Land Below

• Connie Lin, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2020

Land below
A scream escaped before I noticed. Then followed by mad laughter. Deserted by my own mother and father into the ocean. Water flooded my eyes before anything could happen as I felt faint. The last thing I remember was singing. A soft hum.
I woke in an abandoned camp in the middle of nowhere. The singing gone replaced by a taste of air. My crippled body just laid there, unable to move. Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw. People. Lying there. Ignoring the reluctance of my joints, I stumbled up and ambled to those bodies. A scream came from me again.
Dead bodies. At least a dozen of them. All brutally murdered. I stood there. No sign of survivors among the rubble. But it’s the golden hair that caught me. I’d recognize it anywhere. No…not Aspen as well. I ran and cried at his body. His blood was still wet. It couldn’t have been more than a few minutes.
I was stained with blood from strangers. However it didn’t seem to bother me. All I could focus on was Aspen. How did he deserve this? I cried wanting to have Aspen back. Then the singing came back. Somehow I drifted back to sleep without even realising. Next day all the bodies were gone.
I was left alone with the thought of my dead boyfriend and the dozen next to him. No, stop thinking of that Nova. You lived without him before, you can do it again. I stared at the spot where he last was. Slowly I turned directions and left to go explore the camp with my history in the past.
Dark clouds were looming over now. A storm. That’s when I saw ‘it’ and just like that, ‘it’ was gone. Whatever ‘it’ was.
I must be hallucinating. I thought no more of it. Unaware of where my legs were taking me, I wondered forward. Soon I found myself sitting along the side of the island. Waves were already forming. My eyes weren’t glued to that. It was to what was under them.
People. There were people down there! That was what ‘it’ was. I expected the shock to wash over me. It never came. Then one looked at me. That’s when I finally ran.
Drops of water were all around me. But the only thought I had was to keep away from whatever was under the water. Whatever creature was lurking down under land.
That’s when I find myself staring at silhouettes of my family. Tears welled up. I didn’t want to see them. I turned my back and decided if they left me, I’ll leave them.
Tears were my greatest enemy. I wasn’t proud of them but now I needed them. Each droplet held different memories being washed into the ocean. Then I was humming. The same tune I heard ‘it’ sang. When I was done, I gave a final glance back and drifted into to the land below.