Washing Over Me

• Sophie Hagel, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2017

I can taste the salt coating my lips, I can hear the birds soaring above me and I can feel the splashes of water over me. I slowly peel my eyes open, I was in awe at the sight lying before me. A vast view of the ocean, the little fishing boat I'm on is swaying in the waves. The boat seems empty except for a lifejacket that is tied to the edge. Where am I? How did I get here? Who does that lifejacket belong to?
The sobs and screams of a boy wakes me up, the reflection of the stars on the water give me a view of his face, he was nearly a man maybe around the age of 19. His eyes red and puffy, he points a long, slender finger to a storm that seems to be approaching the boat fast. The rain and thunder has already reached us, through the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of a wave forming big enough that it'd knock us out of the boat maybe to never be seen again. A strong gripping hand grabbed onto my forearm, I look over to the boy and I see the terror in his eyes. I see the reflection of my face, I'm only a 15 year old girl barely a woman, I shouldn't be out here. The bottom of the boat started tipping, his grip got tighter. He was yelling but I couldn't hear anything over the raging storm, he sort of smiled at me then like he already figured out that his time was up. The strange boy took of his lifejacket and tied it on to the edge of the boat, I heard something explode. At that very moment I awoke from that nightmare. Who was that boy? What happened that night? Was it all just in my head?
When I woke again it wasn't on a boat in the middle of the ocean but a graveyard. I was in front of a headstone decorated with flowers, it read:
Taylah McGuiness
2001-2016
Taylah died in oil spill from the fishing boat she was on, the engine overheated and exploded. Her brother Michael also died that day. Though they never found Taylah's body it is believed that she is dead somewhere deep in the ocean.
I always thought I'd go to a funeral but the thing is I never thought it would be mine. Will I ever actually know what happened that night? Will I ever know if I'm living or just a mere memory of everyone around me? These questions still remain unanswered.