A Story A Day. Story 24 of 365: Salt.

Her love was impossible. She knew it, yet she couldn't stop staring at her as it were her only salvation. Everyone told her to forget it, that it didn't lead anywhere, that the best she could do was move away from her. Somewhere she would never see her again. Yet, she resisted. How would she live if she were never to see her again? Never to hear her voice? Never admire her beauty when she was calm, her wilderness when she was angry? How could she live without her?

She would sit on the same spot, for hours, as long as she could have a glimpse of her. Smell her perfume carried by the wind. Nothing mattered, whatever happened around her, she blocked it. Her friends tried to make her realize that it was consuming her, but instead of paying heed to them, she just stopped talking to them. 

She was a shadow sitting on the shore. Day and night she was there, not eating, not sleeping, not talking. Her hair was covered with sea salt, her skin cracked. Only her eyes seemed alive, locked at a single point in the horizon. No one dared to talk to her or touch her. People started avoiding her part of the beach altogether. She was left alone. But she didn't have her love. 

One morning, during the sunrise, a realization hit her. She knew how she would be able to stay with her love. Forever. She stood up and walked to the sea, feeling the tender arms of a lover in the waves. She walked on and on, until she couldn't walk anymore. Then, she let herself drown, reaching for the water with her lips, kissing her lover for the first time. She felt the water filling her lungs, and she was finally happy. They were together, her and the sea. Forever.