Light. I wake up to the voice of reality.

 “Get up. It’s time to move.” I look up to see a man towering over me. “I said get up.” My body aches and pains as I slowly struggle to rise up. 

“We don’t have time for this, get up and move!” The man yelled, frustrated with my progress.

“Where are we going?” I questioned.

“You’ll know when it’s time,” he said, “Just follow me.” Striding away, I hobble in pursuit to keep up with his quick pace. Questions swirled in my mind. How’d I get here, who is this man, and what happened? But I would have to ponder in silence because this man was a force to be reckoned with and I did not want to upset him any further. We walk for another hour in the hot sand until we reach an old beaten-up ship.

  “Get in.” ordered the man. I hop up as the boards creak and moan in old age. 

“Is this safe?” I ask.

“It’s safe enough,” he replied. Days roll by with nothing but the vast unknown. But through the confusion, the pace was putting me at ease. The waves lulled me to sleep as I drifted into restless dreams. 

Boom! Thunder and lightning cracked as a jolted up. The boat, now a pawn of the sea, lurched at every wave. Fear began to set it as shouts from above yelled,

“Aboard ship! She’s going down!” I raced up the stairs, tripping over the wet wooden planks. Scrambling to my feet I look up to see the ship’s doom. A wave began to rise higher and higher threatening to tear the old rig to nothing but a wreck. 

“Splash!” The wave crashed down and I was in the water. Thrusting around panic set in. I’m going to drown. Swim-up. Swim-up. Struggling through the dark water I push through to air and gasp in as much as I can. Seconds later another wave hurls me down into the depths. I swim back up treading to save my life. A box. Floating in the ocean from the wreck. I dive after my rescue and cling. I'm okay now. I just need to ride out the storm. 

“Duck!” screams a voice. I looked up and just like that, I’m out.

Periodically waves lapped up the beach. Seagulls screeched flying overhead. Facing miles and miles of stretching blue, my hope of ever finding home again begins to vanish. The sun started to burn on my back, scorching my skin until red and blistered. I’m lost. I thought to myself as I sat down in the sand. 

“I’m going to die all alone on this stupid beach,” I muttered to myself as my mind raced with the dread that the setting sun was bringing on. Suddenly a glint of light hit my eye and I scrambled to my feet. A bottle. Tall and smooth from its travel at sea, I picked it up. What was inside? A call for help? My rescue? Anxiously I screw off the cork and toss it to the side. I wedged my fingers into the bottle extracting the thin roll of paper inside. I hurriedly unrolled the paper to reveal the message–nothing. A blank sheet of paper. Angrily I get the bottle and throw it into the sea. Thumping back into the sand, the waves taunt me as the bottle rolls back up the shore. Wait, there’s something else in the bottle. I realized as I rushed over and picked it up. A pen! All of a sudden I had an idea.