[Fandom Muses] November Prompt (Picture)
Picture: underwater
Sarah Jane had promised Aunt Lavinia that she would do nothing on the field trip to Westport that would earn a demerit. One more, her aunt claimed, and there would be no trip to Australia this summer. And even if the museum did get rather stuffy after a while as Ms Vaughn rattled on again about some silly old sea men, it was a better alternative than spending the summer in Ealing again. Especially if it meant that barmy old Mrs Hanchock from down the road would have to babysit again.
She shouldn’t have wandered off when Andrea had pulled on her jacket. She knew better - most of the time, anyway. But Andrea was something Sarah Jane hadn’t had in a while: a proper friend. She was someone to giggle with over boys and someone to play field hockey with and someone to get into assorted mischief with. It was a nice change, especially as former friends moved away or suddenly became rather dull and monotonous. Ever since Andrea had moved to Ealing, the two had been as thick as thieves.
“Come on!” Andrea encouraged as they walked along the promenade. “It’ll be a laugh! Better than that crummy museum again.”
They had escaped from Ms Vaughn about an hour ago. It had been a fun afternoon so far, spent with building sand castles on the beach, spending pocket money on candy floss, and ogling the newest records in the music shoppe. Sarah had spent a good half of the time checking her watch. They had to get back before roll was taken in the inn. While that still left them with plenty of time, the teenager wasn’t sure if it was enough time to explore that pier Andrea had been eying ever since they arrived the other day.
“But it’s dangerous!” It was hard not to cringe as she said those words. Sarah Jane wasn’t afraid of danger, not by much anyhow. “They told us not to.”
The scolding came yesterday as Jim Spencer had ran off from the group towards the pier, eager to identify a gull sitting on one of the poles. It was a bit decrepit looking, the image made more so real by the warning ropes at the front. His actions had been immediately met with a smart scolding from their teacher, a scolding Ms Vaughn had decided to extend to the entire class. While she hadn’t been thankful for it at the time, Sarah was very much now. Maybe she could convince Andrea not to go.
Or maybe not.
“Oh, you’re no fun!”
Sarah snorted in disbelief. Her? No fun? Half of their most brilliant plans had been her idea, after all. Andrea was only peeved that she didn’t want to go on the pier. The prat. Yet, Sarah Jane felt that she would have had a very similar response if the situations were reverse.
“I am loads fun and you know it,” she retorted, clutching her school bag closer to her body as she began to walk along the curb’s edge. “I just don’t think that we ought to be-”
“Nonsense, Sarah Jane!” Andrea interrupted, smirking at her friend. “I just think you’re afraid. Sarah Jane Smith, the girl that takes absolutely no rubbish from anyone, is afraid to walk to the edge of a pier!”
Now that deserved a glare. “I am not.”
“Then prove it.”
“Fine,” Sarah Jane muttered and stormed ahead of the other girl. She despised being mocked, much preferring to be the one to tease her own friends. Most of all, she couldn’t stand being called scared. She wasn’t. She was anything but. And if it took walking to the edge of some daft rotted old pier to show her friend that she was just as brave, then she would bloody well do so.
Andrea had to jog the rest of the way to catch up with Sarah. The two reunited at the junction of the pier and the promenade. Holidaying couples walked by, the candy floss man completely ignored them. Confined to their own little world, the girls beamed at each other: one smile anticipatory, the other smug.
“I knew that would get you to do this,” Andrea finally spoke, after Sarah had finished hiding her schoolbag underneath a pile of old wooden beams. She reached out to grab her hand. “It’ll be brilliant, just you wait and see. You and me on the edge of the ocean. We’d have a whole new world to explore if we could make it to the other side.”
Sarah Jane finally laughed despite the nerves bubbling up inside of her. “That would be brilliant. It would be just as brilliant if Aunt Lavinia let you go to Australia with us this summer? Can you imagine?”
“The piers would certainly be much nicer there than they are here.” She beamed, squeezing Sarah’s hand for confidence. “Ready?”
“Rather.”
The two girls giggled and closed their eyes, taking a step forward. Despite the poor look to the wood, Sarah was surprised to have it be quite sturdy. She opened her eyes and laughed in relief. Although they weren’t standing more than a few feet away from pavement, she felt it quite an accomplishment. She hadn’t ever been fond of heights to begin with.
Andrea, however, merely jumped up and down a few times to test the sturdiness of the wood. It must have met her satisfaction because she stopped shortly to walk closer to Sarah Jane. She winked at her friend and then nodded towards the pier’s edge. “Let’s see who’s fastest after all.”
Before Sarah could protest, Andrea had already taken off with her red hair flying in the wind behind her. “Oh, Andrea! Wait!”
The cheat! It wasn’t fair!
