May 8th
A slight evening breeze runs through my hair as I stand on deck, looking at the landscape around me. We left Vancouver several days ago, and now we're sailing up the Inside Passage, a route that weaves around thousands of islands along the coast of Washington, British Columbia and Alaska. The waves break on the outer islands, making the waster of the Inside Passage very smooth and calm.
We're currently off the coast of Canada, and the coastline is extremely desolate here, the cities and villages few and far between. I gaze around happily. Just because there hasn't been a single town in the last day and a half, that doesn't mean there's nothing to look at. It's absolutely beautiful up here, and there is wildlife everywhere you look.
"This place is gorgeous."
I turn and look behind me to where Kailani is sitting on the bench seat at the back of the boat.
"It's so natural. It looks like nobody's set foot here in the last three hundred years." She says while looking dreamily over the water towards an island that we're passing.
"It really is amazing." I agree.
"It just looks like while the rest of the world grew up around it, everyone forgot this place existed. We have places in Hawaii where it just feels like the wilderness, but nothing like this." She says in awe. "I haven't seen any man-made structure in the last couple days, now. It's ridiculous."
"Ridiculously amazing, you mean." I say with a twinkle in my eye.
She nods her head vigorously. "Absolutely. I'm more than happy to be out here and not see anything else but nature."
"Do you want to?"
She turns her head towards me. "What did you say?"
"Do you want to be the first woman to set foot on these shores since the 1700s?" I ask teasingly.
She stands up straight and assumes an air of authority. "Why, yes, my good man. Won't you put us ashore, so as to claim this lovely land in the name of the kingdom of England?"
I nod curtly. "Why yes, m'lady."
She glares at me. "How dare you refer to me in such a manner. It's 'your majesty' to you."
I throw my hands up in defense. "Forgive me, your majesty."
Kailani bursts out laughing, and a second later, I do too. "We're idiots." She says with a grin.
"But at least we know how to have fun." I say in between laughs.
Just then, we round a corner and our laughter catches in our throats. We freeze, staring straight ahead. There's an old, run-down dock ahead, and a building beside it that looks in equally as rough condition. We glance at each other, and then at the shore around us. Other than the building and the dock, nothing looks any different than what we've been seeing for the last several days.
"Well, that's certainly out of place." I say with a confused look on my face.
"Go closer. Let's check it out." Kailani says excitedly. "I want to know what it is."
YOU ARE READING
Find Your Oasis
Teen FictionNoah's mother died when he was fourteen in a freak boating accident. Through the years, the last words she spoke have stuck with him, engrained in his mind. Now, five years later, he has set off on his sailboat, the pull of adventure and travel to s...
