Ocean

• Carlos Bovey Mendez, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2015

The incomprehensible expanse stretched out its barren wings as far as the naked eye could see, its vast fingertips licking at the horizon as a tiny dot glided through the writhing mass; the realm of death bubbling up to the surface. Flailing at each passing wave, the miniature raft was powerless to the pure authority and vigor of the eternal throng. The cruel curves smashed down on its bow, wrenching it apart, piece by piece the monster clawed through the wooden tub.
Dread-filled, the man scuttled around the craft; waves looming above him, slowly descending as if the beast was taunting him, toying with his life.
The gentle sunlight caressed the boat, comforting it, a guardian angel, but as the sun came into view, it was blotted out by the grey, anger-filled mass, a glow of hope reduced to nothing.
Enraged, the clouds looked down with superiority, sending bolts of pure, radial energy down to the layer of skin, the harsh sound echoing around the fear-filled globe. There were no negotiations now; nothing which could stop the charcoal horror, hate was the only thing at its core.
Peering through the darkness, he saw the hope giving silhouette, and when he drew closer; waves battering at his ship like a play toy, his life on the line; it became clear that this was the one thing he had been looking for, all these years; out of the sea rose the familiar sight of land! Wildly, he burst into a flurry of disembodied movements as hope entered his dark world of despair.
The craft slowly sped up, inertia creating a rift of power; all of nature and physics fighting against survival of the dying person.
He laughed as the ocean spray whipped up, his knotted, greasy hair flying in the opposite direction. The broken boat came to a stop on the beach, and as it stopped, he raised his metal paddle as if he had won a race. He disembarked his wreckage of a ship and stepped off, into a whole new world.
Silence fell. All that could be heard were the waves slapping against rocks.
It fell, speeding faster than its already speed-of-light speed, it struck with the immense force of a seven-ton truck, tearing the fabric of reality as it splintered the boat and all of its surroundings into billions of charred remains. Tumbling down, down to the torturous depths, the driftwood fell, each with their own unique future; all except one. The fried remains of him drifted sadly through the currents, tossing and turning him in his watery grave.