[wattys shortlist 2018]
Colton has always hated Alexis. It's as simple as that.
Alexis has never hated Colton though, not even after the night havoc was let loose: chaos caused by him.
This summer, Alexis doesn't expect to be reunited with her to...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Jesus, Mary and Christ.
The thought charges through my mind at a million miles per hour.
Jesus. Mary. And Christ.
Upwards my chest heaves before releasing a sigh more polluting to the environment than cars. With a disbelieving frown, I wipe away the remainder of sleep from my eyes. Ironic because I couldn't be any more awake if I tried. Apart from the obvious mass of water my belongings swim in, the girls could challenge a young, fox kit with their cries.
"Alexis! I think I peed myself? ...a lot!" Yeah, an eight-year-old has enough urine to flood a cabin, sure.
"I feel sea sick!" Yup, cool, our cabin totally gives the Red Sea a run for its money.
"No! No! My phone!" I'm more concerned about my sanity, sorry.
God, help me please.
"Alexis!" they chorus, snapping me from my thoughts.
Deciding I'll have to bite the bullet, I crouch on my bed and spring into the air, making a leap for my bedside table. To my, utter, surprise, my feet land on the table, sliding only a little and securing my goal. I have only time to celebrate for a second when the dumfounding realisation that I'd have to swim the rest splashes over me, literally, and I plunge in feet first.
Quite a sight I imagine I must've been; rat tails cascading down my back, a wet night shirt clinging to my curves and an eye mask acting as ineffective googles.
Like my band tee, I was grasping onto something – that being my mentality – for dear life.
"Bear! Someone save Bear," screeches, the only girl I know with pipes like that, Lianna.
With a disgruntled grimace, my limbs move in a forward, repetitive pattern to my door, which I yank open with a lot of effort.
A scene out of a blood bath greets me; the girls have clambered onto the top of the bunk beds (the lower beds are swamped) and all of them are wailing, their tears adding to the over-abundance of water. Their blotchy, red faces have tear stains on them and most of them are drenched in some way or another, hands scooping desperately into the water trying to save their possessions.
The door closes far more easily than it opens.
"Alexis, I saw you!"
I curse the child.
I re-open the door.
Allowing my eyes to close for a minute, I channel my inner marvel superhero before trying to tackle the issue. When my game face is ready, I open my eyes and immediately spot a sodden stuffed animal that could only be Bear. Quickly, I gather him up.
The next thing I spot, is a terrified little girl with fogged up glasses on her face, blindly holding onto a ladder of one of the beds and only a little out of reach from the pool below her. I take action, swimming up, over, down and around the bulk of objects and to her.
