Of Water
Mara’s life has imploded and while struggling to stay afloat in a sea of depression, she wades out into the ocean. There, embraced by the water, surrounded by stars and aided by a man who is not just a man, she rediscovers her will to live.
Excerpt:
She was drowning in stars. The water lapping at her toes, eating at the sand from beneath her bare feet, was black. A black background which reflected the countless stars and galaxies from the midnight blue dome which surrounded her. Though she wondered at it, it seemed right somehow, that the ocean was darker than the sky. The ocean had long been both her sanctuary and her looking glass–reflecting her moods back at her.
She’d stood here, right here, the day she’d brought Payton home from the hospital. The sun at warmed their shoulders, their faces, as she showed her the seals lounging on the rocks, the gulls pirouetting in the sky.
The morning Jef’s ship came in without him–rogue wave his captain said. Tried everything–the sea had been roiling and grey. Smashing into the rocks, punishing them. Tonight it was dark, nearly still as if it was empty of everything but the star’s cold light–
She, Mara, she was of water. It was her element. Payton, however, Payton was of fire. Raising her alone was difficult, their natures the opposites of one another. It was difficult but they muddled through. Sometimes, when it was at its most challenging, when Payton’s fiery nature steamed all her patience away and calm explanations turned to screaming recriminations, Mara would flee the house, the person she’d become, and seek refuge in the sea. She would plunge herself into its depths, become weightless, free or sit on the rocks, watch the waves, the sea life–sometimes she even thought the seals looked sympathetic to her struggles. Or, one seal anyway.
They fought hard, but they loved harder. No matter what life threw at them, or they at each other, their love never floundered and their good times outnumbered their bad. They’d built sand castles on this beach, and bonfires. Memories. A life.
Then cancer had stolen it all away.
“This short story is both heart breaking and reviving at the same time. Cori Vidae has a way with words where she can bring you into her world in under 20 pages.”
“In all honesty I do not know how this author writes such wonderful stories in so few pages! They really are great little reads and Of Water was no exception. I actually think this was my favourite to date! As always it was fast paced but even though it is fast I still found that after I had finished it I still felt like I had read a whole story. The characters were well developed in such a short space of time. Her writing is always steamy but so well written!”
“Cori Vidae has a way with words and has written a compelling story with Of Water. This book is almost poetic. The story is a bit on the darker side dealing with depression but done in a beautiful way. This is a very very short novella that was very well written and left a punch.”
“A moving and sexy short story that packs an emotional punch.”
“The story is not all that complex but I think there is a lot more in between the lines stuff that not everyone would get in such a short story. I found it to be quite poetic in the way it was written. It was quite a haunting tale that gave off quite a bit of beauty in the few pages it has.”
“EMOTIONAL, SEXY‼ Wow! This is going to be hard to review because it is short and full of raw emotion! Cori Vidae’s writing is so good you feel every word she has put on the page her descriptions grab you heart and soul. Mara’s life is dark, sad with gut wrenching pain. The ocean is her only connection to the darkness with in her. Will the ocean’s blackness swallow her and her life or will she be rescued? Don’t miss this read. I want more it is that good‼”
Word Count: 2,278
Kink Level: Vanilla
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