Thinking was not possible. Instinct made me reach out for air, my lungs desperate for oxygen, and then, I felt not air but ice-cold flesh. Large hands grabbed me and pulled me out of the water like they were hauling out a large fish. Air detonated in my lungs. I coughed and sputtered, collapsing onto the shore.
I heard my father saying my name. “Emma, wake up. It’s just a nightmare. Wake up!”
Just a nightmare. My damp pajamas clung to my chest and my goose-fleshed legs. I shivered uncontrollably, but I knew that if I sat up, I would find myself safe in bed but covered in sweat, my father’s arms around me.
But this time when I sat up, I was still on the beach, drenched and cold, and my father was cradling me, rocking me back and forth, repeating, “It was just a nightmare, just a nightmare... .”
Only both of us knew this wasn’t true.
K TEEN BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
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New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2012 by Eve Marie Mont
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and KTeen Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
ISBN: 978-0-7582-7777-0