Short Stories

Screech Of The Sea

I was biking on the road that ran past Derara Beach when I heard it. A screeching sound that seemed to surround me. I looked around but no one else seemed to have heard it, they were all acting exactly the same. Although, now come to think of it... there were an amazing number of children walking toward the ocean. All of a sudden a giant tentacle pushed itself out of the water and scooped up a little blonde girl. I gasped, but none of the adults on the beach noticed it.
"Hi." A girls voice from behind me cuts through my thoughts "I heard it too."
"What is it?" I ask
"That, that is the Screech Of The Sea. A sound too high pitched for adults and teenagers to hear, well except for me and you, a sound that is awful to our ears but beautiful to the ears of children 12 and under."
"Ok well that explains some of it, but why doesn't anyone notice kids being dragged under the water?!"
Tears glisten in the girls eyes as she continues, "That's because they don't realise it. Even though they can't hear the sound, it puts them in a trance so they can't help the children and if their child gets pulled under they forget it ever existed... I should know. I'm the only child to ever escape."
"But who do you live with now?" I ask, fearing the worst.
She gives me a small smile, "No one. I just kind of hang out on the on the beach, hope it doesn't get too cold. It's not that bad... really. I just wish I knew why the Screech Of The Sea exists."