The waves violently rocked us back and forth. Six men rowed the long wooden ores in and out of the water.
We reached the crease of a large wave then crashed down into the gap between the waves with a splash.
Water filled the boat and soaked everyone on board.
The man on bow of the boat called, "Too much water! Start bailing!"
I took my helmet off my head and started to fill it up with the salt water inside the boat. I threw the water outside the boat and did it again and again.
As we got closer to the destroyer, I felt a small feeling of warmth in my stomach.
I might actually get out of this mess.
A ladder made of rope was thrown down to our boat. The first soldier began to climb up the ladder. When he was about one fourth of the way up, the next soldier began to climb. Then it was my turn.
I grabbed the rope and began to pull myself up the ladder. I got about midway and felt the numbness in hands get worse. My hands began to turn white from how hard I was holding onto the rope. They were also getting extremely cold and pruny.
All I cold feel was the pressure that I put on the rope. I climbed very slow, Daniel was right below me.
"Keep moving! I can't sit here all day!" he called.
I couldn't move, my hands were too numb to do anything.
"Move it!" Daniel called again. I let one hand go of the rope and tried to place it on the next hold to pull my self up.
As soon as I felt the next hold, I let go of my other hand.
I slipped.
Both my hands frantically reached for the rope, but they were too stiff to grab anything.
I fell backwards with a cry. My body fell off the ladder and hit Daniel on the way down.
We both fell back into the ocean with a freezing splash.
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World War II: Escaping the Storm
Historical FictionIn 1940, on the coast of Dunkirk, France, holds well over 300,000 French and British soldiers trying to escape the closing Germans. Andrew Williams and his friend Charlie Walsh, are two British soldiers who are caught up in the mess. As the Luftwa...
