"No! No, please no!" I screamed, desperate to escape the clutches of these men, dragging me away from the warmth of my home. A man who smelt strongly of whisky, pushes me hard, causing me to lose my footing on the stairs. While struggling to regain my footing, I slip, falling down the remaining stairs. "Ahhh!", another mans steel capped boot hits me with surprising force. "Get up you mangy brat." my captor growls. I whimper. I can't get up.
They push, shove and kick me along, for what seems like an eternity. The sky has turned from a velvet black to a murky blue and finally to a purple and blue dawn. I can just make out the lapping of waves against the crumbling pier. My captors say something just out of earshot, but it sounds ominous.
I am shoved with force. I manage a quick breath as I hit the icy water.
I wake to the screech of sea gulls, flying mere meters above me. I sit up abruptly and fall straight back down on my back. I stare up. Where I should see dilapidated buildings and washing lines stretching across the street, I see an open blue sky littered with screeching birds. I sit up again, more slowly this time and gasp with pain. I have definitely broken a rib or two. I manage to pull myself up and I almost fall back down from the terrifying sight.
The open ocean surrounds me. I look around, I see nothing but grey clouds and seagulls above me, so I look down. The sea is choppy. I can just make out little slivers of silver, flitting in and out of sight beneath my boat. I shriek and duck as a bird swoops me. A big mistake as I start swaying uncontrollably. I freeze as realisation dawns on me.
I am alone. On a tiny rowing boat. On the vast, open ocean. I can't swim! I have nothing with me. No food. No drinkable water! All I have is what is in the tiny boat!
Fear numbs my body as I collapse back in to a deep sleep.
I am awoken by rain falling on my upturned face. I lay on my back for another moment before hoisting myself up. As I sit up I notice the sky is now dark, the gulls are now scarce and the waves have become much bigger. It looks like a storm. BOOM! The first clash of thunder confirms my suspicions. I look around the tiny boat to see what shelter it will provide for me. As the rain intensifies I spy a dirty looking tarpaulin. I move over to it and try my best to heave out the heavy material. The sky lights up suddenly, introducing another clash of thunder. I yell as an icy wave splashes me. With one final yank I free the tarpaulin. I manage to pull it over me and curl up on the rest. Another fork of lightning lights the sky as the thunder rattles my boat. The rain is falling in sheets now and the gale force wind is tugging at the folds in my tarp.
There I stay, curled up in a filthy tarpaulin, in a tiny boat, on the vast, scary ocean, until the storm has passed.
I wake up to a strange sound on the boat. I stretch out an arm to pull free from the tarpaulin and cry out in pain. I am suddenly aware of the agony I am in. I lay there weeping gently, all the while listening to the strange sound. It is becoming more infrequent now, almost as though energy is being sucked from it slowly.
Finally I manage to kick free from the smothering folds of the tarpaulin. I start as something cold and moist slaps me across my face. I turn my head just enough to make out a silver thing flapping crazily about at the bottom of my water filled boat. Slowly, painfully slowly, I lift myself up to get a better view of my visitor. My visitor is a fish. A fairly large one about forty centimeters in length. I heave myself up into a kneeling position and try to pounce on it. I miss, causing myself almighty pain. I try again and again until numbing to the pain. Finally I catch my slippery guest. I sit there dumfounded by my actions. What will I do with a fish.
A thought hits me. I can eat fish! I start to stand up and look around for a piece of string or wood when I spy something on the horizon. I look closer trying to make out the faint smudge on the horizon.
I drop the fish in amazement and sheer joy. LAND! I've found land! I start rummaging through the boat looking for something to paddle with.
My stomach drops as realisation dawns on me. I'm stranded.
"Ay! Would you look at 'at!" I wake to people gawking down at me. I sit up quickly to get a better view. I gasp in astonishment. All around me, were tall, wooden ships with masts as tall as the tallest oaks. "Aww! What's a wee thing like 'at doing all alone?" Says one of the women, standing on the harbour. I look all around me until my eyes stop on a medium sized boat about ten yards in front of me. I suddenly realise that I'm moving. Rather quickly! My eyes focus on a thin rope attached to my boat as well as the boat in-front of me. I stare wide-eyed at the boy rowing the boat in-front. "'ey! Ian! Come 'elp me secure these boats 'en would 'ya!"
Ian, a lanky man with tattered clothing scuttled from the harbor, jumping into the boat to assist the small boy. Despite his small, seemingly weak limbs, his arms powerfully pulled and tugged the ropes before he tied them to a large bolt on the harbour.
"This way boy!" I looked around to see who was calling, when the boy from the boat walks up to me and tells me to follow him.
I am taken to the village elders were I am eagerly questioned about my past life.
"So then, where ye from 'ey?" One of the elders asks me.
"England, sir." I reply.
"An' how old are ye?" Another asks
"12 in August…. Sir."
"An' what might ye name be then?"
"Um… I don't know sir."
From that day, I continued to grow and learn with the passing years. The war ended and Scotland started to thrive. It still seems like only yesterday that I was stranded on that boat out at sea. Still as lie awake, staring up at the stars, the painful memories of my mothers death and my terrifying kidnapping revisit me vividly, as though I'm living it all again.
By Jocelyn Bennett
