"What?" The shock coursed through her at her mother's statement and made her feel faint.

"Your grandmother and grandfather died before you were born. You've never met them."

"But--" she sputtered. "They live with us. I talk to them all the time."

"We know you see them and talk to them. But your grandparents died a long time ago."

"That's not possible! I talk to them. They talk to me. They hug me and kiss me. They..." her voice trailed off. She burst into heaving sobs. "It can't be true. I love them so much. They have to be real. They just have to be."

"They are real, Honey," Connor reached out a hand to touch her.

"Don't!" she shrieked. "Don't you touch me! You should have told me a long time ago! How am I supposed to live with this now?"

"We wanted to tell you, sweetheart, but we didn't want you to see yourself as different. We wanted you to have a normal childhood."

"I’m a freak!" she cried. Suddenly a thought struck her. "Who else knows?"

Connor lowered his head. "Kelly has always known. She protected you in school."

"My best friend is keeping this from me? My best friend is stabbing me in the back?" McKenna could no longer control her anger.

She rose from the picnic table and glared at them. "I hate you both!" she screamed. "I never want to see you again!"

She bolted from the table.

She ran without stopping. Having no idea where she was going. Only needing to get away from them. She was a freak that talked to dead people—a monster who had no loving grandparents at all, only ghosts that haunted her.

She reached the lake out of breath and stared at the water. Why not? The thought was barely there, but it was enough.

Slipping off her sandals, she slowly approached the water's edge.  She thought to herself. She had already died once. Died, drowned, dead as a doornail. Maybe she could do it again. Perhaps if she drowned again, it would stop the dead from haunting her. Or maybe she would just die herself. Then it would all be over.

She took a step into the water. It was cool on her feet. She took another step, she shivered. She took another step, unafraid. That was good. No fear. Just keep going.

She was up to her waist now. Still unafraid. She kept going.

The water was up to her chest. It was getting colder the deeper she went.

"Kenna!"

McKenna didn't look back. She didn’t want to see her father standing on the shore. This was something she had to do, and he was not going to stop her.

"Kenna! Come back!"

She ignored him.

"Kenna, please! You don't know how to swim!"

And who’s fault is that? She thought, refusing to listen to him.

Slowly, the water covered her shoulders, then her neck. She was up to her chin. She wasn't afraid anymore. She sank to her knees, feeling the sand at the bottom of the lake scratch them.

The water covered her head, and she gave herself entirely to it. She opened her mouth and inhaled deeply. Then she was gone.

She was drowning. But she was no longer a seventeen-year-old teenager.

She could look up and see her father leaning over the edge of the boat, staring into the water and calling her name. She waited for him to jump into the water like he said he had, but he never did. He stayed in the boat and continued to call her name. He did this for a very long time. She waited and waited, but he never jumped into the water to save her.

The bottom of the boat vanished from sight as she descended. The seaweed clawed at her legs, pulling her deeper into the cold depths. She opened her mouth to scream but instead inhaled a mouthful of water.

She started to cry, watching as the bubbles from her mouth and nose floated to the surface. She hoped her father would see them and be able to find her. Then he could rescue her.

She waved her hands in the water to try and get his attention. It did no good. The pressure of the water kept her from waving with any strength. Her vision grew dark. In a few moments, she would die.

© Copyright 2026 k.l.warzala. All rights reserved.