Ocean

• Camille Baker, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2015

As I plunged under the fluorescent aqua blue water, a sensation of peace overcame me. I didn’t know how long I held my breath for, I guess I wanted it to keep going. For that my fears won’t harm me. That’s why I came to Flora, so I could run away, somehow escape.
Once again, I heard the whispering sound of the secretive ocean. As the sun rose I awoke and stepped onto the soothing sand, made from rocks nearly one thousand years ago. I yanked my homemade surf board out of the sand, and started to run. I ran so far that I didn’t even care that Ella will wake to see me gone. I had to go.
I ran far from the town of Flora. Past the deep murmuring sound of the ocean, my memories of Flora began to disappear. I didn’t know where I was going but I knew I will find the right place. I will feel it inside me. I looked down at myself. I was wearing dirty, torn jeans with a creased T-shirt along with a worn belt. My knotty, ocean blonde hair hung loose around my shoulders. My piercing green eyes peered further down until they reached my filthy bare feet, with dirt thrown under my toe nails for extra effect. While I was running I saw people staring at me, assuming that I was just another dirty, homeless girl running through Bentonville to escape the police chasing after them. I wasn’t one of those people. I came to this world for a reason. I was the one and only peace-finder. Not that anybody knew such a thing existed. A peace-finder is something that you’d only hear about in fairy-tales, or legends. From this very day I remembered when my mum told me I was a peace-finder. That night seemed almost ten years ago. The night lay very still when she said it, almost as if the night was holding its breath. ‘Charlotte, listen to me,’ she whispered. ‘Before I leave this world, I want to tell you a secret,’ I leaned closer. ‘Charlotte, you are one special person. God sent you to this world for a reason. And do you know what that reason is? You’re a peace-finder Charlotte.’ At that sudden moment Mum collapsed taking short gasping breaths.
As I ran deeper into Bentonville, I felt more pairs of eyes eyeing me. I stopped running and stumbled over to nearby rocks. I was far from the ocean. It was almost midday, so the sun was shooting its soul burning hot rays of sunshine over Bentonville. I glanced around, I was home. I pounced up from the crushed rocks and ran faster than I had ever run before. The ocean awaited my presence. I dashed into the water feeling that calming sensation overcoming me. Then it occurred to me that what mum truly meant was that peace-finders didn’t find peace in the outside world, they found it within themselves.