AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What are you thinking about?” Margot asked with a huff. “It looks like something delicious, and you’re not sharing.”
I chuckled and relaxed against the pillows. “Oh, it was delicious alright.”
“No fair.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll share the rest.” I glanced at Dylan, and the light in my heart dimmed. “I’ll share everything but...” I struggled to find the right thing to say. “What I’m about to share won’t be easy to hear.”
Margot froze. “What? Why?”
Dylan understood, giving me a terse nod. “We’re entering the territory of bad things.”
“We are. I understand if you’ll eventually edit out what I’m about to tell you, but I promised I’d tell you the truth, and this is a part of it.”
Dylan reached for the microphone. “Do you want me to turn it off? I can just take notes.”
I deliberated for a second before shaking my head. “To be honest, if you can’t handle the next part, then you definitely won’t be able to handle the rest, so it’s probably best to keep recording. That way you can make the choice if you want to stay and hear the end or leave and finish early.”
“You have my word that we will stay and listen...for all of it.” Dylan gave me a sad smile. For the first time, I wondered what grief he had in his life to commiserate with the very mentioning of mine.
A connection grew between us that wasn’t there before, and I smiled. “Thank you, Dylan.”
Pulling out a fresh notepad from his satchel, he clicked a pen and quirked an eyebrow. “Ready whenever you are, Nerida.”
“I suppose I’ll begin by saying, please see me as I am now. See the successes I’ve had with Lunamare. See me sitting here, old and weathered with so many blessed memories. And take comfort that I survived, I thrived, I triumphed.”
“Oh, God...my heart is already hurting,” Margot whispered.
And that was the last thing I heard as I gave myself over to the past and prepared to survive all over again...
Chapter Thirty-Six
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Nerida
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AGE: 17 YRS OLD
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(Sea in Vietnamese: Bi?n)
“WHAT’S THE WORD FOR SEA AGAIN?” I glanced at Aslan behind my sunglasses, bubbling with joy to be on the water with him and not in a stuffy classroom.
Four months.
Four long, frustrating months of his hands and his mouth but nothing else.
School was almost over.
I’d already applied and been accepted to the James Cook University for my Bachelor of Marine Science. I didn’t let myself think that it was almost six hours away and would require me to stay in Townsville for three years.
I’d miss my home, my reef, my dolphins, and my parents.
But most of all, I’d miss Aslan.
Unless he comes with me.
