyes darted quickly to the ground. "Look at me. It's going to be ok. You can do this - I know you can. Ok?"

Meekly, the little boy nodded his head in affirmation.

"Ok. Hey - remember what I told you, when you were little?" Alex asked him.

Very quietly, the little boy replied, "No..."

"You'll live forever."

At this, the little boy looked into Alex's eyes, the disbelief showing clearly, the fear evident in every inch of the child.

"No, I won't," he replied.

The tears were streaming down both of their faces now, the cold wind coming off the ocean making them even more noticeable.

Lips trembling, cold tears streaming down his face, Alex took hold of the little boy's face, and gently kissed his forehead.

"Be brave."


With that, he took the boy's hand, and stood back up. Looking down at the little boy, Alex felt his heart breaking. With a deep breath, he took a step forward, towards the now chaotic sea. The froth building on the waves seemed to be hands, beckoning them forward. The little boy, this time, didn't stop him - they both went forward, towards the newly darkened sea.

As the lapping waves caressed his legs, Alex was surprised at the warmth. It was almost as if the ocean was inviting him, and the little boy, into its depths.

Taking a few more steps in, until the waves were reaching his waste, and almost up to the boy's head, Alex plunged in, until the tug of the boy's hand prevented him from moving further along.

Staring straight into his eyes, the boy spoke to Alex with no sense of fear or apprehension.

"Stay here."

"What?" Alex asked.

"I have to go alone."

"But..."

"It'll be ok. Be brave," the little boy echoed Alex's tidings.

"Ok..."

"Be brave. They need you now." At that, the boy pointed to the distance, behind Alex.

Alex turned to look, but nothing was there. As he turned to look back, towards the boy he came here with, he all he saw was the sea. Scrambling forward, he was stopped by a violent gust of the wind. Shielding his eyes from the salty wind, he quickly looked around, trying to spot the little boy.

Standing ten feet away from him, submerged in an eery spot of calm waters, was the boy, staring straight into Alex's eyes. As Alex stumbled forward, his salty tears mingling with the ocean waters, the boy shook his head, and turned away, quickly disappearing into the depths of the violent ocean waters.








He woke slowly, at first hearing the regular beeps he had become so accustomed to, then hearing the feared extended beeeeeeeeeep.

The world around him took a few moments to regain focus - staring with blurs of white and green clad beings darting to and fro, finally materializing into nurses and doctors, all huddled around a hospital bed.

Alex could still feel the tears streaming down his face as the hospital room filled with yelling people, and that horrible beep that wasn't beeping - just a long, drawn out, high pitched sound. The sound he recognized immediately from years of watching ER.

The remaining tears blurred his vision further, but he saw - he saw much more clearly than he ever wanted to. Those big brown eyes, staring into his, as he saw the life leave them. As he saw the doctors and nurses do all they could - unsuccessfully - to save the boy in the hospital bed.

He saw all this, and did the only thing he could do.
He saw all this, and wept.