Fragments in the Water

The sky had turned the color of unspoken things —
That soft gray-blue you only see when the rain’s about to return.

The studio was quiet.

Sofi sat on the floor, scrolling through her phone lazily, occasionally humming into the mic like she was testing its patience.

El was at the console, but he wasn’t working.

Not really.

He was listening.
Over and over.
To the same five seconds.

El’s POV, focused on the voice in the tape

Underneath the sound of the waves and the broken hum... there it was.

A voice.

His voice.

Faint. Frantic.
Calling her name.

Sofi’s sister’s name.

He didn’t remember saying it.

Didn’t remember knowing it.

But it was there — layered into the tape like a secret the ocean tried to bury.

“This isn’t possible.”
“I wasn’t there.”
“I didn’t know her.”

Except…

He did.

Or maybe…
Part of him did.

FLASH – Memory fragment

Rushing water.
A girl screaming.

Salt in his mouth.
Hands slipping through his fingers.

Another voice — calling his name this time.
Familiar. Sharp. Terrified.

He took off the headphones.

His hands were shaking.

“Why did it take her voice to wake this up?”
“Why now?”

Sofi wanders the studio, finds a shelf of old photos

While El sits at the console, lost in thought, Sofi walks to the back room. She’s not snooping — just wandering. Letting her feet take her somewhere that maybe her heart already knew.

She finds a dusty old box of photos and cassette inserts.

Old recording sessions. Random snapshots.
Musicians. Locals. Studio regulars from years ago.

She flips through, smiling at the 90s hairstyles and bootcut jeans.

Then she freezes.

A photo. Slightly water-damaged.

Three people.

A younger El.
An older man — maybe his father.
And beside them… a girl. Laughing.

She’s soaked.
Wrapped in a towel.
A pink wristband on her arm — the exact one Sofi’s sister used to wear every time they went swimming.

Sofi’s breath catches.

“No way…”

She flips the photo over.

No date. No names.

But she knows that face.
She’s sure of it.

El walks in, quiet

He sees her holding the photo.
Stops mid-step.

Sofi turns.

“When was this taken?” she asks.

El doesn’t answer.

His eyes are on the wristband.

“You were there,” she says. “Weren’t you?”

Silence.

“You knew her.”

More silence.

“…Did you try to save her?”

El looks down.
His hands clenched.

“I don’t remember.”

FLASH – El’s repressed memory crashes back

Sofi’s sister.
The water.
The scream.
Her hand slipping.

He dove in.
Dragged her to shore.

Passed out in the sand.
Woke up in a hospital with blurred names and missing pieces.

BACK TO PRESENT – El finally speaks

“I think I did.”

Sofi doesn't speak.

She just stares at him.
Not angry. Not hurt.

Just… shaken.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t know.”

Another pause.

“Now you do.”

El alone after Sofi leaves the studio quietly

He sits back at the piano.

Touches the keys.

But he doesn’t play.

He just listens.

To the sound of the tape spinning.
To the silence Sofi left behind.

To the ocean — crashing softly against the past.