I Dream A Dive

• Rachael Woolridge, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2010

It was a windy day today; I stood in front of the windmill, letting it blow my hair around as I looked over the beautiful glittering ocean that whirled around in front of me. The spring had come and gone, and the summer heat hung in the air, I was going out for my last dive for the year. I hadn’t been out in a while and now, with university, I had to change my schedule. I was waiting for my Uncle, Andrew, to bring my gear and his boat out of the attic down here to the jetty. I saw the strange fish that always swam around the jetty. I had named them when I was little once but I can’t remember them now. I was about to sit down when I turned and saw Uncle Andrew stumbling outside with his old gear and his boat that he pulled along with immense strength.
I geared up and started the boat’s engine. The boat slowly whizzed away from the jetty, slower than the old times when we went out all the time. I was heading to Rock Island, the main diving attraction. It was empty today, which was rare, maybe no one wanted to dive at this end of the island anymore. I hadn’t heard much news about the island since my mum and dad began research on it. Not even from my parents. I tied the boat up to the old jetty by Rock Island, its wood beginning to rot. I flopped back, putting on my flippers and gracefully dove down into the deep, blue depths of the lonely ocean.
I felt like a bird, able to sore through the water. I looked at the rare and aquatic fish that swam around the coral and old boat debris. I saw something glitter coming from way down below me. It looks an awful lot like gold. I knew I might run out of air, but I could swim back up. What if I didn’t run out of air? So I swam down without hesitation. I was so close to the loot when suddenly, the current picked up, sending me back, far away from my Uncle’s Luxurious boat, away from land, away from safety, away from home. It continued to wash me along until it finally came to a stop as I reached the bigger part of the ocean that means that I was swept right out of the reef!
A speed boat whizzed past me, its spray blurring my eyes. I couldn’t move without sight. When next thing I knew, the current was carrying me again. I was washed into a cave, bobbing in and out of the water, struggling for air. I couldn’t stand this. I pushed the current in front of me, beating it, just. I washed up on the beach, half in water and half out. I felt so sick. I fell asleep, my head thumping with pain. I woke up, my head still thumping, my body in agony from the rocks in the cave that must have stabbed into my skin. My eyes blurred with sand and salty water. I sat up, coughing up horrible murky water. I struggled to my feet. I had to go somewhere. I wandered into some tall bushes.
I was about to make a bed out of leaves when I saw a pack of dogs. They could smell me. I began to run, as they followed me. I grabbed a stick, stumbling on my tired, cut legs. I threw the stick into the bush, that should make it look like I’m in there, I though. Next I saw a shack, its roof filthy with moss and its veranda surrounded by swamp. It looked abandoned. I smashed at the door. It was locked. I played at the lock when I heard the dogs getting closer. I threw a rock at the window, although the others were boarded up with wood. I climbed in, my limbs cutting on the broken glass. I fell on to the hardwood floor, my blood slowly seeping through my torn clothes. I tried to get up but stopped when I heard the scream of a woman. It was coming from what must have been the hall of the small house, I realised I was lying in the kitchen. I couldn’t quite get a glimpse of the woman before I woke up, out of a terrible dream.