The Calamity (Short Story)

Chapter 8: Together in Death

I rushed back to the herbalist's house only to find Guang missing. However, I didn't have time to worry as the wave swept towards me and the force caused me to hit a wall which seemed to have re-opened my old wounds.

Saltwater rushed into my lungs, causing a burning sensation. My wounds burned too. I tried to stay conscious and find somewhere to hide but to no avail.

Suddenly I felt something hit my chest, causing the remaining amount of air in my lungs to be forced out. I felt something tangling around me like seaweed but before I could think any further, the wave finally receded and nearly dragged me into the ocean with it. Fortunately, there was a low wall in front that I grabbed onto to keep from being swept away.

Blinking the salt out of my eyes, which really hurt, I looked down at the thing that had slammed into me. And gaped. It was... Qing. Or more accurately, her head... No, no this is not Qing. My Qing can't be dead. I must have gotten water in my head to be hallucinating this much.

Failing to convince myself I felt my vision blur and burn. That was strange. I thought I'd gotten rid of the salt but apparently not.

"Father..."

A weak but familiar voice called out to me. Pinpointing its source, I ran praying he would be alright.

Unfortunately, the stars didn't answer my prayers.

I stood dazed at the sight of my son impaled through the stomach by a broken wooden post. I couldn't even try to pull the wood out; I would have to try to pull Guang out of the post instead of the other way around but it would probably shorten the time he had left. When he saw me, his eyes brightened somewhat but then dimmed a little, presumably because of the pain, or maybe he recognised his mother's head.

"Father..."

Tears streamed down my face. I'm a failure of a father. If I hadn't been so insistent on going after Qing... Couldn't I have kept Guang from putting himself in danger?

"Don't... blame... yourself..."

After saying that, he seemed to have run out of strength as he slumped against the wall. I ran forward and tried to support him so the post wouldn't cause his wound to worsen. However, he seemed to have stopped breathing already.

With tears stinging my eyes, I pulled his body off the post and hugged it. In all my 35 years of life, this was one of the few times I've bawled my eyes out.

Why? Why my son Guang? He was only 15 this year. He could have started a family. My chest felt as if it was being squeezed by those tentacles that grabbed my wife. It was aching for my wife and son.

At the corner of my mind I registered a roaring noise coming from the direction of the sea but I was too grief-stricken to care. Then I felt another wave slam into me, causing me to hit my head but I refused to let go of my wife and son. Even if it were to kill me, I refused to let them go just in case I lost them for good. I didn't even notice when the tide receded this time, I was lost in my memories with my family.

Qing, my dear wife of 20 years. We had many arguments but we always made up afterwards. She was the one who supported me through my parents' death. Our three wonderful children. Yang, Ming, Guang.

Yang, our eldest who was born the year after we married. I remember teaching him how to cast the nets from as early as when he was 5.

Ming, our troublemaker second son, he should be 17 this year. I reckon he'd probably be able to get all the girls though, he had such good looks I nearly doubted he was our son.

And Guang, our youngest. All he wanted was a quiet life in the village to take care of us. Our sensible boy. He should have found a wife and started a family of his own but he insisted on taking care of us. That silly kid.

Trapped in my memories, I didn't notice the tentacle from the beast from before wrapping itself around me and my family. Even when we were dragged into the depths of the ocean, I only thought that at least I would be with Qing and Guang. My last thought was probably hoping that Yang and Ming would be alright.