Endless Summer

Warm Winter →
Endless Summer is Marianna's Personal Story.
== Prologue: Nightmare==
“You’re lying.”
A firework flew up into the dark sky, and exploded. And then a sigh. “How many more times do I have to say it before you believe me? Your father’s dead.” Said a woman as more fireworks flew into the sky. 
A younger voice spoke out. “I’m not a child anymore! You guys got divorced, right? I already knew that. Today is also…” But the girl got cut off by the stern-sounding older woman. “Is this why you’re going to Hazlitt?”
“I’m not a kid anymore.” The girl said, clutching her hand tightly. The scene changed to the same girl, on a diving board, in front of a pool as the words she was speaking were still sounding. “You can’t tell me what I can or can’t do. I will decide everything for myself.” The girl on the diving board put her hands straight to both her sides. Her eyes were closed, but then they opened as the girl’s echoing voice said, “I'm going to school in Hazlitt!”
The scene changed back to the dark, firework show, with the girl clutching the wooden railing, before releasing it. Then the voice of the woman came. “Then go. I always knew… this day would come.”
The girl’s eyes widened as she saw this huge tsunami, swirling towards them, but the woman kept on speaking. “It’s just that I never wanted to believe it.” The tsunami kept on getting worse and worse, almost like it was lifting off of the ground. The sea looked uneasy, waves coming in. Inside the tsunami was a cube, almost looking as if the tsunami was protecting it from danger.
The scene changed back to her on the diving board as she leaped and fell into the pool, with the mother’s words behind it. “Go start your new life…” Then the scene changed back to the tsunami, as it started to come down on the city. “A life without me.” 
Then it changed again to the girl under the sea, as the mother’s past words echoed. “I’m not going to let you go to Hazlitt.” Then it changed yet again to a house, where the woman and girl were on opposing sides of a table. “Don’t even think about it.” 
The girl grew furious and slammed her hands on the table. “You never understood me! What I like or what I really want!” She stormed to the door, holding its handle. “Also, I hate green peppers! I’ve said it so many times!” And then, the door slammed shut as the scene changed back to the water, bubbles appearing. And then the voice of another girl. “Come on out!” The older looking girl was there, by the pool, holding her hand out. “You’ve been holding your breath for too long!”
Then an older woman spoke, a woman who was sitting in a chair by the pool. “It wasn’t easy for your mother to raise you by herself. Go talk to her. Try to be more considerate, okay?”
Then the scene changed, but this time… it was different. An unknown girl was there, speaking, on a white screen. “Obsession sometimes is a scary thing.” Then it changed again to a clock. Tik, tok, tik, tok. As then everything from before was flashing, until the tsunami was going to hit the city. The girl looked scared as she looked towards the huge tsunami, and then it zoomed into her eyes, before showing her, in the ocean, holding one hand high, as if she was reaching out for something.
The voice of the unknown girl from before spoke. “An obsession so strong, it becomes your armor…”
The girl was down, at the bottom of the sea. But she looked.. different, even as she was in a fetal position. Her appearance changed. She didn’t look.. human, if the tail didn’t give it away.
“…trapping you forever.” Were the final words of the unknown girl.
==Early Summer==
===Act 1: The Beginning ===
A girl woke up from her sleep with a startled expression on her face, as she was breathing heavily. “Hah… hah…” This was Marianna, just a small town girl, who lived in a house by the sea.
Marianna picked up her phone, which read ‘7 a.m., June 7th. “Was that… was that a nightmare? Is it because I’ve been arguing with mom about college? …maybe it’s just stress.” Marianna picks up the application form on the bedside table. “I should talk to mom about studying in Hazlitt… again.”
Marianna walked out of her bedroom, with an application form in hand. She heard a woman, her mother, arguing on the phone with someone. “I’ve told you and told you, don’t send *** again, we don’t…”
‘Who is mom talking to?’ Marianna thought. “Just let us live our lives. As ***, you’re dead to us.” The woman spoke on the phone. “We won’t talk again.”
‘This feels so familiar. Did I dream about this last night?’ Marianna thought to herself. She enters the dining room with her head down. There’s a steaming plate of fried fish with rice and greens on the table. ‘! Same breakfast as in the dream…’
“Daydreaming this early in the morning? Hurry up and eat.” The woman spoke. This was Nori, Marianna’s mother. Marianna sits at the table, and starts pushing around the green peppers on her plate without really thinking. “Mom, I need to talk to you about something. My application…”
“You’re not going to Hazlitt. Don’t even think about it.” Nori interrupts. Marianna purses her lips and grips the application form tightly. “I really want to go there. It’s a better school, I’ll have better opportunities. Half the kids at school have applied to go to Hazlitt already. Mom, it’s my future, this is what I want, please just let me go?”
“What future? You think one school can determine the course of your whole life?” Nori reprimanded as Marianna grew quiet. “Stop being so pigheaded, you know we don’t have the money for you to go anywhere out of Estero. I won’t sign the form. Finish your breakfast and go to class.” With that, Nori adds a few more mouthfuls of green peppers to Marianna’s bowl. “Don’t be picky, finish your vegetables.”
Whack! Marianna smacks the table and stands up. The clock on the table, shaking a little, reads 7:36 a.m. “I can’t take this! You never understood me! What I like or what I really want! Also, I hate green peppers! I’ve said it so many times!” Marianna storms out, slamming the door, the clock on the table ticking away.
