I’m officially a sixteen-year-old insane hermit,
thanks to my best friend moving away.
Until I meet Noah.

Noah is my oxygen.
He’s those fleeting, deep breaths
keeping my world from going black,
from drowning into the darkness of my past.

He’s the one who helps me find my passion for swimming again,
even though it’s a direct reflection of my nightmare.

As my mom moves closer to the deep end,
barely treading water,
Noah’s the only thing holding me afloat.
My fear is that her illness will drain her and
I’ll have nowhere to go but across the country.

Back to the darkness.
Back to my father.

Not even Noah can extinguish my demons.

When my life gets sucked in by the riptides,
I have to ask myself,
is my father truly evil or just broken?

Is Noah’s oxygen enough to save me as the muddy waters swallow me whole?

My name is Marlee, and this is my life.