LJ Idol Three Strikes: Prompt 18 — Swim Until You Can't See Land

[flipflop_diva]

Once upon a time, there was a princess.

Once upon a time, there were probably kings and queens and princes, too. Along with knights in shining armor and royal guards. Maybe some talking animals and pumpkins that could transform into horses. But that’s not this story.

This story is about a girl — a teenager, really — named Blaze. That wasn’t her real name, of course, but no one ever called her by her real name. Most people didn’t even know what it was. All they knew was that she was the girl who was born the night of the fire that ripped through half the island they all lived on. And a lot of people inexplicably blamed her for it, as though it was a newborn babe’s fault that some dolt had gone to bed without blowing out the candles, and the wind coming through the window that had been left wide open had knocked it over.

But so Blaze had been born under a supposed curse and had been treated as such ever since.

For the first few years of her life, she had been protected from the idiocy of the other people on the island by her mother, who adored her to the ends of the earth and would have given her own life for her without a second thought. But she never got that chance, as she was taken from Blaze and her husband by a disease that moved quickly and didn’t look back.

Blaze’s father should have protected her after that, but he was too grief-stricken to do much for his daughter, and instead she was left to be raised by the nanny he hired to look after her — the nanny who openly believed in the curse of the night Blaze had been born.

And so Blaze grew up, forever a reminder of death and destruction to those around her, until she began to think of herself that way too. Why else could she not even keep a simple flower alive nor only caught dead fish in the sea?

“Because no one taught you to tend to flowers. And everyone catches dead fish in the sea when they fish from that spot.”

That was what Fiona always said to her.

Some days — or really, most days — Fiona was the only person on the island who seemed to actually like Blaze. She was an old lady, older than the sun was what she always said, but she had the energy of a woman many years younger. She baked and tended to her garden and swam in the ocean. She was also kind and compassionate and funny and smart, and she cared about Blaze when no one else did.

“Think of me as your fairy godmother,” she would always say.

She made Blaze her own bedroom in the tiny cabin she lived in and let her come over after school and on weekends and any other time she needed to get away from her father or the horrible nanny or the other kids.

She gave Blaze books to read, so she could learn about the world beyond the island they lived on, and she taught her what she needed to know to fend for herself someday — how to cook and clean and sew and how to use her brain for numbers and facts and other things that Blaze couldn’t see ever being usable on this island they lived on.

“You don’t have to stay here,” Fiona would always say. “There is a whole world out there where you can be anything you want to be. You just have to be brave enough to start swimming.”

Blaze was pretty sure it wasn’t that simple. Even if she could swim across an entire ocean — and she was quite sure she could not — there was no way she could just create a new life once she found shore. Heck, she wasn’t even sure what shores there were to find. She could end up on an island worse than this one here.

Blaze had always thought of the place where she was born as more of a prison than a home. No one ever left and no one ever came. She had never seen the face of a visitor. She hadn’t ever even seen a boat off the coast. It was like this island was a fortress all of its own, keeping everyone inside it forever.

Except somehow Blaze was the only real prisoner. Everyone else was content to live and never leave, but then, she was the only one who was cursed and no one else let her forget it.

So, even though Blaze didn’t believe Fiona when Fiona told her she could leave some day, she still liked to dream about it, to imagine what she might find. A place where she could become whoever she wanted. A place where no one thought she was cursed.

She wouldn’t even have to be Blaze anymore. She could be whoever she damn well wanted.

But it was all a fantasy to keep her warm at night. Blaze knew deep in her heart that she was destined to remain on the island until she died. Some days, she hoped it wouldn’t be too long.

--

The storm that would change Blaze’s life started on a Thursday morning. Blaze and her classmates were deep into a test about the history of their island when the wind started up, making the walls of their rickety school building creak and groan.

By the time the bell rang, signaling the end of the day, the wind was blowing so hard that it took three people just to open the school’s doors, and then, every step felt like a struggle.