===Act 1: Dreaming?===
Annoyed, Marianna runs all the way to the swimming pool and climbs onto the diving platform, standing there, staring blankly at the pool. With a few deep breaths, Marianna calms herself down, but a strange uneasy feeling fills her chest. “I feel like this has happened before… This is just like the dream. Where is this coming from? If I’m not dreaming, it should be 9 o’clock…” Marianna looks up at the clock on the wall. 9:49 a.m. “Just like in the dream…”
“It didn’t feel like a dream, it feels like I’m living through the same day over and over again. No, no, I’m thinking too much. Time can’t go backwards.” Marianna gives herself a hard slap on the face, takes a deep breath, and dives.
Moments later, Marianna heard a girl’s voice. “Come on out! You’ve been holding your breath for too long!”
Marianna blubbed up to the surface of the water. The girl looked at her in worry. “You okay?” Marianna responded with a low, “I’m fine.”
“Why’d you come in early? Coach isn’t even going to be here today.”
“Coach isn’t coming?”
“She’s on vacation! We’re supposed to be getting on with our own training. You forgot?”
“Oh… I think I remember her saying that.” Marianna stares blankly at the window-glass. The sunlight is intense, even through the windows of the swimming pool building… It's sweltering. Scenes from the dream float through Marianna’s mind. “I think she’ll come anyway.”
“What are you talking about? Has worrying about your college application rotted your brain?” The girl asked, but Marianna responded with an, “I’m fine. Really.”
“How’s it going with the school application? Deadline’s coming up.” The girl asked.
“No change.”
“Your mom still won’t agree?”
“Yep. Nothing I can say seems to change her mind. I don’t know what’s going on with her. She’s been leaving early in the morning, not coming back until late. It’s hard to find the time to talk about it, and as soon as I mention Hazlitt, she brushes me off, this excuse and that excuse. Tells me off, even. She’s completely against it.”
“Why’s she being like this? Your mom’s usually really chill.”
“I don’t know. Feels like she’s changed these past two months, like she’s going to lash out no matter what I do.”
“Maybe she’s having trouble at work?”
“Doesn’t give her the right to take it out on me. Does she even think about how it makes me feel? I’m already eighteen. I know what I want to do and I should be allowed to make my own decisions.”
“Mari, you need to be honest with your mom, you can’t keep coming and training in secret. Who knows, maybe she’ll support you once she understands you better?”
Marianna grew quiet as she heard a woman’s voice. “Hey… what are you two whispering about?”
The girl looked at the woman in shock. “Coach, how come you’re here!”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t come back early to check up on you. That said, you two having a nice chat?” Coach May said in a friendly tone.
“Chat!… No… We’re… We’re discussing diving techniques! Right, Mari?”
Marianna snapped out of her daze. “Oh… yeah.”
“Fair enough. Do the work, put in the training, don’t let up.” Coach May said, which made the girl respond with a nice, “No problem, Coach!”
“Me too, I’ll get back to it.” Marianna mumbled as she was going to leave before Coach May called. “Marianna, wait up a moment.” Coach may stops Marianna and gives her a meaningful look. “So I know you want to go train in Hazlitt, but… It wasn’t easy for your mom to raise you by herself. Go talk to her. Try to be more considerate, okay?”
Hearing Coach May’s words, Marianna snaps out of her daze. ‘No, this isn’t a dream. Is time really going backwards? If it is…’ An enormous cube and a wall of surging waves… images from her dream, they float across Marianna’s mind. Marianna jumps out of the pool, and rushes to towel herself off. “Coach, I’m going to have to miss practice today! I need to head home!”
“Go.” Coach May assured. 
“Are you still coming to see the fireworks? Mari—“ The girl was cut off by Marianna. “I don’t know— don’t wait for me!”
“Huh?”
===Act 1: Secrets===
Marianna had walked all the way back to her house. “I’m home.” There’s no one in the messy room to respond. “Mom? You here? Mom—” Marianna checks the rest of the house, but there’s no sign of her mother. “Strange, isn’t today her day off?”
“Then go. Go start your new life.” Her mother’s voice from the dream flooded Marianna’s mind, the words clear. “That’s not right. If the dream was real, why did mom agree to let me study in Hazlitt at the end? I remember it seemed like she had a package to give me… Was it something to do with the package? What could it be?”
The clock on the table ticked on. Even if time was flowing backwards, its hands were still turning clockwise. “I should look in mom’s bedroom.”
The bedroom door is slightly ajar. It looks like mom left in a hurry. After a soft knock, just to check, Marianna pushes the door open and walks in. “…So messy. Mom hasn’t been keeping things tidy recently. Where could that package be?”
There’s a small red book on the desk. Marianna picks it up, and starts leading through it. “An account book. Starts June 22nd. The day we moved here.” The account book is a record of the family’s monthly expenses. Marianna’s eyes linger on the pages covering the last few months. “February, income from salary 8200, total expenses 5120. March, income from salary 7900, total expenses 4100. April, income from salary… huh? Why’s it blank? Other income 500, 850, 1200, total expensive 3016. May, still no salary number, total expenses 3945. Other income is around 2000… The numbers for money coming in the past few months are strange. What’s going on with her work? Did she lose her job… Has she been coming and going at strange hours because she’s working odd jobs? Busy enough she doesn’t even have time to clean her room, let alone deal with me.” Seeing all those red numbers in the account book, Marianna sighs. This is obviously not the life her mother wants to give her. “If we’re already struggling, how could she ever let me go to Hazlitt…”
In the pocket of some clothes on the bed, Marianna finds two train tickets. “Return tickets to Gyrate. May 5th? Didn’t I go to Gyrate for a diving competition that day? Did mom come to watch my first competition? There’s no way she could have known I’ve been learning to dive. But then why did she go to Gyrate that day?”
