Shifting Tides

The water always calmed me down. It made me feel free and happy. Complete. Even when something was wrong with my life, even when it felt like everything could fall apart, being in the water felt safe. A pool, a lake, the sea, a waterfall… any body of water worked. Hell, even a shower was enough to make me feel better when I felt sick. The dystopian movies that showed a dry, waterless world scared me more than any horror movie would. How could anyone live in a world without the sea? Or a lake? It felt like a very sad life to me. Until the water betrayed me. **Three years later** “These are your house keys, and these open the guest house. These are for the garage… Are you ok, sweetheart?” I was staring at the horizon, lost in thought, when she shook the keyring in front of me. Shaking my head to focus, I nodded and forced a smile. “Thank you, Mrs. Collins, for everything. I know where each key goes…” I said, taking it from her. I had lived in that house for 20 years, after all. A low bark made me look down and smile. I waved goodbye at Mrs. Collins, grabbed everything, opened the front door, closed it behind me, and then immediately unlocked the small travel box I had with me. Aries came out with her tail wagging and immediately jumped up my legs, asking to be picked up. She was a three year old mutt I had rescued, and I loved that little dog fiercely. “This is our new home, little one,” I said, holding her close. She just settled in my arms: she always did that after a long travel. She was probably still sleepy from the medicine I gave her to make her more comfortable during the trip. The house seemed untouched by time. The living room was warm and clustered. On the right side, The L-shaped couch took over a large portion of the space, facing the TV, with a small center table decorating the middle. On the left, an archway led to the dining room, with large glass windows overlooking the pool. I used to love that room, but now I quickly moved towards it and closed the curtains. Upstairs, the master bedroom was perfectly tidy. Its window overlooked the ocean, on the opposite side of the pool area. I immediately closed those curtains, too, and set Aries’ little bed next to what would now become my own bed. I put her in it, and she closed her eyes. I let her sleep and moved downstairs again to unpack everything. However, when I was opening the second box, the doorbell rang. Curious, I went to the door, but saw no one on the magic eye. Figuring it was just a prank, I turned to leave, but the bell rang again. I opened the door, and looked down at a very small human. A little girl, no older than five, stood there with wide green eyes looking at me. She was soaked. “Hi there,” I greeted her, unsure of what to do. I was always awkward with children. But even I knew something was wrong there. “Are you lost?” “My doggie needs help,” she said, with her voice trembling, and her eyes filled with tears. “He fell in the lake. I tried to get him but I can’t swim and he swam to the middle where there’s dirt but not too much and he won’t come back. I was gonna get daddy but I got lost. Can you get daddy?” She spoke all that in one breath. I grabbed a towel from one of the suitcases on the floor and wrapped it around her, and she let me. “I can call your daddy. Do you know his number?” She shook her head and her hair moved all around her. It was dark brown, and she had mud all over her skin. “Okay, what about your mommy’s number?” “I don’t have a mommy,” she said, and I felt stupid and sorry for the little girl. Crap! Why was I so bad with children? “I have daddy and doggie. Can you save doggie?” She grabbed my hand then, and pulled me forward. I hesitated. “Let’s call help and then find doggie, ok? I’m sure daddy is worried about you. What’s your daddy’s name? And yours?” “Lily Hale,” she said, and I froze. “Daddy’s name is Landon Hale.” I went through my phone’s contacts and found his name, wondering if he still had the same number. With nothing to lose, I called. He picked up on the third ring. “Hello?” His voice sounded breathless, and he must not have checked the caller id, or maybe he just didn’t have my contact anymore. “This is not a good time-“ “I’m sorry to bother you. Lily is at my house,” I said to the phone. “Who are you? If you hurt her-“ his voice rose and got aggressive and I immediately shrunk within myself. I had to control my breathing not to show panic in front of the terrified little girl. “Easy there, Eric, she just rang my doorbell asking for help,” I said to the phone. The girl, Lily, giggled at me. “Daddy’s name is Landon, not Eric,” she told me while giggling and I smiled. “*Freya?