A Collection of Short Stories

An Oceanic Grave

A storm came suddenly with no warning, lightning flashing, thunder booming. I tried to make it back to my mother and father, but the frightened crew blocked me from reaching them. I got pushed farther and farther away from my parents. Screams tore at my ears, the railing was digging into my back. One final push was all it took, and I fell overboard. My dress was a burden, dragging me deeper into the water black grave. I grabbed my knife at my waist and cut through all the layers of cloth and I wriggled free. My head broke through the surface, but at that moment I wished I had let myself drown. The first thing I saw was the wreckage of the ship my family and I were on. The second thing I saw were waterlogged corpses littered throughout the wreckage. I cried out for my parents, but I couldn't even hear my own voice above the noises of the storm. I looked up to the sky, and as the lightning flashed, I could see silhouettes of winged monsters I had only ever heard of in stories. A slimy hand gripped my ankle and started to drag me under. I kicked and screamed, not that it was any help. I was alone. All alone. I took a deep breath as the hand dragged me under the surface. More hands, slimy and tipped with claws grabbed onto my legs and arms. Lighting flashed again, and I could see faint silhouettes of man-like things. As we went deeper, I wondered how I was still alive. I was holding my breath, but I wasn't running out of breath. The water got darker and darker, but the figures that held me started to glow. Light came from under their skin as the water turned black around us. I looked at one of my captors and wished I hadn't looked at all. It's skin was see through and I could see the skull under it's skin. It was bald, and the eyes were all black. At that moment, I could feel my breath running out, and black spots started dotting my vision. At that moment, one of the creatures looked me in the eyes, and my last vision was of its face splitting into what looked like a smile and the sharp teeth gleaming at me through that blackness that surrounded me as I fell into a deathly sleep.