Flotsam

Stranded in open water. Need I say more?

The prow of the lifeboat slowly sank beneath the waves, as did all hope.  Bobbing like a fishing lure, I rose and fell with the peaks and troughs of the sea.  The horizon stretched in every direction, the azure sea and cerulean sky my only companions.  

Suddenly, a chill rose up my spine.  I felt eyes on me.  Hunter’s eyes.  My head snapped from side to side, hindered by the collar on my life jacket, my eyes wide, ears pinned back, like prey alert to a predator.  That’s what I was.  Prey.  My heart thundered, faster, louder, its tattoo filling my ears.  I thrashed at the water and roared, my waterlogged clothes a holystone, trying to stave off my stalker.  

The fin cutting the water mocked my attempts. I fled to my boat’s watery grave and sank beneath the waves, a briny sting in my eyes.  My arms flailed, seeking an oar, a splintered board, anything to use as a weapon.  Something brushed the backs of my hands.  

Rough, like sandpaper, it bled my knuckles.  I breached the surface with a gasp of pain, blood seeping from the abrasions to colour the water, salt stinging the lesions.  I looked down to inspect the damage, and what I saw through my fingers froze the blood in my veins.  A grey snout, white belly, and a gaping pink maw, filled with serrated razors.  I felt the rush of blood from my head, my screams a silent echo.  Cold, black, lifeless eyes rolled in their sockets, paralyzing me.  I watched as death sped towards me, powerless to halt the crush of its embrace.

Reviews

[Delmar Cooper]

Thanks for sharing. This was fine as far as it went and I'm not advocating you show the reader the bitter end. I do hope you will write something that has more story to the story. If this was intended to show description: it did.

[Jessica Raeann]

For something very short, that is very descriptive and captivating!