In a small cabinet under the desk, Marianna finds a divorce certificate. Marianna looks at the photos of her parents on the divorce certificate and sighs. There’s no way to mend a broken mirror. “If they hadn’t divorced, we’d have never had to leave Hazlitt. I could have studied there… What do ‘If’s like that even mean in the real world?”
Under the dusty dressing table, Marianna finds two checks. “What are these? Checks from dad…! They haven’t been cashed. Mom’s been refusing his money. It must have been dad on the phone this morning. How could she have told me he was dead?! She must have known I would eventually figure out she was lying, surely…?
After searching for a while longer, Marianna accepts that she isn’t going to find the package, leaving with a heart filled with doubt. “I can’t work out what is going on with those train tickets; the timing and destination can’t just be a coincidence. Did mom really come to watch me compete? Maybe I should just ask her.” Marianna pulls out her phone, and sends mother a message. 
“Mom, did you come to watch me compete in Gyrate?” Marianna sent her, but got no reply. “No reply? Where is she? Oh right, the fireworks show tonight.” Then Marianna sends another message.
“Let’s go watch the fireworks tonight.”
“Up on the cliffs, where we went before.”
Marianna takes a deep breath. “I hope she sees it. Trust yourself, Mari, talk this out with mom.” Marianna clenches her fist and runs off towards the coast.
===Act 1: By The Cliffs===
At night, the market bustles. As Marianna runs towards the cliffs, a mysterious figure suddenly appears before her. “Obsession sometimes is a scary thing.” She seems to be a moody, dispirited girl, who scared Marianna. “Who's there? You scared me!”
“An obsession so strong it becomes your armor… Trapping you forever.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Don’t be deceived by what your eyes see, what’s more important is… Don’t kid yourself.” Just as the girl finishes speaking, a black cat darts out from beside her, as if echoing her words.
“What the—”
“Just a cat. They’re supposed to be good luck.”
“…I have something to do. I should go.” Marianna ignores the girl’s warning, and keeps running towards the cliff. ‘A tourist? Weirdo…’
Reaching the cliffs, Marianna finds her mother on the viewing platform, staring out at the vast calmness of the distant sea. “Mom, you came?!”
“We haven’t come to watch the fireworks for such a long time.” Her mother replied.
“Mom… I came looking for you…”
“You weren’t looking for me so we could watch the fireworks, were you?”
“Yes. I want to talk to you about going to Hazlitt.”
“…of course.”
“I know it hasn’t been easy for you to look after me on your own all these years. I know we don’t have much money. But if I go to Hazlitt, dad would probably help out…”
“What is this? Your dad has been dead a long time.”
‘How long do you think you can hide this from me, mom?’ Marianna thought to herself before speaking. “Mom, me wanting to go to Hazlitt has nothing to do with dad. Nothing at all. I know what I want to do with my life.”
“Is it because Hazlitt has the best diving facilities in all of Seattle?”
Marianna stood in shock. “You knew about the diving?”
Nori doesn’t answer. She just turns her head and stares again at the dark sea.
“I’m sorry for hiding it from you, but... Mom, I know what I want to do. I know what I’m doing. It’s not a whim, the diving, I’m not chasing some fantasy… It’s something I can strive for. I want to challenge myself.”
“You’ve grown up. Strong wings you’ve got there.” Nori sighs. “Seems I’m the one who has been lying to myself, all these years. Life’s been hard every day since we moved here. Watching you grow up, day by day, that’s the only thing that’s made it feel worthwhile. You’ve been the force that kept me going.” Nori looks up, and stares at her daughter intently. “I think, maybe, I just can’t face the thought of you leaving.”
“Mom…”
“It’s okay. You should go. Go start your new life.” The sea begins to surge in all its vastness, flashes of gold flicker on the surface here and there.
“None of that’s important right now. The sun’s coming up, we’re running out of time. Mom, come with me when I go.” Marianna reaches for her mother’s hand, but Nori pushes her hand away.
“I won’t leave. This is my home. I’ll respect your decision, you should respect mine too. This is the last thing I can do for you.” Nori hands Marianna the package she’d been holding. Before Marianna can even take it, the sun cracks the horizon. Gigantic waves engulf the pair of them, the dream becoming real. Looming at the edge of her consciousness, Marianna sees what seems to be a cube, rising slowly from the surface of the sea.
==Midsummer==
===Act 2: Waking Again===
“Mom! Hah- hah-” Marianna grabs the phone from the bedside table. It’s 7 a.m., June 9th. “This isn’t a nightmare… this is… A time loop. How many times have I repeated this day? What do I have to do to break out of this loop…?” Wiping sweat from her brow, Marianna gets out a pen and paper, and starts to write out the details of each of the previous loops. “Each time the tsunami engulfs us, time resets. However, if we’re going to break the loop, it must have something to do with that. I can’t stop a tsunami, but… maybe… maybe I can save mom… maybe I can stop it happening… No maybes. I have to do this.”
Marianna slaps herself in the face, and heads downstairs, the familiar voice, coming from the dining room. “I’ve told you and told you, don’t send money again, we don’t… Just let us live our lives. As a father, you’re dead to us. We won’t talk again.”
Same breakfast on the table as before, same familiar old green peppers that Marianna hates to eat. “Come eat your breakfast.”
“We have to get out of here, mom, right now. There’s going to be a tsunami tomorrow morning, the entire town could be flooded. I know it sounds crazy, but we have to…—”
“You’ve lost your mind.” Whack! Nori slams her chopsticks on the table angrily and stands up. “And where is it you want to go? Hazlitt? Is this about that ‘going to Hazlitt for school’ nonsense?”
