Chapter Text
Waves tumbled onto the beach as Dan walked along the shore. The soft sand squished between his toes with each step as the late afternoon sun cast yellow flecks over the cresting water. He sighed into the salty breeze that tousled his hair, grateful to finally have a moment to himself after the chaos of the day.
Moving to this island with his grandmother had been the last thing he expected to be doing this summer, but her mind had long been made up.
“I want to go there one last time, Dan,” she had told him a few weeks ago, clasping his hands as she reclined in her hospital bed. “I don’t have much time left, and I want it to be spent somewhere I can be at peace.” Her worn face had wrinkled as she smiled up at him. “I’ve always wished you could visit there, Dan. I’ve always wanted us to go together.”
And that had been that. Dan could hardly deny her request when he knew how right she was. She didn’t have much time left, and he wanted her to be as happy as she could be with what little she had.
His leave of absence from work had given him time to pack their belongings. An old friend of Grandma’s had secured them passage to the island on his boat. After hearing their story, a local fisherman’s wife named Heejin had been all too happy to let them stay in her spare room for free.
“We couldn’t possibly impose on you like that,” he had gently refuted earlier that day. “We’re already so grateful to have found a place on such short notice.”
“Oh, it isn’t any trouble at all,” Heejin had replied, giving him a kind but pitying smile. “We weren’t using the room anyway and Yejoon and I are glad for the company. Aren’t we, dear?”
Her husband had grunted amiably from his seat at the kitchen table where an array of fishing tackle was spread before him.
Dan smiled, though his tiredness weighed on him. He bowed gratefully. “You’re too kind, but I must insist. Grandma will be more at ease knowing that we’ve repaid your generosity.”
“My goodness, what a lovely grandson you are to her,” Heejin crooned, clasping his shoulder with one warm pudgy hand. “Well, if you insist I’ll respect your wishes. But if there’s anything at all the two of you need, you’ll tell me right away, won’t you?”
Dan had made her every assurance.
He had then stepped into the spare room to make sure Grandma was settled in their new—if temporary—home. She had smiled at him tiredly but shooed him off when he tried to make her tea, insisting that he needed to go explore the island and get some fresh air.
And so his feet had taken him here, to this beach where the waves roared gently against the sand and rocks. Thick clouds rolled overhead, their orange hue draining away as evening faded toward night.
Dan glanced over his shoulder to where he’d left his shoes. This particular stretch of beach was out of sight of the village houses, and in spite of the villagers’ kindness, he couldn’t deny that he was grateful for the solitude.
Perhaps the beating waves could chip away at the aching sadness in his chest the same way they eroded the craggy rocks year after year. Perhaps it would take the same amount of time for him to process the grief of his grandmother’s impending departure.
He sighed and shook the thoughts away, unwilling to confront those emotions, at least for now.
A structure in the distance caught his eye. He jogged down the beach to find that it was a wooden dock that jutted far out into the sea. No boats were moored to it, but it seemed solid despite its age. The wooden planks felt firm and unrotted as Dan climbed up the short staircase and walked along its length.
The wind picked up, snatching at his clothes as if it wanted to blow him into the sea. He clasped his arms around himself to ward off the chill as he continued down toward the end of the dock. The farther he got from shore, the easier it was to forget the pain that waited for him on dry land.
Dan sighed again, closing his eyes as he allowed the roar of the waves to drown out the exhausting thoughts swarming in his mind.
“Grandma,” he whispered into the growing gale. “I—”
A sudden and fierce gust of wind buffeted against him, sending him stumbling toward one side of the dock. His eyes snapped open and his arms automatically flailed out to regain balance, but just then his heel struck a weak board right on the edge of dock. The old wood snapped under his weight, and there was nothing but empty air underneath it.
Dan’s scream caught in his throat as he toppled over the edge of the dock. For a long moment he was suspended between the cloud-choked sky and the churning sea, and everything was calm and quiet around him.
Then his back hit the waves, and the sea swallowed him. The cold shocked him, stiffening his limbs as the rough waves spun him around like a pinwheel. His breath burst from his mouth in an explosion of bubbles, and the salty water rushed in to replace it. He gagged and forced his arms to move, kicking his feet until his head broke the surface. He managed to suck in a desperate breath before another wave smashed into his face, shoving icy water to the back of his throat.
Dan had never learned how to swim. He’d never thought he would need to. It was too late to regret it now.
Struggling to keep his head above water, Dan thrashed around, trying to catch sight of one of the dock’s posts so he could grab onto it. The salt water stung his eyes, making his vision blurry. When had it become so dark? Had the sea swallowed the sun as well as him?
A dark shape loomed somewhere in front of him.
The dock!
Dan’s heart jumped with hope, then plunged back down as he realized how far from the dock the waves had dragged him. Sucking in ragged breaths mixed with seawater, he kicked his legs, trying to aim for the dark shape of the dock, but the current was against him. The waves raked against him like claws, dragging him further and further down until his head was barely bobbing above the surface. His limbs were beginning to tire, muscles burning as the cold leached his strength.
As Dan’s head was bashed by another vicious wave, he realized he wasn’t going to make it. His cold body would either wash up on shore or be lost to the sea. His grandmother would be left to die alone, crushed by grief. His death would likely bring her own passing on even quicker.
I failed her, he thought numbly, even as his survival instincts were still rioting in his head, trying to find a way to escape. If only I had been stronger. Then she wouldn’t have had to suffer so much. If only I…
The current sucked him farther under, until the surface was just a faint glow amidst the swirling darkness that now surrounded him.
Dan’s helplessly flailing limbs began to slow. His lungs burned as the last of his oxygen was used up. Though he couldn’t tell under the water, he was sure tears were slipping from his eyes.
So pitiful, he thought bitterly as a few final bubbles of air blubbed from between his lips.
A dark shape moved in the corner of his eye. It was hardly distinguishable from the black water churning around him, but it moved closer to him, cutting smoothly through the current.
A fish? A shark? Perhaps just a piece of driftwood that had been pulled under by the waves. Not that it mattered to Dan.
The harsh burning in his chest and limbs began to fade as numbness spread through his body.
Almost over, he thought vaguely. No more pain after this. Almost done…
His eyes slipped closed as his body grew still, rocking limply in the rhythm of the sea’s movements.
Just before his mind faded totally into darkness, a large, cold hand closed firmly around his wrist.