Shipwrecked

“Careful Jacob, don’t run off too far”, the woman said to her son as he was about to explore the ship. “Relax, Sarah. It’s his first time on a cruise ship. Let him enjoy it,” her husband said as he put his arm around her.

“I know Josh, but I still don’t understand why we needed to go on a cruise.”

“Well, work has been keeping me busy so I wanted to have some time away to spend with you and the kiddo. You don’t like it?”

“It’s not that I don’t, it's just that-”

“Um, Dad?” Jacob said as he pointed to the sky from the front deck.

“What’s that?” A glaring light was blazing in the sky that was getting closer and closer to the ship. Then, Bang! Suddenly, there are loud screams. People are trying to run away from the fire. Most are passed out on the ship deck. Josh barely opens his eyes. “MOMMY!” Jacob screams as he is pulled away with the tide of people. “JACOB!” Sarah screams. Josh tries to get up but another explosion occurs. Jolting awake a second later, Josh can hear his wife, Sarah calling out to him. “Honey, we are over here!” Fire is engulfing the ship as Josh sees Sarah and Jacob together on a lifeboat calling out to him. Josh musters up enough strength to run towards them, but as he runs he sees the same light headed towards his family. He screams at them as the light moves closer and then, darkness.

Josh opens his eyes, blinking at the sun in the sky. His nostrils flare as if he could still smell the fire and smoke. Josh rubs his head, still in pain, until he hears, “Was it that dream again?” Josh tries to sit up and face the person that spoke.

“You were saying those names again in your sleep.”

Josh rubbed his eyes with a haggard expression. “Yeah, it was more of a nightmare. I’m sorry if I kept you up again, Matt.”

“No worries, this time I was woken up by the sound of Ben puking.” Matt pointed to the other side of the small boat. Ben was hunched over and groaning over the water.

“I told you guys, I don’t do well at sea.” At that moment, Ben hunched over to continue puking in the ocean.

“It’s just a classic case of seasickness,” Matt said with a shrug.

“Any idea how long we’ve been drifting out here?” Josh asked, now fully awake.

Matt turned to his side of the boat to reveal several lines carved into the boat.

“I believe we are looking at day 4.”

“It feels like we’ve been here for a lot longer.”

“Honestly, that’s the least of our issues. At this rate, I don’t know if we will even survive long enough for the rescue team.”

“Provided they even know what happened,” Josh said with a shudder.

“Regardless, I just want to go home. I’m getting tired of sea life.”

“At least you have a home to go back to.”

“Which won’t matter if we starve to death.”

Ben rose up from his position slightly and said, “Can you guys seriously not argue today? I don’t have the stomach for it.”

“When do you have the stomach for it?” Josh snapped at Ben.

While the three began to argue, the sun was slowly covered up by the clouds and an eerie fog crept in.

“Great, how are we going to get anywhere with this dang fog?” Josh remarked.

Matt tried his best to peer into the fog, but to no avail. Suddenly he heard a loud ship horn coming from over the horizon. Matt quickly turned to see the silhouette of a ship in the far distance.

“Guys look, a ship!” Matt said.

“What are you-” Josh is interrupted by Matt taking off his shirt and trying to flag down the ship.

“You guys deal with the ship, I’m still not feeling so good.” Ben said as he returned to hunching over the other side of the boat.

Matt continued to steam, “OVER HERE!” continuously. Josh was reluctant to follow suit, as he couldn’t see anything in the dense fog. However, both men paused as they heard a soft voice singing in the distance.

“You hear that too, right?” Josh inquired.

“Yeah, it must be coming from somebody on the ship,” Matt said in eagerness.

Matt continues to flag the ship down, while Josh still tries to stare onward. In that moment, the pair heard a splash behind them. They turned around to find that Ben was no longer there.

“Did that idiot go overboard again?” Matt inquired. Matt tried to call out to Ben, but there was no response. At this moment the singing had stopped, which caused Matt to panic.

“Look Josh, I’m going in after Ben. Keep calling out to the ship. This could be our only shot to get home, got it?”

“Ok, but how long will you be gone?”

“Give or take a few minutes. Either way I’m coming back - with or without Ben.”

The singing began again, to Matt’s excitement.

“See? The ship is still close by, keep calling them.”

Josh turned around as Matt prepared to dive. The boat jerked back suddenly, which caused Josh to fall backwards following another splash. Matt was gone, but Josh did as he was told and cried out to the ship. The singing halted, much to Josh’s chagrin. Josh kept on yelling till his voice became hoarse. After a while, Josh noticed that Matt had yet to return and he was all alone again. Josh huddled to himself, sad and depressed. His family came into his mind and he began to cry in anguish. Once again the singing appeared, except the voice was getting closer and closer. With his last bit of energy Josh yelled out, “WHERE ARE YOU?”

“Honey, I’m right here.”

Stunned, Josh slowly looked behind him to see his wife, Sarah.

“Sarah! You’re alive? How? Why? What are you doing here?”

“Relax, Honey. You’ve been through quite the ordeal, but it’s over now.”

“Where’s Jacob?” Josh asked firmly.

“I can take you to Jacob, just come with me,” Sarah said as she held out her hand.

Josh, feeling relieved, grabbed her hand.

The fog slowly lifted and the sun escaped from the clouds shining brightly. The sea was calm and quiet with nothing to be seen for miles. Except for a small boat drifting along the waves, not a soul was left on the ocean.