“It’s not like that at all.”
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. I never thought you’d try something this ridiculous. A tsunami? Is this some kind of joke? We’ve been living here for years without a single tsunami. Why would I believe this nonsense?”
“Mom, why won’t you listen to me! Can’t you trust me just once?”
“Trust you? How can I trust this garbage? Today, you say you want to go to Hazlitt, tomorrow you’ll want to go to Debia. Where next? New York? You always say you want me to understand you, have you ever tried to understand me?”
“But… I’m not lying…”
“Forget it. You’re not going anywhere today. Stay home and cool off.” Before Marianna can react, Nori locks the door from the outside and walks away.
“Mom, wait—” Click, click. “Mom, let me out! Mom!” Marianna slams the door forcefully, but there’s no echo from outside. She tries to call her mom. The moment she dials the number, a phone rings inside the house. “Did she forget her phone? …Just how angry is she?” Walking towards the sound of the ringing phone, Marianna returns to her mother’s bedroom.
===Act 2: Bubbles of the Past===
The phone is ringing in the empty room. Marianna hangs up. She squats against the wall, weakly hugging her knees with both arms. “What did I do wrong? Do I still not understand mom enough?” Marianna looks at a room no different to the one in the previous loop, her gaze settling on her mother’s phone. “Sorry, I’ll just take a quick look. Uh, there’s a password? What could it be? Is it my birthday? Let’s give it a try.” She taps in her birthday and the screen unlocks. There aren’t many contacts in Nori’s phone, not much in the way of recordings either. A few treasured moments and photos. Marianna can see herself present in almost every one of them.
Marianna taps on a photo of her, her mom and her dad. Marianna looked so happy, and so did Nori, and even her dad looked pretty happy too. The caption read, “Mari just turned eight! I just want her to grow up healthy and happy!”
Marianna swipes through her mother’s feed again. She taps on another photo, of another birthday, but this time, Marianna’s father was on his phone. The caption read, “Mari’s nine today! I just want her to be happy every day!”
Marianna continues swiping down, inevitably coming across photos from her own birthday. This time, the photo was different. Marianna’s face was no longer happy, and her father wasn’t in the picture. There was also a shark plushie next to Marianna. The caption read, “Mari’s another year older! Mom’s always going to be here to watch over you.”
Marianna looks at the birthday pictures on the phone, memories floating across her mind like colorful bubbles.
“Mari, you dad’s busy today, he can’t be with you for your birthday.
“Wah…”
“Don’t cry… look, your dad brought you a birthday present. A big shark, your favorite.”
Marianna hugs the shark plushie, and slowly stops crying.
“Alright, let’s blow out the candles, my little birthday star.”
“Mom… dad… why can’t you two just be together…?” Tears filled her eyes. Marianna’s thoughts turn to the day she least wants to remember.
“We never know what you’re doing all day, you don’t come home, you won't answer the phone, do you even care about us? Step out of this house and we’re getting a divorce!” A sharp female voice threatened.
“Divorce me then! Who would want to stay with you!” An indifferent male voice responded back.
A loud bang, then silence. Nori enters the room, forcing a smile.
“Mari, your dad is going away for work. It might be a long time before he can come home.”
“... I knew it, I always knew dad wouldn't come back.”
“Mari, come with me. You’ll never have a good life with your mom. She’s crazy!”
“Mari’s done with you.” Nori leans against the door with all her strength, keeping him outside.
“Mari, I’ll come back for you. Don’t believe your mom, she’s lying to you!”
“Get out of my house, take your nonsense with you!”
“Mari, do you want to live by the sea with mom? You like sharks, right? We’ll be neighbors with the sharks soon.”
“I remember mom being happy when we moved, but I wasn’t happy at all. I didn’t want to leave Hazlitt. I didn’t understand why you had to separate. It took me a long time to adapt to the new school, the other students made fun of me because my parents weren't together.” Marianna sighs. “Is keeping me close to you the only thing that brings you happiness…?” As Marianna scrolls through the phone, a few text messages catch her attention.
“I won’t be home for dinner tonight.”
“It’s your daughter’s birthday. Are you not going to come home?”
2-23, 17:08
“I’ve got an important meeting, you keep her company.”
“Where’s the gift you bought for her? I’ll make sure she gets it.”
Marianna continues scrolling through the chat history.
2-23 17:23
“I’ve been too busy, sorry, forgot to buy one.”
“Can’t even remember your daughter’s birthday!... call yourself a father”
2:23 17:57
“It’s just a present… she’ll be fine with the one you got her.”
“Client is calling. Gotta go.”
Marianna looks at the timestamps, lost in thought. “So, that shark plushie… Mom bought it? Did mom do all that just so I wouldn’t hate my dad?” She keeps scrolling, and discovers a few memos, flagged in red. She clicks on the one labeled ‘Moving House’.
“Moving to another town is a good idea. Mari and I won't have to deal with her father anymore. She really doesn’t want to move, but she’s a kid. I guess she’ll get used to it with time.”
6-22 23:32
Then Marianna clicks another one labeled “Mari’s Situation’.
“Mari’s still not happy. Her teacher said she’s been bullied because of the situation with her dad. What should I do?”
9-22 21:09
“I talked to the parents of the kids who were bullying Mari, and I've made sure to pick her up and drop her off whenever she goes to school. It’s not ideal, but at least it’s harder for them to bully her now.”
10-5 22:26
“Mari’s been doing much better lately, even made some new friends. We’ve been in Accro for a while now. Bringing up a kid on your own is tough, but it's good to see we can be happy, just living peacefully together. I'm going to have to work hard to make sure she always feels like this is a safe place for her.”
