The Heart Eaters

Chapter I

"Truth or dare?" Riya asked.

"Hmm..." I waited "What do you think?" I asked grinning.

"Okay, you are not going to tell us the truth. But the dare is a bit difficult this time." Prachi said.

"Okay, no problem. I will admit it. Please go on." I said.

"Cross the river!" Ankita said.

"Fantastic!" I said grabbing my bag and hopped on the boat. I laughed on them and started rowing the boat.

"Be careful Apala, you may come back from the middle." Prachi said.

"Yes Apala! We will consider it done." Riya said.

"No, my friends. Let me explore. And thanks for the dare." I said waving my hand.

The sky was red,

the wind was wet,

and I behold

the beautiful sunset.

The breezes flow,

the creatures glow.

The clouds clear,

and the sun gets flare.

The bottom was up,

the rocks were rough.

The boat was curbed,

and the heart pepped up.

Now I behold,

the core of the shore.

With flocks of birds,

and animals' herd.

But now, the tides arose,

and broke the ore.

The clouds thunder,

and the lightning plunder.

Huge tides broke the oars. The boat was lurching and water started filling inside. I was faltering, what to do now? But I could see the shore now. It was about 200 meters far. But I didn't know how to swim. The boat was half filled now and I was rowing it with my hands.

Now the shore was about 100 meters away. The sky was covered with clouds making everything darker. The shore was 50 meters apart, but I was running out of strength now. I couldn't sail it anymore. It was too heavy. Water was continuously filling inside it. And finally, it was sinking!

"What to do now? I don't want to die!" I said to myself.

And suddenly I remembered something that my friend used to say. He was a good swimmer. "If you are in water, never panic. Have trust and faith on water. Just take a deep breath so that you could expand your lungs. And in this way volume increases and you could swim. Water helps you to swim!"

The water was touching my neck now. I took a deep breath and started flipping my hands on it, so that I could move.

But what! I was drowning. I couldn't breathe. I was floundering inside it. I was struggling to come out. Everything was getting blurry, darker and fading away.

But suddenly a huge wave tossed me on the shore where my head banged with a rock and I blacked out.

I opened my eyes and found myself lying on a bed. I turned my head and found a guy sitting on a chair. He has already fallen asleep. My hands, neck and feet were bandaged. I touched my aching head, it was also bandaged. I tried to stand up silently, but I fell down.

"Whoa! You are awake! Are you alright?" He exclaimed and helped me to lie down again.

"Who are you?" I asked.