Uncharted Waters

Chapter 1.

"No, its fine. I'll be fine, seriously go have fun." I assured my parents as my family headed off in the dinghy, leaving me standing alone on the beach. They wanted to go across to a nearby town to explore some waterfalls but I really wasn't in the mood for a family outing. So instead I insisted that I would stay on the beach and occupy myself, maybe play some solo volleyball, I had joked. For a Friday the beach was unusually quiet. The handmade swings hanging from palm trees were remarkably vacant, swinging sadly as though they were longing for the laughing children who would typically be playing on them from dawn till dusk. Or whenever their parents managed to coax them off.

 I'm not sure why I insisted to be left on the beach instead of on our boat, I thought as I glanced out at our anchored boat. Unfortunately, it was too far than I was willing to swim. I walked the length of the beach a few times, stopping to pick up sand dollars or to look at the stingrays that would swim right up to the fishing shack. And I emphasise on the word shack. It was perched on the waters edge, only raised a metre or so above the high tide sea level. It was an old driftwood crafted shack, once painted a deep blue, which had been peeling and sun bleached for years. At the end of each day people would return with their catches and come to this shack to gut their fish, chucking whatever wasn't needed into the shallow water below. Waiting patiently below were the rays, which would then get to freely feast. I laughed, what lazy but brilliant creatures. Shaking my head I continued up along the beach and decided that maybe I'll just go to the bar and hang out with Andre, the bar tender. Andre was probably one of my favourite people I have met so far on this sailing expedition. He was around 40 years old and was a born and raised local Bahamian. He was always up for a chat and for putting a little bit of extra rum into the drinks.

"Just a rum punch, please" I told Andre, whilst simultaneously swatting a fly from my arm as I reached my usual bar stool. Andre smiled, then looked up behind me and asked "and for you?" I glanced over my shoulder and saw a boy, cute and not much older than me by the looks of it. When did he even get here? I certainly had not seen him along the beach. I offered a polite smile and turned my attention back to Andre.

"I'll have the same" the boy said, as he pulled himself down onto the stool next to me. Great now I'm going to be forced into either conversation or I'll have to endure that awkward silence where I don't know whether I should start a conversation, or if he is going to or if he even wants to talk to me. Great. Quickly, as if reading my thoughts he solved my mental problem.

"So are we going to sit here in silence or are you going to introduce yourself?" The boy asked with a cheeky boyish grin plastered across his face.

"I um sorry. I'm Tara." I awkwardly stammered, only now getting to truly appreciate his features. It was as though he were hand crafted by the gods himself. I had to do a double take to make sure that this perfect example of a specimen was actually making an effort to talk to me. His skin was tanned and his body sculpted like an old Greek statue. He had obviously been doing some sort of strenuous physical activity for years to craft this type of figure. Almost indescribable, his hair sat just above shoulder length with slight curls throughout and was the colour of the finest Caribbean spiced rum, held up to the sun, to allow a golden aura to enshroud it. His eyes were an intoxicating shade of deep sea green and when he smiled the left corner of his lips perked up slightly, only adding to his already cheeky boyish charm. Framing his jawline, was rugged, yet maintained stubble. I quickly lowered my eyes, a wave of embarrassment washing over me. God how long had I been staring.

"Well I'm Aiden and I'm paying for this round of drinks," he claimed proudly, as he placed some cash on the bar. If he had noticed my staring he definitely didn't say anything, however, from the smug grin he had plastered across his face, he knew.

"So what brings you to this part of the world?" He asked, "I take from your accent that you aren't from anywhere near here."

He inclined his head towards me as he spoke with genuine curiosity. "Well ..." I laughed, "my family decided to pack up their life and move over here to sail for however long they like and I decided that I should probably come join them. You know, once in a lifetime experience and all" I shrugged.

"That's incredibly spontaneous of them. And let me guess you're from... Australia?" Grinned Aiden, oozing with confidence.

"Ding ding ding we have a winner!" I laughed, feeling myself relax. "And you're from the US?"

He gasped in mock shock as he stated, "And to think we were getting along just fine until then. I'm actually from the land of maple syrup thank you very much."

"I do apologise for that, I guess your tan threw me off, I would of expected a Canadian to be much paler," I teased as Andre placed the drinks down before us.

Aiden laughed, before handing me my drink and holding his stretched out towards me, "cheers to the best rum punch in the Caribbean!" Looking chuffed with the praise, Andre winked as he tipped another shot of rum into each of our cups.

For hours we sat there talking, drinking and laughing. I learnt that Aiden was twenty one, two years older than myself and that he had been sailing the Caribbean by himself for the past year. There was something about that that I admired. No other boy that I knew from home around that age or my own would ever partake in such an adventure. They were all too busy partying or studying. Not that there was anything wrong with those activities, but setting off on your own at 20 to sail the seas was truly awe inspiring. 

"Don't you ever get sick of it or get lonely just sailing by yourself?" I asked.

"Woah woah woah let's not forget that I am not alone but in the presence of Sammy the Sailing cat!" He joked before he continued on, slightly more serious, "not really though, there is always so much to see and so much to do and you get to meet so many great people along the way."

He playfully nudged my ribs when he stated that last part and I felt a shade of pink simmer across my cheeks.  I tilted my head towards him, getting lost... no, drowning in those deep sea green eyes of his. They sparkled, noticing my gaze and seemed to smile. A strand of my caramel coloured hair fell out of place, hanging just beside my left eye. Before I had even started moving my hand, Aiden had reached out, tucking the rogue strand back behind my ear. 

"Thanks," I laughed, raising my cup to finish the last mouthful of the rum punch. He raised his own cup to do the same and I silently cursed myself for ruining that moment between us. 

"Hah! I knew you would be in here!" Triumphantly yelled an all too familiar voice from behind us, "Katie owes me 5 bucks now!" It was my eight year old brother Benji, who obviously had a bet on my whereabouts with my thirteen year old sister Katie. Groaning, I swivelled in my stool to face him. Before I could get a word out, Aiden had already jumped off of his stool and was walking towards my brother.

 "You must be Benji! Tara has told me alllll about you!" Aiden said with a playful smirk as he outstretched his hand, which was met with a high-five from Benji. Almost as awestruck as I originally was, Benji glanced up at Aiden absorbing everything, then faced me with a mischievous smirk that I knew all too well. It was his 'I'm sooooo telling mum about this' smirk. However, from the gleam in his baby brown eyes, I could tell that if I were to be spending anymore time with Aiden I would be fighting Benji for it. 

"Come push me on the swings! Tara never does it and and I bet you could push me alllll the way round!" Benji excitedly babbled as he grabbed onto Aiden, dragging him out of the bar and onto the beach. I was still standing in the threshold as Aiden turned his head to face me and yelled out, "well come on then, last one there is a rotten egg!" Both he and Benji bursted into a sprint, Aiden hanging just behind my younger brother's heels, letting him stay slightly ahead. Waving bye to Andre, I followed the boys across the sand, wondering what in the hell I was doing.