12-25 10:25
“That’s how it was? Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” Marianna smiles bitterly.
===Act 2: A Dark Tide Transcends===
Marianna keeps scrolling, the most recent messages catching her eye.
“Hey, Coach May here.”
5-9 18:20
“Coach, don’t tell her I paid for her to compete in Gyrate.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell her. Can I ask why you don’t want her to know?”
“Maybe I’m just being selfish… I haven’t decided whether I’m going to let her go to Hazlitt yet.”
Marianna keeps sliding her finger down the screen.
5-9 18:35
“Mari has a real talent for diving, works very hard too.”
“The best diving coaching and facilities are all in Hazlitt. It’s the best place for her to go.”
“How long would a career as a diver even last? We have to think about her future.”
“I just want her to stay close to home for school, find a steady job when she graduates. If she has any trouble, I’ll be there to help.”
Marianna keeps scrolling down.
5-9 19:02
“You can’t look after her forever…”
“I don't mean to intrude, but as Marianna’s coach, it’s really clear she’s very passionate about diving.”
“Just talk to her, okay? Maybe you’ll learn what she truly wants.”
5-9 19:12
“You aren’t wrong. I could probably learn more about diving, if it really means so much to her.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
“So the competition fees and travel expenses were all paid by mom. I thought my diving performance was so good that they waived the fee. I’m so stupid. Since moving here, mom’s been working so hard to give me a better life, but I… She’s right, the selfish one is me. Only thought about myself, never thought about her feelings, never shared her burden.” Marianna looks out the window as the sky darkens. “I won’t make it in time… At least I can talk to mom, apologize properly.” Marianna takes out her phone and quickly sends a message to her friend.
6-9 20:05
“Vita, I need your help! Can you bring a ladder over to my house? I got locked out.”
Ten minutes later, there’s still no response. With a pop, a firework bursts across in the night sky, just outside the window. “I totally forgot she was going to watch the fireworks tonight. I won’t even be able to apologize at the end? …” Marianna sits, helpless, crouched, head in her hands against the wall, as rustling noises come from the ventilation duct, followed by a cat’s meow. “A cat? Seems to be coming from the ventilation duct… That’s it, I can crawl out through the ventilation duct!” Following the black cat’s voice, Marianna escapes through the ventilation duct.
Marianna coughed as she exited the ventilation duct. “Made it out.”
The cat meowed in front of her, along with the strange girl she saw before, who sighs. “You’re going to fail again this time.”
“You again?”
“Don’t think about running away, face up to it instead.”
“What do you mean, running away or facing it? What is ‘it’?”
“The giant Anomaly will bring disaster, but it will also give you strength.”
“What do you mean the Anomaly will give me strength?”
“You’ll understand…” The black cat meowed.
“No, I don't have time.” The fireworks show at the market has already started, Marianna runs off into the night.
===Act 2: A Change===
Marianna arrives at the market by the harbor, panting, unable to find her mother anywhere in the town. “Huff… huff… Where’s mom…?”
Vita was also there. “Mari?! I thought you stood me up, weren’t you going to watch the fireworks with your mom?”
“Have you seen my mom?!”
“Yeah, I saw her at the market before the fireworks started. I thought she was waiting for you.”
“Did you see where she went?!”
“She walked off towards the cliffs.”
“Thank you!” And Marianna ran towards the cliffs, seeing her mother there. “Why… I didn't even invite mom. How did she end up here anyway?” Gasping for breath, Marianna runs to the clifftop viewing platform. Golden streaks dance on the surface of the sea. Her mother is indeed standing on the cliff, with a massive wave wall forming behind her. “Mom, run! Now!” Marianna dashes forward, the giant cube rises from the sea. She feels a surge of power within her. It seems like something is about to burst out of her body. “I’m sorry, mom, I’m so sorry.”
Marianna hugs her mother tightly as the waves open their dark maw, like the mouth of some gigantic shark, swallowing the two of them whole. Everything has returned to the beginning.
==Late Summer==
===Act 3: I Won’t Run Away===
“Mom—” Marianna wakes up panting, as if it was just another nightmare. The phone screen on the bedside table shows June 9th, 7:00 a.m.. “Of course, I’m back in the past again. If I had gotten to the cliffs earlier…  No, even if I could get mom away from there, how could we survive a tsunami like that?”
The words from the strange girl echoed in her mind. “The giant Anomaly will bring disaster, but it will also give you strength.”
“The Anomaly will give me strength… is that cube rising from the sea an Anomaly? Last time the tsunami came, I did feel something growing inside me.” Marianna touches her own back without really thinking, but there’s nothing there. “If i can use this power, properly use it, maybe I can save mom.” Marianna leaps out of bed, and runs down the stairs.
Nori is, of course, quietly arguing with Marianna’s father on the phone. Marianna puts on her shoes, grabs her backpack, and heads out. “Mom, I’m going to be late for my tutoring! Gotta dash!”
“You’re not going to eat? It’s only 7:30.” Nori sighs. “Ah, this kid…”
Marianna went over to the swimming pool building at school. She stands on the diving platform, staring at the pool’s still surface. “I remember feeling that power surge. It was like the feeling I get each time I dive.” She inhales deeply. “Come on, Mari, you can do this!” Counting down from three, Marianna, back to the platform, dives, drawing a perfect arc through the air. Splash! The water looms as Marianna plunges into the pool.
Vita was walking by the pool, whistling. “Practicing a 207B this early in the morning? No-one can fault your work ethic!”
“I failed.”
“Failed? That was a pretty good dive, wasn’t it?”