Sarah Jane took off, metres behind her friend. Caught up in her own sprint, Sarah Jane didn’t notice as the other girl slipped off the edge of the pier. She didn’t notice, that is, until a bloodcurdling scream filled the air: “Sarah Jane! Help me!”
She quickly ran to the edge, bending downward as fast as she could without toppling over. Sarah’s eyes widened with fear as she saw Andrea dangling from a hold on a metal beam, ocean churning below her. Her heart started beating faster and her head started to feel far too light. This couldn’t be happening. This just couldn’t. She reached out a hand, trying to stretch it as far as it could go. Desperately, “What happened?”
“I fell down!” she shouted back, close to tears.
But before Sarah Jane had a chance to try and find some way to help her friend, Andrea’s grip slipped and she fell backwards into the ocean. Holding on to the wooden beam tight enough to get blisters, Sarah reached further forward - as if that could save her friend. Instead, she only screamed in horror as Andrea’s body hit the ocean with a sickening thump and her friend’s face was found beneath the waves.
For a few seconds, all Sarah Jane could do was to stare in dismay. This didn’t happen, did it? Andrea wasn’t down there. It was just some sort of awful joke. Then, logic jumped in. Andrea was drowning wasn’t she? That was her face there, under the water. Maybe…maybe if Sarah could get to someone fast enough, her friend could be saved. She pushed herself up from the pier ground and ran as fast as she possibly could back towards the promenade. Tears were streaming down her face and all she could do was see Andrea’s face as she fell, Andrea’s face being crushed by waves.
“Someone! Oh, someone help me!” she shouted, running into the street to mow down the nearest person. “Please, oh please! My friend… she’s just… Oh god, help!”
Even though a lifeguard came to her aid, it was far too late to save Andrea Yates. Adults had wanted her away from the scene. She had refused to leave until she saw Andrea once more. So, Sarah Jane watched in shock as Ms Vaughn stood behind her, hugging her as closely as she was hugging the blanket. She watched as they gently lifted Andrea’s limp body - now blue and cold and so very much lacking the spirit she knew - from the boat and placed her in a stretcher. She watched as they carried the body up to the ambulance.
And oh, how she cried. She had lost her parents once, but now, Sarah Jane had lost her best friend as well. She wouldn’t ever be able to forgive herself for this day, no matter what happened later on in life. That day, Sarah Jane vowed that she would never allow herself to lose anyone she loved again.
Sarah Jane had promised Aunt Lavinia that she would do nothing on the field trip to Westport that would earn a demerit. One more, her aunt claimed, and there would be no trip to Australia this summer. And even if the museum did get rather stuffy after a while as Ms Vaughn rattled on again about some silly old sea men, it was a better alternative than spending the summer in Ealing again. Especially if it meant that barmy old Mrs Hanchock from down the road would have to babysit again.
She shouldn’t have wandered off when Andrea had pulled on her jacket. She knew better - most of the time, anyway. But Andrea was something Sarah Jane hadn’t had in a while: a proper friend. She was someone to giggle with over boys and someone to play field hockey with and someone to get into assorted mischief with. It was a nice change, especially as former friends moved away or suddenly became rather dull and monotonous. Ever since Andrea had moved to Ealing, the two had been as thick as thieves.
“Come on!” Andrea encouraged as they walked along the promenade. “It’ll be a laugh! Better than that crummy museum again.”
They had escaped from Ms Vaughn about an hour ago. It had been a fun afternoon so far, spent with building sand castles on the beach, spending pocket money on candy floss, and ogling the newest records in the music shoppe. Sarah had spent a good half of the time checking her watch. They had to get back before roll was taken in the inn. While that still left them with plenty of time, the teenager wasn’t sure if it was enough time to explore that pier Andrea had been eying ever since they arrived the other day.
“But it’s dangerous!” It was hard not to cringe as she said those words. Sarah Jane wasn’t afraid of danger, not by much anyhow. “They told us not to.”
The scolding came yesterday as Jim Spencer had ran off from the group towards the pier, eager to identify a gull sitting on one of the poles. It was a bit decrepit looking, the image made more so real by the warning ropes at the front. His actions had been immediately met with a smart scolding from their teacher, a scolding Ms Vaughn had decided to extend to the entire class. While she hadn’t been thankful for it at the time, Sarah was very much now. Maybe she could convince Andrea not to go.
Or maybe not.
“Oh, you’re no fun!”
Sarah snorted in disbelief. Her? No fun? Half of their most brilliant plans had been her idea, after all. Andrea was only peeved that she didn’t want to go on the pier. The prat. Yet, Sarah Jane felt that she would have had a very similar response if the situations were reverse.
