Day #5

(Their boat just got flipped over by the sea monster)

It’s like all the air has been punched out of my body, and my eyes are burning and the cold is enveloping me so tightly that I can’t move. Strangely enough, I can see dad’s mouth moving like he’s still trying to talk. The boat looms above us, blocking the surface and freezing us in it’s shadow. The Zinker moves first, recoiling from the surprise of seeing us stranded right in it‘s way. It opens it’s mouth.
Noise rushes back then, garbled words are pouring from dad’s mouth and mom might be shouting Cara and I try to grab their hands as I lunge for the air.
Trawley has already surfaced, he’s coughing and spitting and trying to grab onto the boat. Mom pops up a moment later dragging dad with her and we wheeze. I’m curling up my legs as much as I can while still staying afloat, looking down and trying to see where the Zinker is.
“We’re not it’s prey,” Trawley is shouting, he repeats it until I look up. “It doesn’t want to eat us,” he says, practically grinning. “Now that it can smell that we’re disgusting humans, it should go away.” He’s got one arm hooked around the bottom of the boat and it looks whole, just a bit battered.
“Cara,” mom says, smiling out of relief. And then the ship explodes.
The blast rocks through the water, sending a vast wave that makes me reel and go under again. Things are falling, huge metal shards that were thrown into the sky and send more waves when they plummet near us. I can’t get my balance. I’m fighting to stay above the ocean, swallowing more briny water as cold as a knife each time I’m pushed back down. I can’t see anything in the darkness except for pieces of flaming wood and steaming metal. The sudden light from the fire burns itself onto my eyes and I can’t find my parents, or the boat, or anything except for wreckage and more ocean, and coldness everywhere.
Another wave pushes me under and I try to clamp my mouth shut, but I’d been gasping for a air a moment ago and I can’t help but swallow a shard of water. It’s up my nose and I feel like my head is going to explode. I shut my eyes though it makes no difference and make myself relax.
Something bumps into me and I grab it hurriedly, letting it drag me back up to the surface. It’s a piece of the piano, I realize as I splutter ocean water. The top part, long and flat and if I lay it right… it floats. I hang on with my arms for a moment as waves make it buck and leap, but I don't go under. Slowly I clamber onto the wood, my weight making it dip down before I’m fully on, but when I spread out and lie completely still it rides the surface gently.
The waves from the explosion are dissipating already and I look around as much as I can, searching the darkness on every side. It’s no use. The moon has gone behind a cloud and the flames are all quenched, all I can see is a vague blackness that turns into gray when it meets the sky. There’s no sign of my parents, or even the wreckage. It must have only been minutes since the explosion but there’s no way to judge how far I’ve drifted, or to know what direction they’re in. They might have sank, or just drifted out of my view. There’s not a single blip or smudge to say that anything was ever there.
“Shat,” I say softly, and lay back down. The current is pulling me somewhere, so it must be towards land or a city. I can’t think. The air is slightly less frigid than the water but it’s still like ice, and I think my pajamas are actually freezing. I can’t let myself think. My chest hurts like I want to cry, but maybe that’s just the cold. Except for the whoosh and swish of water it is perfectly silent. I close my eyes.


Kelia