The Depths by Nicole Lesperance

Author:Nicole Lesperance [Lesperance, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2022-09-13T00:00:00+00:00

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As soon as I step out of the cenote, my lungs feel like they’re full of rocks, but there isn’t time to dwell, because the sky is the same pale pink as the inside of a seashell and the elusive birds are all awake, chirping and screeching and calling my name.

Sean and I duck through the damp curtain of Spanish moss and cut down a different path, one I hadn’t noticed before. It’s so overgrown, I’m not surprised I didn’t see it, but as we weave along it, the plants sway and lean out of the way to let us pass. Sean brushes his hand over a deep purple blossom, and it darkens to red. A rustling shiver passes through the bushes, and all of the flowers begin to change, turning scarlet and crimson and almost-black cherry.

“What’s happening?” I whisper.

“The island is happy,” he says, and there’s an unspoken meaning in his words. The island is happy because of us. I’m not fighting these wild, impossible ideas anymore. I know deep down that they’re true. As we passed back through the whispering cave, the voices were all repeating the same word.

Love.

The hushing of waves grows louder, the trees stretch taller, and the path opens onto white sand. The ocean is grayish blue in the dim dawn light. At the far end of the beach, I spot the wooden stairs that lead to my house.

“This is where I was sitting that night you crawled out of the ocean,” says Sean, pulling me close and wrapping his arms around my waist. “I thought I was dreaming.”

“And you were . . . crying,” I say.

A shadow passes over his face, and I regret bringing it up, but he leans in and kisses my temple, then my cheekbone, then my jaw.

“Do you still wish you didn’t exist?” he asks.

“In this exact moment, no.”

His lips taste like water and minerals. He pulls away with a groan. “Are you really sure you have to leave?”

I reluctantly untangle myself from him. “Yeah, and I should probably go alone from here, in case anybody’s looking for me.”

He brushes a strand of my hair from my face. “Sleep well. I’ll see you later.”

Standing on tiptoe, I pull him close, and as our lips meet once more, I hear faint fragments of the island’s heartbeat.

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