“One Last Time”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “Never do that again.”

I gasp as I breach the surface. The waves splash over me and salt fills my mouth.

Somehow, I manage to swim to the shore where I’m met by my older brother. Of course, instead of checking to see if I’m okay, he’s laughing his guts out.

“That wasn’t funny!” I scream at him. “Never, never, do that again, do you hear me?!”

He continues cackling, actually falling on his back on the sand. I roll my eyes and stalk away from him, trying to wring all the water out of my hair.

I leave my brother behind as I stomp across the beach. What was supposed to be a nice afternoon of relaxation is turning out to be just awful. Why did my brother want to come anyway? It’s not like he’s ever wanted to just relax on the beach with me before.

“Katherine!” he calls after me, finally getting up from the sand. “I’m sorry, but come on, that was funny, wasn’t it?”

I scowl at him. “No, it really wasn’t.”

“Aw, come on,” he says with a smirk. “Did you think that it was the black tiger coming to get you?”

I roll my eyes at the mention of the myth. Sure, I was scared of the black tiger when I was a kid, but it’s just a stupid myth.

I glare at him. “All I wanted was a nice, quiet afternoon by myself. Why are you here anyway?”

He hesitates. I think that this is the first time I’ve seen him hesitate. Like, ever.

Finally, he says, “I asked Louise to marry me.”

My mouth drops open. “What?! What did she say?”

He grins. “She said yes.”

I squeal and jump on him. “That’s fantastic! Congratulations!”

“Yeah,” he chuckles. “We’re really excited. Anyway, that’s what I came out here to tell you.”

I wink at him. “Aren’t I a good matchmaker? I just knew that you two would be great together!”

“Yeah, I guess not every little sister would try to get her best friend together with her big brother,” he laughs.

We walk along the beach together, chatting about wedding plans, when I hear a rustle in the bushes nearby.

“Did you hear that?” I ask, stopping in my tracks.

He glances at me. “No. Are you okay?”

A growl seems to echo around me and a shiver crawls up my spine.

“Please tell me you heard that,” I whisper.

He nods slowly, his eyes wandering to the treeline.

At first I see nothing. But when I blink, I see a pair of red eyes stare back at us.

“What is that?” I whisper.

The growl gets louder, and the beast strides forward.

“The black tiger,” he whispers. The teasing lilt in his voice is gone, replaced by pure fear.

The beast jumps.

I scream.

He shoves me into the ocean.

The tiger roars.

Final Comments: This became much more intense than I thought it would be…

Overall Rating: 😮