Short Stories

Man Overboard

The floor beneath him began to give way as the waves splashed overboard. The captain screamed orders as the storm muffled the sounds. He began to panic, but felt a strange sense of calm. He passed a crying young girl aboard. Crouching to her level, he asked "Sweetie, where are your parents?" She let out a sob and all he could gather from her strangled words were that she had lost them due to the storm. He sighed and grabbed her hand, leading her to the safety boats. "When I say, jump!" He demanded, over the loud crashing of the waves and the loud cracking from the thunder. He jumped onto the little boat, causing it to rock even more that it already was, and yelled to the young girl. She leaped, and landed safely on-board. He tried to pull the boat away from the big ship, but it seemed like it was caught under the larger ship. He settled her on the small seat, "I'll be back," he tapped her on the shoulder and jumped overboard, swimming swiftly to the side of the large rocking ship, that was nearly in ruins. There was a knot in the rope that was originally holding it to the boat. He rose to the surface, quickly filling his lungs before he headed back under the water and untied the rope as quick as he could. He heard a large crack from above the water, just as he finished. He looked up, only to see the tip of the sails falling on top of his now weak body. He swam to the side, only to find more sails and cloth covering his exit. He frantically looked around, salt water burning his eyes. He began to slowly sink. In fear; he gasped, only to inhale more than a mouthful of the dirty sea water. As his eyes slowly shut, and he took he took his last water filled breath; he thought about the young girl, did she make it out safe?