“Not talking about diving…”
“What then? Surely your grades haven’t gotten you this messed up, have they?”
“I’m fine.”
Vita half believes her, half doesn’t. She touches Marianna’s forehead, finding her temperature to be normal.
“I want to try again.” Marianna steps back onto the platform and dives into the water again.
An hour later, Marianna was still doing it over and over again, and Vita was worried. “Mari, aren’t you tired?”
“Huff… huff… One more time.”
Another hour passed. “Still haven’t managed it… Again, again…”
“Stop this, Mari! You’ll drown if you keep this up!”
As this was happening, Coach May had appeared. “You guys didn’t slack off while I was on vacation, huh! Not bad!”
“Coach, please talk some sense into Mari.”
“What exactly is happening here?”
“She’s been training non-stop for hours, mumbling something about ‘failure’ and ‘one more time.’ Could it be because of her mom…?”
“You go practice; I’ll take care of Marianna.” Coach May pats Vita’s shoulder and climbs onto the platform. “Marianna, take a break.”
“No, I… can’t rest. It’ll be… too late.”
“If you injure yourself, I won’t be able to explain it to your mother… your future coach.” Hearing Coach May’s slip of the tongue, Marianna stops what she’s doing.
“Coach, my mom knows I’ve been training, right? The participation fees and travel expenses for the competition in Gyrate, she paid for them, didn’t she?”
“How did you find out…?”
“I saw a bit of your chat history.”
“Ah… Couldn’t keep it from you after all.”
“Coach, can I ask you some questions?”
“Of course, what do you want to ask?”
“Why do you think my mom doesn’t want me to go to Hazlitt to train?”
“So many possible reasons…”
“I looked at the chat history. It seems like mom is against me making diving into a career. Our family doesn’t have enough money for me to study abroad.”
“If that was true, why would your mother have allowed you to train in secret, paying for you to go to Gyrate for that competition?”
“...You’re right.”
“I think you’re mom just can’t bear to let you go.”
“But I’m just going to Hazlitt across the bay, going there for school. It’s not like I won’t come back later.”
“‘Children eventually grow up and leave their parents’--- It’s nearly always true, but it’s difficult for any mother to immediately accept her child leaving, to hear them suddenly say they want to go away… You’re her whole world, Mari.”
Marianna lowers her head, lost in thought. “What kind of person does my mom seem to be, to you?”
“To first impressions, your mom can seem overly serious, difficult to talk to. After getting to know her more, I realized your mother’s really quite gentle, very diligent and capable.”
“Oh…”
“Mari, I’m not sure if I should say this, but your mother has to deal with a lot of really difficult stuff. She’s not as strong as you think she is. Just after you guys moved to the new town, there were a few times when I was picking up my son from school. I saw your mother arguing with some of the other parents. I didn’t hear everything clearly, but when they left, her eyes were red, like she was trying to hide that she’d been crying. Maybe I was misunderstanding, I don’t know. Mari, I know you’ve argued with your mother about going to Hazlitt for school, but she does love you. It’s just that sometimes her words come out a bit harsh.”
“I know. Should I… go to Hazlitt to study diving?”
“Why would you ask that?”
“If I don’t go to Hazlitt, give up diving, then mom and I won’t…”
“Mari, there’s no right or wrong here, not in wanting to go to Hazlitt, not in your mother not wanting you to go. You two just see things from different perspectives. You’ve seen the messages, you know that your mother isn’t totally against you diving; she’s struggling… There’s time before the application deadline, it’s too early to give up on your dream just yet, no?”
Encouraged by Coach May, Marianna regains her spirits a little.
“Talk to her, when you have time, try to understand her a little more.”
“Okay, I will.” Marianna looks at the clock on the wall. Evening already. “Coach, I have somethingI have to do…”
“Go. It’s okay.”
“Thank you, Coach!” Marianna walks off the platform, and leaves the pool. Not bothering to go home or look for her mother, she heads straight for the cliff.
===Act 3: Dive!===
Marianna arrives at the viewing platform on the cliffs, alone, as time ticks away. The sea wind howls in Marianna’s ears, herald of impending disaster. “How can I awaken that power again?”
“Don’t think about running away, face up to it instead.” The words of the strange girl echoed in her mind.
“‘Face up to it’... face up to the Anomaly?” Marianna gazes at the distant sea, from where the cube and the waves have yet to rise. She looks down at the sea below her. “How could I forget? Isn’t this place a natural diving platform?” Marianna takes a deep breath, and raises her arms above her head. “Three… two… one… Dive!”
As the sun begins to rise, she hurls herself fearlessly from the cliff. No different from the countless dives she’s taken from the platform. As she descends, the cube slowly rises, and the gigantic wave approaches. “So salty… so dark… but it feels so comfortable…” She reaches her hand out. “Is this the power the Anomaly has granted me? I’ve got it now, that feeling… this time I can do it!”
She fights to master the changes in her body, to harness the power she has gained through her transformation. And then, at last, a massive conch shell emerges from the water. Translucent, the shell grows out from the cliff and covers the town. “I did it! Mom, I did it!” Marianna walks onto the street, happy; time seems to have stopped in the town… the smile on Marianna’s face freezes. “How could this be…?” All that remains of the once warm town is a field of ruins, devoid of any living beings beside Marianna herself. “Too late, it’s still too late… Next time, I’ll make it next time.” Marianna wanders through the empty ruins, mumbling to herself. “If time could stand still, I would have hoped it would have been in our happiest moments… I’d like to give mom a hug as the fireworks rise from the sea… Not like this.”
