Make the Memory

When I was eleven, I put a message in a bottle and threw it into the sea.

My dad had taken us on holiday to Ireland. He was afraid of flying, so whenever we went abroad, we always went on a ferry. When we were about to board the boat for the return trip, I got the idea in my head to throw a note into the ocean.

I wrote it myself, including my name and address, and asking whoever found it to write back to me. Dad helped me seal the bottle so it wouldn't fill with water and sink, my letter ruined.

I was impatient to pitch it off the deck, but he made me wait. "It will get crushed by the boat turning if you do it now," he said. "Wait until we are further out to sea."

When the right moment came he filmed me doing it, and then recorded my little bottle bobbing about in the water. It was late, and quite dark, so the video was dim and grainy, but the whole thing felt like an adventure.

There was this huge sense of possibility. Such a small bottle. Such a big ocean. How far would it go? Would anyone ever find it? When, and who? I was buzzing with excitement. I lay in the dark, the boat rolling with the waves, thinking about my message. Willing it to find its way to somebody.

I thought about it often after that. How long would it take to reach a shore?

Time did as time does. It wore away at my excitement, and eroded my impatience. Weeks ticked by, and I thought of it less. If it crossed my mind at all, it was as a passing wistful fancy. "If only someone had found it. That would have been good."

Many months later, a letter arrived. I didn't recognise the handwriting on the envelope. I had no idea what it was, until I opened it and read it. I was so excited, I think I smiled so much my face almost split.

Make the memory.

Pick your moment.

Take the shot.

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Word count: (excluding note): 366

Submitted on: 16th April at 23:10

*Quick Author's Note*

First, and most importantly: thank you for reading!

A Year of Stories: I'm writing a story every day this year. This one makes an 107 day streak since the 1st January. I can't believe I've come this far! I'm collating them all here.

Prompts: If you'd like to have a go at my unofficial April Challenge (Fucked Up Fairytales) I've linked it at the bottom. If you'd like some more prompts to get your creative juices flowing, I've posted a list of prompts for April, and I've linked that as well.

Leave me a link: if you have a story based on a happy memory! Why is that memory important to you? Did you learn anything from it?

Thank you

Thank you again! Especially if you are one of the people who has been staunchly reading these daily scribbles since the start of the year. I see you, and appreciate you 😁

I do my best to reciprocate as many reads as possible. If you leave me a comment, that makes it much easier.