Waiting

• Archie Gilchrist, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2020

The ship slowly emerged into the cold water below. People were screaming and already jumping off. We hadn’t prepared. We didn’t expect it to sink. No one did. Everyone trusted the crew to keep us safe. They boarded the only life boat and left before any major damage was done. Why though? Most of the people were innocent and did nothing wrong. The ship sank further and further down. It started to tip up. Everyone rushed to the top, hoping to survive.

The problem with being so far out in the ocean, is that you don’t service. This was a major hole in our plan to survive. They tried calling for help, but no one could hear us. Everyone struggled to get to the top. They were getting aggressive and started pushing people off. Parents had their children on their shoulders to get them higher. It didn’t work for long. Everyone copied them and it got out of control. Even more people were getting pushed off than before.

It was loud. People were screaming their hearts out and crying more than ever. The people in the water were rushing to try and get back on the ship. I was lying on a bench in the water. Trying to get back up. I figured that it was pointless and a rescue team wouldn’t be here for days, even weeks. We didn’t have that time. In fact we didn’t have any time at all.

The ship slowly sunk into the ocean, until it was completely underwater. Everyone panicked to get to the surface. People rested on wooden planks that had come off the ship. The water wasn’t terribly cold. We waited. Hours passed. No one came. Everyone stayed put and watched the sun rise. We kept waiting. Eventually, the sun went back down. No one said a word. No one screamed. We just waited. We didn’t know exactly what we were waiting for. Would a rescue team even come?

Everyone laid on their planks. As the sun rose again, the water got warmer. It was relaxing. No one dared to speak. We waited in the silence. Staring off into the distance. Just waiting in the water.

It was a weird experience. Just waiting for so long. My throat hurt. I was hungry. The only food we had was deep underwater. The waiting was killing me, literally. I was so sick of it. No one was coming. No one ever would come. Still, we waited. What was the point of this? Why did we wait. My body told me to just stay still and to not move a muscle.

I counted all the people that I could see without moving. 23 people. What happened to the rest. I concluded that they were just behind me. Waiting like us. I got so sick of it. I sat up and turned around to look at all the people.

Now I knew why they were so still.