*” His voice rose up further. “What- Where-“ “We’re at my old house. I’ll hang up to take care of her. Just come inside when you get here,” I said and hung up. Then I turned to Lily. “Hey, let’s get you into dry clothes while we wait for your dad, what do you say?” She looked apprehensive. “I’m not supposed to go with strangers,” she told me. “You’re totally right, sweetie, but…” I hesitated. Should I teach her that this was an exception? But then the next stranger could do the same. Yet, I couldn’t leave her soaked in the street. It was the beginning of fall, and it was warm enough outside, but it was also windy. She’d catch a cold. So I reached for the closest suitcase, dropped down, and opened it. Lily watched me intently while I rummaged through clothes — I opened my formal outfit suitcase — until I found one dress that was not formal, but tiny and tight. I offered it to her. “I’ll make a curtain with the towel and you can change-“ then I stopped. Getting a kid to change outside seemed creepier. I didn’t have to ponder much because a car turned the corner and came very quickly to a halt in front of my house. Lily turned and ran towards it. “Daddy!” She shouted just as I shouted for her to wait. But then the driver came out and ran towards the little girl, picking her up and hugging her so close to his chest that I thought they would melt into one. “Daddy, we need to save Doggy!” Crap. The dog in the water! I closed my front door so Aries wouldn’t be able to leave and ran towards the woods. Lily described Lake Aurora, and I knew the way there by heart. I heard Landon calling for me, but I just made my way through the trees until I found the lake. The dog was on a small dirt patch in the middle of the lake. It was shallow enough there that he could stand, but he was still partially in the water and he was clearly shivering. I wondered if he could swim back. “f**k,” I jumped, startled, when Landon cursed behind me. I didn’t see him coming. “How did he get there?” He asked Lily. “This weird animal scared me. I screamed and Doggie sent it away. But then he fell from the rocks and had to swim there daddy,” she said, pointing st the trail on the opposite side of the lake, where the ground was elevated and there was an actual fall towards the water. Poor dog. “I ran here but I can’t swim daddy,” she said and I realized she went into the water. Holy crap. The shore is shallow but then it drops deeply abruptly. The kid could have drowned. Landon seemed to realize that, too, because he held her closer. “Can you swim, daddy?” She asked, looking at the poor golden retriever. He looked at me then. “I… I can hold Lily here,” I said, wondering if he wanted me to volunteer to go pick the dog. He frowned, but then nodded and handed me his daughter. His freaking daughter! He then started to undress. “What are you doing?” I freaked out, and he stopped halfway through taking his shirt off. “I’m not swimming in my clothes. I’d rather have them dry when I come back,” he said as if it were obvious. It should have been, but still. Now embarrassed, I watched as he took off his shirt, then his shoes and pants. He then looked at me and smirked. “Wanna watch this last part, Ariel?” He asked, while his daughter focused solely on encouraging the dog to wait. I blushed and turned away. I heard him jump into the water and swim away, and heard it as he got back to us - slower, probably due to carrying the dog. I didn’t turn to see, but soon a very wet Golden Retriever was jumping on my legs and sniffing me. “Doggie!” Lily celebrated, and I put her down to hug her doggie. It licked at her and made her laugh, and Landon came close to us to scoop her up. “Thank you daddy!” She said, hugging him and kissing him. “We’re going to talk about you swimming and wandering off by yourself, sweetheart,” he told her, but there was no anger in his eyes. Only love. “Come on, let’s head back,” that he said to me. Then he snapped his fingers and the dog followed. We walked back in silence until reaching my house. “Uh…” I said, uncomfortable. “I have dry clothes and towels if you want to warm them up before you go. I didn’t bring Lily in because she felt wary of entering a stranger’s house…” I said, looking at my door. “I should get her home and showered. Thank you, Ariel. For keeping her safe,” he said, and Lily watched us quietly. It was impressive, honestly. Most kids were super chatty and never let adults carry a conversation without interrupting. Lily was different. She waved goodbye at me and I watched them leave in his car. It took me about twenty minutes to go inside. Aries greeted me by barking and jumping, clearly already fully up. I played with her for a few minutes, then moved on to continue unpacking.