No.
No no no.
No no no no no no no.
I've had this thought in my head for a good while now.
Stuck in the bathroom, I hear commotion outside - surely people bustling to figure out what's happening.
Indeed, the Saenghwal, a ferry bound for Jeju Island, carrying 416 people including nearly 300 high school students, has capsized and is about to sink.
My little sister is somewhere in there, and I have no way to contact her to know where she is.
And locked up where I am, I can only follow the progress of the situation through live updates from a television channel that manages to film all of this from a helicopter. Luckily for me, the connection is quite good, and the video quality allows me to almost distinctly identify faces on the screen.
Answer, please, answeeeer!!
I try for the 17th time to call my cousin who was supposed to watch over my sister with my mother, but she must have lost her phone in the panic.
That's when I spot her, leading a group of about ten people, climbing onto the main deck and jumping into the water before being rescued.
At the bottom right of the screen, a real-time countdown indicates the number of people who have been taken off the boat. Thanks to my cousin, this number increases by 13.
357
357 survivors out of 416
Only 59 left
And my sister is among them
Someone knocks on my door, probably to tell me to hurry out because the situation is serious.
As if I hadn't already noticed.
I roll my eyes and say nothing to focus on my phone and the displayed count of survivors.
358
359
373
Another group, this time of 14 people, has reached the deck and is being rescued by the coast guards. I still don't see my sister.
Only 43 left. God, please let her survive.
A wave crashes onto the deck and hits the guardrails.
My God, protect her, protect my sister, get her out of this ferry!! Get them all out!!
As if in response to my silent prayer, four small groups of 10 people are struggling up the various stairs more or less flooded by the waves and emerge on the deck.
413
Only 3 left only 3 left only 3 left
GET OUT OF THERE !!!
Finally, FINALLY!!! I see her coming out of the right stairs, half-dragged by my mother running forward as my sister tries to escape back into the belly of the beast.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU IDIOT!!
SAVE YOUR LIFE!
WHATEVER YOU WANT TO GO BACK FOR IS NOT WORTH DYING FOR!!!
She cries, struggles, and utters unintelligible words.
My connection becomes poor, the images blurry.
Get out, get out, get out, get out
When it restores, I see my sister on one of the rescue boats, crying in my mother's arms.
Thank you, thank you, my God!!
I'm afraid it will leave her with lifelong traumas, but all that matters for now is that she is safe and sound.
I cry tears of joy. I can't wait to hold her in my arms again! But I know I'll have to wait. It would be much better if she didn't join me right away.
At the bottom of the screen, the counter shows 415, but the boat is already halfway submerged, and rescuers seem unable to do anything for the last person.
Never mind. At least my sister is safe now...
Water starts seeping under the bathroom door, first a little, then more and more until the room is halfway filled.
I smile sadly and think one last time about my sister and my family.
The boat is sinking. And I am the last one inside.
🎗
YOU ARE READING
Whispers of Fading Roses
Short StoryAll the good things have an end... *** A boy mourning the loss of his girlfriend, a woman replaying the film of her life, another whose beloved chooses someone else... This is a collection of short stories from around the world, where the endings ar...