Marianna wraps her arms around herself, embracing the void. The white conch vanishes as she hugs the void.
It’s June 9th, 7 a.m..
==Summer Solstice==
===Act 4: Resolve===
Marianna opens her eyes… familiar room, familiar day… and yet she can’t help but cry. “Let’s try again, one more time.” She props herself up with her hands, feeling a wave of weakness wash over her. “But can I really do it? What if I fail again…” The scene of the town ruined in an instant seems like it happened just moments ago. Marianna curls up.
Knock, knock! “Mari, it’s almost 7:30, hurry up and come to breakfast.” Called by her mother, Marianna comes to the dining room.
Marianna picks at her breakfast, even the green peppers don’t seem so bad now, much as she used to hate them. “Strange, these peppers don’t taste bitter at all.”
“What are you muttering about? What’s left you so out of it this early in the morning? Not feeling well?”
“Ah… no, it’s nothing.” The crisp taste of the peppers fills her mouth with notes of mild milky flavor. ‘Did mom actually remember the things I don’t like to eat?’
Nori glances at her watch; it’s almost 8 o’clock. “Finish eating and go to class, don’t be late.”
“Sure thing.”
“Take care on the way.”
After waving goodbye, Marianna stands resolute downstairs, watching her mother’s busy figure through the window.
===Act 4: Investigation===
Marianna holds her breath and hides in an alley close to home. “Mom wasn’t home when I got back, she must have gone out after I left. I didn’t find the package mom handed me at the last moment. Did she take it with her when she went out?” Hearing the front door open and close, Marianna immediately lifts her head. Her mother had exited the house. “Let’s follow her and see.”
Marianna hides behind a tree, watching her mother. There was a man in a suit talking to Nori, inside of a cafe. “I’m really sorry for asking you to cover a shift on your day off.”
“It’s okay. I don’t have much to do at home anyway.” Nori responded with crossed arms.
“Can you take my order?” A customer asked.
“Coming! Boss, I need to go deal with the customers.” The manager nods, and Nori takes some menus to the guests.
A few hours pass. Customers come and go in the small cafe. Nori rubs her waist and wipes fine beads of sweat from her forehead.
‘She’s clearly so tired, yet she’s still pushing herself, all for me.’ Marianna thinks as she watches.
“Nori, you worked hard today. You can leave early.” The manager said, but Nori retorted by saying, “There are still a few tables left.”
“I’ll take care of them. I remember your daughter is about to start a new school term, you must be really tired. Go home and spend some time with your daughter.”
Nori nods gratefully, her gaze fixed on the dessert counter. “Boss, I’ll buy a box of the egg yolk pastries.”
“No problem, just take it.”
“I can’t accept that…”
The manager hands the egg yolk pastry to Nori with a smile. “In these two months, you’ve helped the store so much, and your method for taking the bitterness out of vegetables has made our salads a signature dish! I haven’t even had a chance to thank you properly.”
“Boss, you’re too kind.”
‘Mom always remembered what I like and dislike…’ Marianna thinks to herself, guilt washing over her.
After packing the egg yolk pastries, Nori glances at her watch and hurries off.
‘Huh? This isn’t the way home, is it?’
At 5 p.m., Nori arrives at the ticket counter.
‘The ticket counter? What is mom doing here?’
“Hello, do you still have tickets for ??/?? To Ha***?”
‘She’s too far away, I can’t hear.’
“Yes, we do. How many do you need?” The ticket seller asked.
“Just one.”
“That’ll be 1000 E-Coins.”
Nori nervously takes out her wallet, counts a few scattered banknotes several times, and hands them to the ticket seller.
“Here’s your ticket, keep it safe.” The ticket seller hands Nori a single ticket.
“Thanks.”
‘It looks like it’s a ferry ticket… could it be?’
At 7 p.m., Marianna follows her mother to the night market. The sea breeze is refreshing and comfortable, the tourists in the market are chatting and laughing.
“There’s a fireworks show tonight, do you want to watch?” One tourist asks another.
“Of course! Let’s find a good spot before it gets crowded.” The second tourist replies.
Nori seems out of place here, her gaze sweeping over the stalls, as if she’s looking for something.
“Excuse me, it’s so crowded… could you let me through, please?” Pushing through the crowded market, Marianna finally spots her mother at a small stall.
“Take a look, folks! We have all kinds of rarities from all over the world!” The stall owner exclaims in a dramatic voice. His eyes fall on Nori, who seems curious about the stall. “What would you like, Miss? This necklace of unmelting ice crystal would look great on you! It’s said to enhance the bond between husband and wife. This gem-studded Debia watchband is nice too. The gems have the power to bring wealth! How about it? Buy both and I’ll give you a 20% discount.”
“I’ll keep looking.”
“Alright, let me show you a few more.”
Several minutes later, and Nori was still at the stall with the eccentric stall owner. “Mom has been at that stall for a long time. What does she want to buy, anyway?” Marianna mumbles to herself.
The stall owner takes out a red string with a small, simple ring attached to it. “How about this? It’s a peace charm from Tangton. Might look plain, but it can protect the wearer from harm.”
“A peace charm?” Nori questions.
“That’s right. The peace charm is a traditional piece of craftsmanship from Tangton. Like the name suggests, it wards off evil, protects against disasters, ensures safety wherever you go.” 
Hearing this, Nori’s eyes light up. “I’ll take it.”
“No problem, let me wrap it up for you.”
“Can you wrap these as well, please?”
