"Knock, knock." Sarah calls softly as she eased the cabin door open. She sat beside Mya on the narrow bed, offering only her presence. Mya kept her gaze fixed on the itchy blue blanket, counting the repetitive rhythm of the stitches in the seams. If Sarah didn't know her so well, she might have thought Mya hadn't noticed her at all.
Sarah rubbed Mya's back, humming a low, sweet tune—the kind her mother used to tether her back to Earth when she had fits as a child. When Mya finally looked up, the silence broke. They embraced, and every tear that Mya had been suppressing finally gave way.
"Did I do something wrong, Sarah? I—I thought that I was supportive and good to him. Why-why would he—" She choked on the words, losing her grip on herself. Everything around her disappears and she cannot feel her friend's arms around her. The cabin seemed to dissolve; she could no longer feel Sarah's arms wrapped around her nor the mattress beneath her. It was as if a rogue wave had swept the world away from her. The boat tipped suddenly, a physical echo of her thoughts, before settling back into the ocean's sway.
"Mya, look at me!" Sarah cups her face, forcing her to meet her eyes. "You did nothing wrong. You are beautiful and deserve so much better, understand me?" Mya nods through a hiccup.
"It-it hurts, Sarah. It hurts so badly."
"I know," she pets her smooth blonde hair, "this will pass, I promise."
Out on the deck, lit only by the raging fireworks, the men are enduring a standoff. Archie sits on a short bench, cowering, looking small and fragile as a young boy. Mitchel paces in front of him, fists clenched and ready to strike at any sudden movement.
Mitchel was notorious for picking fights when they were in school, though Archie only witnessed one of them. The boy was practically crying for his mommy by the time they pried Mitchel off of him.
Mitchel calmed down quite a bit after meeting Sarah and hasn't picked any fights sense. The town has been breathing easier with him tamed.
Archie flinches as Mitchel turns to face him.
"How long?" Mitchel's glare stabs him in the guts.
"Wh-what?" Archie chokes.
"How long have you been with Mya?" He asks through his teeth.
"I, uh, I think almost two years. Yeah, soon it will be two years." He scratches behind his ear and stuffs his other shaky hand in his jacket.
"So, you're tellin' me that you have been cozying up with this chick for almost as long as you've been with your woman!" It is not a question; it is a death sentence.
Without warning, Mitchel closes the gap between them, grabs his friend by the collar and slammed him against the cabin wall with a dull thud. He grits his teeth and breathes heavy as a beast. Archie struggled, but he is no brawler, and Mitchel was vibrating with a silent, tectonic rage.
"You are the greatest bastard in all the seven seas! You swine! God damn you! And you fucked up my proposal too, you oaf!" His voice becomes deeper and rigid; the veins pop out of his forehead. He may very well bite his head off.
"Hey man, calm down, okay? Let's just cool off and talk about this," Archie pleaded, his voice cracking. Mitchel tightened his grip, making Archie yelp like a kicked cur.
"I should throw you in the ocean! Would that cool you off?" Mitchel hoisted Archie off his feet and hurled him onto the hardwood deck. Archie hit the ground hard, gasping as black blotches danced in his vision. He barely registered the sound of Mitchel's heavy boots stomping away into the shadows.
Mitchel reached the cabin and knocked lightly. When no one answered, he cracked the door. The girls had fallen asleep in each other's arms. He stepped in just long enough to drape a blanket over them, lingering to press a kiss to Sarah's damp cheek and smoothing Mya's hair before retreating back to the deck.
"Land, ho!"
Mitchel's voice drifted past the cabin door the next morning. Sarah emerged first, rubbing her eyes like a sleepy child, with Mya trailing behind her like a ghost. When they stepped onto the deck, the air was sharp and crisp, forcing them to pull their jackets tight.
"When did we get here?" Sarah yawned.
"We docked late last night. You were already out." He noticed Mya's eyes scanning the boat. He cleared his throat. "Archie was already gone when I woke up this morning.
Mya only nodded, retreating into the collar of her coat like a nervous turtle.
"Oh, honey." Sarah pulled her into a fierce hug. "What a damn fool." She shook her head and squeezed Mya tighter.
"It's alright, guys," Mya said, pulling away and burying her hands in her pockets. "I think I'll stay here for a while. I don't feel great. I'll catch up with you later.
"What!" Sarah cried. "But the festival was your idea! We can't go without you! Don't let that loser ruin this for you!"
Mitchel silenced her with a gentle hand on her shoulder and a weary, knowing smile. "Let her rest, babe. We'll come fetch her later. We won't do anything too exciting without you, Mya."
"Hmph! Fine..." she conceded.
Mya watched from the railing as the happy couple climbed onto the dock. She returned every wave and blown kiss Sarah sent her way until they were nothing more than colorful dots lost in the crowd of the shore.
Then, the strength left her. She fell to her knees, and the waves of tears she had held back all morning finally crashed over her.
On the verge of hyperventilating, she took a great, lung-burning breath and held it. She looked to the sky, studying the clouds. One took the shape of a bird with curious wings ad a pointed beak. She released the breath slowly, and as she did, the wind tore the bird apart. The wings scattered, the head turned to mist, and in seconds, it was gone.
She releases her breath slowly and as she does the wind tears at the bird-cloud. The wings seem to fall away then the head turns into mist. In no time at all, it had disappeared completely.
Who could have guessed, she thought, that an entire life could fall apart so swiftly? As if none of it had ever been real. Had she been living in a daydream all this time?
The harsh shout of a docker barking commands snapped her back to the present. Suddenly aware of the vulnerable she looked out in the open. Mya retreated into the hollow silence of the cabin.