“I am loads fun and you know it,” she retorted, clutching her school bag closer to her body as she began to walk along the curb’s edge. “I just don’t think that we ought to be-”
“Nonsense, Sarah Jane!” Andrea interrupted, smirking at her friend. “I just think you’re afraid. Sarah Jane Smith, the girl that takes absolutely no rubbish from anyone, is afraid to walk to the edge of a pier!”
Now that deserved a glare. “I am not.”
“Then prove it.”
“Fine,” Sarah Jane muttered and stormed ahead of the other girl. She despised being mocked, much preferring to be the one to tease her own friends. Most of all, she couldn’t stand being called scared. She wasn’t. She was anything but. And if it took walking to the edge of some daft rotted old pier to show her friend that she was just as brave, then she would bloody well do so.
Andrea had to jog the rest of the way to catch up with Sarah. The two reunited at the junction of the pier and the promenade. Holidaying couples walked by, the candy floss man completely ignored them. Confined to their own little world, the girls beamed at each other: one smile anticipatory, the other smug.
“I knew that would get you to do this,” Andrea finally spoke, after Sarah had finished hiding her schoolbag underneath a pile of old wooden beams. She reached out to grab her hand. “It’ll be brilliant, just you wait and see. You and me on the edge of the ocean. We’d have a whole new world to explore if we could make it to the other side.”
Sarah Jane finally laughed despite the nerves bubbling up inside of her. “That would be brilliant. It would be just as brilliant if Aunt Lavinia let you go to Australia with us this summer? Can you imagine?”
“The piers would certainly be much nicer there than they are here.” She beamed, squeezing Sarah’s hand for confidence. “Ready?”
“Rather.”
The two girls giggled and closed their eyes, taking a step forward. Despite the poor look to the wood, Sarah was surprised to have it be quite sturdy. She opened her eyes and laughed in relief. Although they weren’t standing more than a few feet away from pavement, she felt it quite an accomplishment. She hadn’t ever been fond of heights to begin with.
Andrea, however, merely jumped up and down a few times to test the sturdiness of the wood. It must have met her satisfaction because she stopped shortly to walk closer to Sarah Jane. She winked at her friend and then nodded towards the pier’s edge. “Let’s see who’s fastest after all.”
Before Sarah could protest, Andrea had already taken off with her red hair flying in the wind behind her. “Oh, Andrea! Wait!”
The cheat! It wasn’t fair!
Sarah Jane took off, metres behind her friend. Caught up in her own sprint, Sarah Jane didn’t notice as the other girl slipped off the edge of the pier. She didn’t notice, that is, until a bloodcurdling scream filled the air: “Sarah Jane! Help me!”
She quickly ran to the edge, bending downward as fast as she could without toppling over. Sarah’s eyes widened with fear as she saw Andrea dangling from a hold on a metal beam, ocean churning below her. Her heart started beating faster and her head started to feel far too light. This couldn’t be happening. This just couldn’t. She reached out a hand, trying to stretch it as far as it could go. Desperately, “What happened?”
“I fell down!” she shouted back, close to tears.
But before Sarah Jane had a chance to try and find some way to help her friend, Andrea’s grip slipped and she fell backwards into the ocean. Holding on to the wooden beam tight enough to get blisters, Sarah reached further forward - as if that could save her friend. Instead, she only screamed in horror as Andrea’s body hit the ocean with a sickening thump and her friend’s face was found beneath the waves.
For a few seconds, all Sarah Jane could do was to stare in dismay. This didn’t happen, did it? Andrea wasn’t down there. It was just some sort of awful joke. Then, logic jumped in. Andrea was drowning wasn’t she? That was her face there, under the water. Maybe…maybe if Sarah could get to someone fast enough, her friend could be saved. She pushed herself up from the pier ground and ran as fast as she possibly could back towards the promenade. Tears were streaming down her face and all she could do was see Andrea’s face as she fell, Andrea’s face being crushed by waves.
“Someone! Oh, someone help me!” she shouted, running into the street to mow down the nearest person. “Please, oh please! My friend… she’s just… Oh god, help!”
Even though a lifeguard came to her aid, it was far too late to save Andrea Yates. Adults had wanted her away from the scene. She had refused to leave until she saw Andrea once more. So, Sarah Jane watched in shock as Ms Vaughn stood behind her, hugging her as closely as she was hugging the blanket. She watched as they gently lifted Andrea’s limp body - now blue and cold and so very much lacking the spirit she knew - from the boat and placed her in a stretcher. She watched as they carried the body up to the ambulance.
And oh, how she cried. She had lost her parents once, but now, Sarah Jane had lost her best friend as well. She wouldn’t ever be able to forgive herself for this day, no matter what happened later on in life. That day, Sarah Jane vowed that she would never allow herself to lose anyone she loved again.