Blaze could hear the screams and cries of fear of the kids all around her, and then someone grabbed her arm. One of the other girls in her class.

“This is all your fault!” she screamed in Blaze’s face. “You must have done something to cause this!”

Blaze tried to shake her off, but the girl’s nails dug into her flesh.

“I’m not doing this! Let go!” Blaze screamed, but as if to refute her point, a blast of wind suddenly shot their direction, practically throwing the girl off of Blaze. She landed hard on the ground, her eyes wide and full of terror.

Blaze didn’t wait for her reaction. Instead, she turned and started to run.

It was surprisingly easy. For once in her life, she felt lucky, the wind pushing her along instead of being against her. But as she ran, she could see the swells of the ocean growing larger and larger, and by the time she reached her house, she knew what she needed to do.

“Blaze! Come inside!” Her father stood by the door as she approached, but she shook her head.

“I need to go help Fiona!” she said. “Her cabin is right by the ocean’s edge. She won’t survive.”

Her father looked at her blankly. “What are you talking about, Blaze? Who’s Fiona?”

“Fiona,” Blaze said. “My friend. The old woman who lives in the cabin down by the water.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Blaze,” her father said, shaking his head. “We know every person on this island, and there is no Fiona.”

Blaze stared at her father, not understanding why he was acting like this, but she had no time to argue with him. Instead, she turned and started to run in the direction of the ocean and Fiona’s little cabin.

“Blaze!” she heard her father scream out after her. “Get back here! You need to stop this!”

Blaze kept running, but her heart sank in her chest. Did her own father think she was doing this too?

The wind seemed to be growing stronger — trees were practically being pulled by their roots from the ground — but Blaze was still able to run. In fact, she felt like she had never run faster as her legs carried her to Fiona’s house.

Except no. It couldn’t be. What was happening?

Fiona’s house was gone. Where it had stood for as long as Blaze could remember was instead a garden of the most beautiful flowers. A rainbow of colors.

But that was impossible.

“Fiona!” Blaze screamed. “Fiona!”

She spun in circles, trying to find her friend, but even as she did, a spark of understanding began to form.

Think of me as your fairy godmother.

It couldn’t be true. But yet somehow Blaze knew it was. And she knew what she had to do. What Fiona had been preparing her for all her life.

Blaze turned to face the ocean and started walking toward it. She envisioned the swells taking her where she needed to go. To a new life. A new purpose.

One where she could be a real person with real dreams and real friends. One where she wasn’t a curse and the reason for every bad thing that ever happened.

She didn’t know how far she would have to travel or how long it would take, but she knew where her future lay.

Blaze entered the water and began to swim, her body gliding through the waves like it had been born for this moment.

Behind her, the storm thrashed the island and all those Blaze had ever known.

She never once looked back.





Fiction.



This was written for therealljidol Three Strikes Mini Season. It's the first of two entries this week. If you liked either of my entries, please consider voting for me! You should also go read all the other amazing entries. You can find them all here. Voting should be up Monday night!

Comments

[adoptedwriter]

Interesting how her name is Blaze and she escapes in water....fire and water...Cool story.

[erulissedances]

Yippee! That's exactly what she needed to do. Bravo.

- Erulisse (one L)

[roina_arwen]

This was wonderful! I really enjoyed it!

[ofearthandstars]

I like that this went in a direction I was not expecting! What a fun tale, I hope Blaze makes it and thrives!!

[gunwithoutmusic]

Aw, I loved this! :) I really enjoy the way that it ended, and it makes me happy to think that Blaze had one person in her life that didn't look down on her for nothing. I hope that she's able to make it to the other shore and start her life for real.

[dadi]

Perfect use of the prompt! Beautiful!

[banana_galaxy]

Oh to have a real life fairy godmother like that! I'm glad Blaze had the courage to just embrace the storm and leave everything behind.

[d0gs.livejournal.com]

I really love your take on this prompt. The ending was perfect!