“The sound of the ocean conjured up faint, fleeting memories; just flashes of images like those seen in a dream.”

Here is the first chapter from my soon to be released novella, No One.  I’m categorizing it in the science fiction genre, but it’s also full of mystery and romance with a few action and paranormal elements.  It tells the story of a young woman waking up on a beach with no memory and how she begins putting the pieces together to discover who she really is.

Her clear blue eyes fluttered open gradually. Her pupils adjusted to the sun that was beating down on her skin. She sat up to see an endless ocean before her. Then she pulled herself upright.  Feeling groggy, she shifted her feet in the warm sand. The sound of the ocean conjured up faint, fleeting memories; just flashes of images like those seen in a dream. It was more like a feeling than anything else.

She closed her eyes and let the waves guide her breathing:  in and out…in and out. Then, without warning, fear and ignorance crept up her spine; anxiety was not long after. She tried to remember why she was there and who she was, but it was like her mind was a prison. Cloudy images of strangers and the unknown were all that was there to greet her. Panic set in next as she grasped the notion that she had no idea where she was. “Breathe,” she said in a barely audible whisper, but there was no one to answer but herself.

Using the ocean as a distraction, she stared at the waves to help set her heart rate back to its normal level.  Suddenly, she began to feel sick to her stomach.  “It’s just the heat,” she said to reassure herself. The young woman wiped her brow and then felt her face go white. Her gaze was held steadily to the ocean as if trying to latch onto it to keep her strength. After a few moments, everything went fuzzy and she collapsed helplessly on the beach. Darkness held her in its grip until the next morning.

Read chapter 2 here.