“It was a freak storm that was pretty much hurricane force. And it was just my dad that day, out on a tiny little boat. The waves… I still have nightmares about how bad they must have been. Or my dad yelling. Trying to hold on while the ocean tried to rip him apart. He never came home that day.” He started to cry, the sound of it tearing me apart at a cellular level. I put my arms around him and took him into a tight hug, letting him let it all out onto my shoulder. He trembled in my arms. The pain still bloody and raw. “It’s why I hate water. The ocean. I’ve never been back, and I don’t want
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