Jaws Of Doom

• Emily Ryan, Grade 4, Grahamstown Public School -
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Horizon of Dreams 2018' competition

Fwip! Fwip! Fwip! The choppy water churns around the large fan that is pushing the yacht across the surface of the ocean. The coral gleams up from the deep. Diana gapes over the edge of the boat and stares longingly at the surface, shimmering from the sunshine. Little does she know that something not so shimmery is out there… Diana and her uncle Sammy are on a fishing trip out in the Bahamas. They are on his company boat, a yacht by the name of ‘Blue Eyed Lucy’- a real beauty this boat. Sammy had vowed to keep it safe. Little did he know something not so safe is out there… Diana continues to stare at the water, the welcoming, wistful waves motioning for her to submerge herself into it.
As they are 500 kilometres from civilisation, she knows she cannot go too far, as no one can help her, but, as usual, her curiosity gets the better of her… With a grin, she cannon balls into the waves, causing the boat to rock violently. Thank goodness Sammy was asleep, for if he was awake, he would have a fit.
Diana swims until the boat is just a tiny spec in the distance. But her happiness is short lived. She feels a vicious tug on her left leg. She chokes for a split second before realising that a colossal fin is less than a ruler length from her small nose.
Diana thrusts out her leg to see the damage. None, except for a tooth mark. No time can be wasted on relief because the shark is inching forward.
She starts to caterwaul and swim briskly at the same time. The jaws of doom was trailing close behind her. The further she swims, the closer she comes to the boat. As she reaches out to the edge of the yacht, she notices a blood red colour lingering. She looks down to see a huge chunk of her leg missing. With her heart pounding and her body tiring, a sudden sense of fear ran through her nerves like the chill of an icy wind.
She kicks rapidly towards the boat, splashing the dazed shark with waves. Her uncle emerges from his cabin, yawning. When he sees the 6.1m carnivorous fish, he suddenly becomes wide awake. He starts to yell, and fiercely stabs the shark until it is fully submerged, not breathing. While steering away he looks out and realises there are still dozens of hammerheads.
“You know better Diana!” Sammy yells in frustration. “You know better than to swim out on your own. You could have been killed!”
“I’m sorry,” said Diana.
“Let’s look at that leg of yours!” he says a little calmer.
TWELVE YEARS LATER…
Diana lives in San Francisco with a noticeable limp and a lasting memory of her bad fishing trip. It was all in the past… right?
Diana has a brother, Danny, and a daughter, Rihanna.
One day they went on a fishing adventure…