The storms had grown worse. Odd, I think, storms were the reason I left my home and now they were the reason I wished I hadn't. My boat was falling apart and my food had nearly run out. All that was left was a cooked hare, a couple apples, and some berries. All I could see around me was water, yet I had none to drink. All of this was a recipe for a failed journey.
I'm going to die.
No one would know how or where. Wow, would you look at that? It's a skyscraper coming out of the ocean. Neat. Wait, no. Water. The mirages and hallucinations had begun to take its toll on my mind. Would I slowly slip into madness before the harsh sea took me into its depths? Probably. Maybe it'd be better to die mad having no realization of what is happening than knowing I'm going to die. I no longer had the strength to sit up on the boat. The wood bottom of the makeshift boat was uncomfortable against my back, but the longer I lied there, the floor seemed to form into soft cotton or wool. I reached over to the berries and ate some. They began to make my mouth dry, so I threw the rest in the ocean.
The water looks soft, I thought. I'd probably float and a current would take me to land. Roll over into the ocean. You can do it. No. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, praying that I'd wake up. I didn't dream, or I couldn't remember it if I did. I sat up on the boat, in fact I stood up. I felt loads better. I walked off the boat to the land that had appeared. Wow, my boat had found land while I slept. I ate the cooked hare, and it was delicious. I dunked my head into an oasis and drank, we'll I tried, but the water wouldn't go down my throat. It simply disappeared in my mouth. Weird. I looked up and to my surprise I saw me standing there. Was it my reflection? No, I was positive I was standing there looking at myself. He didn't move or react, but he simply turned and walked in the opposite direction.
"Wait!" I screamed at him, but he kept walking. I ran up to him and tried to turn him around, but I couldn't touch him. My hand just went through him like a ghost. As soon as I did though, he turned around, and my face or his face, I suppose, began to melt off. As it melted, there seemed to be something underneath, another face.
"Mother?" I wondered. Then the world disappeared underneath me and I began to fall leaving the person or thing behind. I closed my eyes, waiting to hit something. After a few minutes of falling, I landed on a hard surface. I didn't feel pain, so I opened my eyes and was somewhat shocked to know I was still alive. I saw the ocean again. I looked around and I was still laying on the boat.
Crap. I gathered up all my strength and raised myself until I rested on my elbows. I looked around and I could see a small island in the distance. Please, please be real. I leaned on my side and tried to paddle the boat closer and closer. I couldn't tell if it was working, but at least it felt like I was getting something accomplished. My vision had become blurred after a few minutes and I looked up at the island. It had definitely gotten closer, but I still wasn't close. I laid back down in exhaustion and waited for Death to take me while I was so close to safety. But it never came. My hand floated in the ocean while I lie there waiting for something, anything. Why did I ever leave that cabin? I was fine. Safe.
I groaned. My body hurt from lack of food and water. I'm not sure how I can explain the feeling. You'd only know if you've experienced real starvation. I lifted my hand just to itch my cheek and I noticed something. I felt my cheek, and I felt something scratchy. I looked back down where my hand had been resting, and there was sand. There was land. I looked up and finally had some hope that fate was on my side. Finally.
I had reached land. Or I hoped so. The sand seemed real enough: I picked up a handful and let it fall back to its community. For some reason the sand mesmerized me. This sand had been here for probably hundreds of years with no one being able to see its majesty and beauty on the beach. Well, until now. Food.
I desperately needed food.
NOT COMPLETE - UPDATING SOON
