UNDER YOUR BOARD

• Shadé Solomona, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2015

I lay on my freshly waxed surfboard, my limbs hanging off the board into the cool, fresh water.
I speak briefly to my bestie, of our life at school.
Suddenly, out of the deep, dark blue sea of Hawaii, a Great white drags me of the board, my Scarlett coloured blood polluting the blue water. I sit up quickly in my bed, alarmed expression on my face, whilst panting heavily. "Sweet as, it was all a dream..." I say whilst getting dressed to meet my bestie, Jade, for our surf outing. We paddle firmly past the shore break, and after numerous attempts of getting tubed, we relax on our boards, limbs hanging into the fresh water.
Jade pushes me off my board and dramatically screams "Shark!" But as we both laugh to her failed prank I climb back onto my board. We continue to chat but paranoid and uncertain, I cautiously check the water occasionally. The water is deep and although clear, is a murky shade of blue. Who knows what creatures could be lurking under the surface, ready to strike? A dark shadow appears in circles deep in the water. It rises slowly, but then is lost from sight.
As we continue to talk about our lives at school, Jade suddenly pauses and gulps. "What is that shadow in the water?" She says rather panicked. We stare into each other's eyes. It jumps out and grabs by body rapidly, dragging me underwater. The last thing I hear is Jade's screams, quivering with fear, and the last thing I see, is blood.