-saying goodbye-

Samuel finds himself in a vast ocean. He is surrounded by nothing but water. All he is certain of is the bright surface and the darkness slowly crawling up beneath him. The water allows him to let go of all his worries. No one can find him here. He is safe from anything that has the potential to hurt him. He finds himself wondering why he has the ability to breathe. Shouldn't he be drowning in these waters of emotion? Above all this, he is completely naked. He has nothing to hide if there's no one to hide anything from. Completely exposed he swims deeper into the water. Inch by inch it gets darker and darker. A sense of fear grows within him as he is leaving the section of water that is lit up by the sun. Now entering the cold waters where the rays of sunlight do not reach, he feels something gently stroking his back. As smooth and gentle as it is, his body explodes with fright. A rush of fear almost knocks him out clean and before he knows it, he is almost at the very surface. He stops and takes a minute to look down before finally getting some air. A stupendously massive sized fin gracefully passes by underneath him. The size of this beast is indescribable. Samuel, almost dying of sheer amazement, looks back up and reaches for the surface. As he breaks through the barrier between air and water his lungs are immediately filled with crisp, fresh air.

Beep beep! Beep beep!

As Samuel slowly opens his eyes. He sees Summer sitting there on the same hard wood floor that he is lying on. Her legs are neatly crossed and faced towards him. She gently takes another sip of her coffee while watching him. When she sees that his eyes are open she immediately puts her cup down next to her and moves closer to him. She leans down to kiss his damp forehead.

"Another bad dream"?

"yeah, I think so".

"What was it about"?

There is a short pause as Samuel slowly sits upright. He stretches his arms and looks at the analogue clock against the wall above his bedroom door.

"I was frightened" he says after yawning. "I just can't remember what it was that scared me".

"It's alright. You're right back here with me now".

Summer replies to purposefully make the conversation sound dramatic. Then looks at him and giggles.

"Time to get ready for school my sweets".

Summer had stayed at Samuel's house that weekend as she didn't really have a place to stay. She ended up having to leave the home she was staying at because one of the other girls threatened to kill her. A mixture of hard drugs and jealousy is what made this girl so violent and the other girls didn't really disagree with her.

Although it would sound like one would be emotionally drained by something like this, Summer is still happy. It is almost like nothing can bring her down. The playful happiness only seems to grow bigger when people do things to hurt her feelings.

Samuel and Summer, now preparing for breakfast in the kitchen, discuss the fact that school holidays are coming up. They discuss how much fun they will have studying for their end of term exams together.

Samuel serves up some of the pancakes his mother had prepared for them. These are not the traditional pancakes made of milk and flour. They are not topped with creamy butter and thick maple syrup.

These are the type of pancakes that are made of bananas and oats. They are topped with vegan butter and a kind of runny maple syrup. It is served with a mixture of green tea and almond milk.

Yes, indeed. Samuel and Summer are both very serious about their vegan life style as they want to keep their bodies in the best shape they can be for each other. They often run along the beach together when they get the time. They feel as if they are in control when they eat healthy and do exercise. It is almost a form of therapy for them.

"There's nothing I hate more than Mondays".

Samuel moans over the noise of his brothers and sisters who are producing a soft and vigorous sound in the background. Like an army of ants, they move around and get ready for school. Some of the older boys try hard to finish that last bit of maths homework they have.

"Oh they're not that bad. It just depends on how you deal with them".

Summer replies to motivate Samuel. She is after all the motivating one. Always making the best of bad situations.

"I guess I'm just still a little tired".

Samuel says to succumb to her optimism. What would he do without her. If he didn't have her how would he get through the course of the day without being depressed about everything.

Their relationship in a perfect balance of good and evil. Samuel needs her to motivate him with his daily obstacles and Summer needs to support him as it brings her great pleasure. Her day is made time and time again when she is able to bring him out of a pool of sadness and into a large field of flowers and happiness.

So the weeks pass. Every day is almost a complete copy of the previous one. Samuel and Summer follow a strict routine that consists of working hard at school, studying hard every day after school and then going to sleep early to ensure that they aren't tired the next day.

Summer ends up staying at his house for a while as she is struggling to find a place to stay. His mother feels that the house needs a strong person to kind of guide them through this tough time and the rest of the family is simply fuelled by her optimism.

Summer has become a member of this family. She replaces the empty spot and fills it with sheer happiness. Sending her away to another home would be a very hard thing to do for this family as they feel the need to embrace her and welcome her with open arms. She also makes it easier for them to do their daily chores. She helps with things like laundry, cooking and washing dishes without anyone asking her. She is exactly what the family needs at this time.

One day after school her and Samuel converse about what they would like to do on the holiday. They do this while washing dishes after everyone had a small meal for lunch.

"I really don't want this holiday to end up like it did last time".

Samuel says to Summer while gently putting some foam onto her nose. He tries to look happy while saying this to block out how much he actually regrets what happened.

"You can't keep beating yourself up for that. It's your cousins fault".

"I guess but I chose to go out with him that night".

They avoid talking about exactly what happened as both of them would hate to be reminded by all the cringe worthy details about that night. All they can bring themselves to mention is Samuel's cousin. A very negative atmosphere is produced by this boy.

Everywhere he goes trouble seems to follow in his footsteps. He himself, just like Summer, is an orphan. However, he doesn't accept all the negative things that comes with growing up in the system to turn it into positivity like Summer. Instead he uses these things to fuel his rebellion.

"I have something I want to tell you Samuel".

Summer says while looking at the small Bible hanging out of his pocket.

"I was thinking about going to this event that helps small children in Africa by giving them clothes and food and toys".

"The only problem is that I would actually go to Africa and I will be there the entire holiday".

"well I suppose if that's what you need to do I'm not going to stand in your way".

Samuel replies. He says this to her while holding back the waterfalls of tears and sadness that almost cause him to explode. He chooses to let her go as he doesn't want her to feel as if he wants to prevent her from doing amazing things such as this.

"Oh my gosh really"? "Thank you, thank you, thank you"!

Summer is obviously exited that she will be able to travel all the way to Africa but she immediately senses the sadness radiating from Samuel. She feels kind of upset that she would be leaving him and his family for a while.

"I know it's going to suck to be separated for a whole week but afterwards I promise I'll come right back and stay here for as long as it takes us to find me a new home".

"I know". "I want you to go if it's going to make you happy".

He replies and blesses her with a rare smile.

Again Samuel finds himself in the vast ocean. Only this time there she is. Right next to him. The rays of sunlight shine onto their naked bodies. They smile at each other as they gently move their arms to stay where they are. There are no worries here. There is no sexual desire. It's simply a place in Samuels mind that he visits to be completely exposed. However, this is the first time he has allowed Summer to see this place of complete peace.

He feels his body swimming down into the darkness again. Summer follows right behind him as she is grasping his hand tightly.

They keep swimming down until they can see nothing. Samuel feels as if he is waiting for something but he just can't remember what it is. They stop for a moment as Samuel decides this would be the perfect time for them to kiss. While they kiss he almost feels as if he is safe from whatever he is scared of.

They start sinking and deeper and deeper.

Samuel sees a light coming from below him. they decide to swim towards this out of sheer curiosity. They do this while knowing that nothing can hurt them as long as they are together.

Samuel finds himself in a cave filled with glowing crystals and the most beautiful pieces of jewellery that must have come from old ships that went under during unbearable sea storms.

He picks up the ring with the biggest diamond and turns around to give it to Summer. However, she seems to have disappeared. Lost in the vast waters of his thoughts.

"beep beep. Beep beep"!