by Miranda K, Year 8<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The river waits for me like an old secret, shimmering softly reflecting the sky with a kind of quiet kind of arrogance. Its surface is smooth, deeply calming the way a held breath is calm. It\u2019s clear and dark water makes me feel unsteady, almost as if it\u2019s hiding something in plain sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Riven Hale steps out from the trees moving with that strange shadow soft grace of his. He seems like someone shaped by storms and silence. His eyes seem older that the sky and his hair fall\u2019s down into his face as if he is hiding from the world. The crescent scares that curves across his ribs makes me wonder. I know everything about him, yet he still seems so mysteries like there is some deeper question that I still haven\u2019t solved Someone who sees too much and says too little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou came\u201d he said voice low almost reluctant<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou asked\u201d I replied although we both knew wouldn\u2019t have come anyway. Something about him pulls me not romantically, not dramatically but gravitationally as if his eyes were streetlights guiding the way home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People think I shine because I\u2019m popular but really its because my HSAM (Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory) traps every memory in unforgettable detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember everything,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Except why this river feels like a bruise<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The thought rattles me. My memory is flawless, relentless like a library with every book yet here a page is torn out. Something important. I try my hardest to resurface every time I\u2019m here yet every time, I leave heart broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our reflections ripple together two silhouettes stitched together by the trembling surface. My blonde hair catching sunlight and shines to bright like a warning flare, and in that body of water the memory slams into place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The problem wasn\u2019t the river it was us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can see the storm-lit afternoon argument crackling between us like lightning. Riven accusing me of knowing too much, remembering too much, seeing too much. Me accusing him of hiding behind silence of letting the river swallow pieces of himself he refuses to face. Words sharp as broken glass. His eyes grey and furious, ones I have never seen before. My voice too loud, too certain, too stern like I was becoming someone else, someone I have never seen myself become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the slip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The splash<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scream swallowed by water<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He didn\u2019t fall I pushed him. A hard and brutal push. The current to strong, taking him down the river rapidly, the dark sky makes him invisible. Disappearing into the darkness, I break down, a tight burn swelling between my lashes until it spills over, how could I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a heartbeat I don\u2019t breathe<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a heartbeat I\u2019m six-teen, and twelve and ageless all at one<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hesitate to whisper \u201cRiven I remember\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His shadow stiffens beside mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe river the storm the \u2026 the push\u201d I say voice trembling<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The river wasn\u2019t bruised it was us, me, the guilt I buried so deep even my perfect memory couldn\u2019t bear to hold it. Mabey I\u2019m the one that is afraid to face pieces of myself, maybe it\u2019s all my fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d my voice clear, and shy<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Riven stays quiet<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in that moment, I realised something I should have known all along, something I should always remember. Memory isn\u2019t a wound or a weapon. It\u2019s a bridge, A way forward. A way back. And maybe the only way we can heal is by stepping off the bank, not into the river, but into the guilt we have been drowning in all this time. Instead of letting the current drag us under, deeper, from the truth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Miranda K, Year 8 The river waits for me like an old secret, shimmering softly reflecting the sky with a kind of quiet kind of arrogance. Its surface is smooth, deeply calming the way a held breath is calm. It\u2019s clear and dark water makes me feel unsteady, almost as if it\u2019s hiding something […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":8985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","article_category":[18],"article_tag":[],"class_list":["post-9239","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_category-inspiration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/oxley-college\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/9239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/oxley-college\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/oxley-college\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/oxley-college\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/oxley-college\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/oxley-college\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/oxley-college\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_category?post=9239"},{"taxonomy":"article_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/oxley-college\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article_tag?post=9239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}