The Sailing Drama

• Leong Chan, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

Twisting, tumbling, and turning around, gasping for air. The water sloshed around Liam's head. 'What am I going to?' he thought as the current swept him away from the boat.

Liam was a simple boy with a simple life. He had long blond hair, blue eyes, some freckles, and an oval-shaped head. Liam never liked swimming in the ocean. He hated sailing, and memories always came back when he held his friend's small bamboo stick; his friend went off to sail around the world but never returned. His parents liked sailing and made Liam too, so he had to go sailing every Sunday.

It was Saturday, and Liam was sulking that the next day would be the first day of sailing. His mum and dad were both excited about it and thought Liam was excited too. His mum came to his room and asked, "Are you ready for tomorrow?" His mum looked at his face, was scrunched up, and asked, "What's wrong, honey?"

"I don't want to go sailing," Liam replied

"Isn't that bad going sailing," his mum said with a sigh.

Liam's eyes glared into the sea at the beach; his boat was on his left, and the long stretching beach on his right. "Here we go," he said quietly. It was a cloudy day. His mum and dad were already in the water on a different boat catching the wind in the sails. He pushed the boat into the water and sighed. He jumped on the boat and drifted out into the open blue sea.

Starting to catch speed, he eased the sail, "I am going good for now," he thought. The fog began to appear, "Where are mum and dad?" he thought hesitantly. The wind started to pick up speed, and he was going too fast. Waves began to splash water into the boat. The wind suddenly got into the sail and made the boat flip! He tried to get back to the boat and bring it back up, but the current swept him away from the boat. A thought came to his mind; maybe his friend flipped and could not get the boat up and drowned. His hands were shaking, and his head was cold. He was trying to swim to the boat again. The water pulled him down under the sea, and he ran out of breath. He was about to give up hope when he felt a hand pull his head up out of the water into a boat, and he felt a hand pull him into a boat. "Mum, dad!" he said in relief. They went back to shore and went home and discussed if Liam wanted to go sailing again. Grinning, Liam said, "I can go sailing but only with you guys."

"Awwww," both parents gushed, "but why?"

"I almost drowned!" Liam exclaimed

"Ok, but next time better not whinge about going sailing," his parents replied with a chuckle.

The End