Money changes hands and the stall owner wraps the purchases skillfully. The shape of the package catches Marianna’s attention. “That package is what mom wanted to give me! So that’s it, mom had already planned everything, but I…” Marianna recalls the arguments with her mother morning after morning, and looks down remorsefully. Then a black cat, meowing, walks past her. The same black cat as before. “Why are you always here? What happened to that girl?” Marianna picks up the black cat, and sure enough, the strange girl appears in front of her in her mysterious way.
“There’s not much time left. Are you ready?”
“I… What if I fail again…?”
With this said, the strange girl turns and leaves. More and more people start heading towards the square. The fireworks show is about to begin. “Wait!” Marianna tries to grab the strange girl, but she disappears. A warm, familiar, yet somewhat calloused hand grips Marianna’s hand. She looks up and sees her mother. “Mari, why are you here? You came here late at night without telling me?”
“Mom… I heard there’s a fireworks show at the market tonight. Let’s go watch the fireworks together, okay?”
“You came to the market to find me just for this?” Nori was going to scold her daughter some more, but seeing her teary eyes, she just nods. “It’s been a while since we’ve watched a summer fireworks show. Where should we watch from?”
“Let’s go to the place we always watched from.”
===Act 4: Realization===
Marianna and her mother climb up to the viewing platform in silence. Nori is the first to speak, with a sigh. “It’s been a while since we’ve been here, I don’t remember there being such a lovely platform here before. It’s like I blinked and suddenly, you’re a young woman.”
“Mom, I wanted to talk to you about something…”
“About school, right?”
Marianna nods her head.
“You still want to go to Hazlitt?”
“I… I’m sorry for training behind your back. I want to go to Hazlitt for school because the best diving training is there.”
“I know.”
“But I’ve thought it through. We don’t have the money, and I might not be good enough… So… going to school near Estero is fine, too.”
“Mari, you don’t need to force yourself.”
“I’m not forcing myself.”
“Silly girl, I’m your mother, do you think I can't see how you feel? When you first said you wanted to go to Hazlitt for school, I thought you wanted to go to find your father… I thought you didn’t want to live here, didn’t want to live with me.”
“Of course not, I didn’t understand why you and dad split up when I was little, and I thought you were so adamant about taking me away from Hazlitt… But after I adjusted, I’ve been really happy here.”
“I’m sorry for leaving you with so many bad memories. Mari, your dad is actually still alive. He’s in Hazlitt.”
“Yeah, I know that.”
“You know?... You don’t blame me? I’ve been lying to you for years.”
“You must have had no choice. When we moved, you were overwhelmed, had a kid to take care of.”
“You’ve really grown up. I went to see you compete in Gyrate last month. Seeing you standing on that high platform, I was a bit nervous at first. I couldn’t imagine how my timid little girl could jump from somewhere so high, all I could think about was you getting hurt. When I saw you dive, tumble through the air, your passion was so obvious. Seeing you so happy on the podium, I was proud. Conflicted, but proud. I couldn’t bear to let you gamble your future. I was worried about you going off to study alone. Afterward, I researched diving, watched a lot of videos. The divers in the videos reminded me of you. I think that, in the moment, you were free.”
“Mom…”
Then a firework went up into the air and exploded. Multiple fireworks soon follow. Marianna stares up at the sky in awe, with her mother.
“Is this what you see when you’re on the platform?” Nori asks. “When I saw you compete in Gyrate, it reminded me that I haven’t seen you so confident in so long. That’s when I realized… instead of telling you that I wanted you to stay home with me, it’s much better to see you happy. So just go.” Nori hands Marianna the package she had been holding. “This is your new life.”
Marianna looks inside the package, and one thing stood out to her; a filled in college application. Being overwhelmed with emotion, she drops the package and hugs her mother tightly. “I don’t want this.” She mumbles, with teary eyes.
“Silly girl… isn’t this what you always wanted? Why are you crying…?”
“I don’t want to leave. I want to stay. I’m happy here. I wish… that this moment would last forever.”
And then, the sea turned dark. Waves came rushing in, followed by a cube, in its center, acting as its eye of the storm. A huge wave came, rushing higher and higher, over the town. Over Marianna.
“Mari!” Her mom calls her as the wave crashes down onto her. The wave took her down, as she resided in the middle of a huge vortex. Surrounding her were a bunch of strange creatures. And protecting her was a huge conch, which she then extended to cover the whole town. As the wave hit, it dissipated, as if it was glass.
And then, after everything was over, Marianna’s hand came from the water and onto a plank as she lifted herself above water with a huge smile on her face. “Wow… the sun is so beautiful.”
Her mother follows after her, coming out of the water with a smile and laughter. “It sure is. Ah, it’s so refreshing. Maybe I should learn to dive too.”
“Right? The moment you jump off feels amazing.”
“Yes, it does. Hahaha…”
===Act 4: Summer’s Not Over===
Knock knock! “Mari, wake up, the sun is shining on your butt.” Nori calls.
“Ugh… just two more minutes, only two minutes.”
Nori sighs. “Don’t you have diving training today?”
“Ah!” Hearing her mother’s reminder, Marianna springs out of bed. She then goes to the dining room. Marianna glances at the breakfast on the table, nervous… It's different from before. ‘Phew… it seems like the loop is really over.’
“What are you mumbling about? Hurry up and eat, don’t be late.”
“Okay!”
The sound of cicadas comes in through the window, the summer slowly heating up. Inside, Marianna’s phone buzzes.
It’s June 9th, 7:36 A.M..
Somewhere, a huge, pure white conch shell stands, odd amidst the ruins. Watching from afar is a blue, glowing deer.
“Here I am, at the end of my journey.”
<>ENDLESS SUMMER: END<>
Category:Personal Stories
Category:Estero Harbor Saga