Wrecked By Fate

Prelude

"Mayday, mayday, this is the Sinclair headed south towards Prince of Wales, we're taking on water fast," she said frantically, her two children locked at her side. "Mayday, mayday, this is Raelyn Michaels from the Sinclair, headed to-," her panicked plea for help was cut off by the small fishing vessel being knocked sharply to the left by the intense whitecap waves that seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Momma!" her eleven-year-old daughter cried out, her hand slipping from her mother's as the jarring of the boat threw her against the wall.
"Hang on, Sky, hold onto Gypsy," her mother instructed, as she pushed the old farm dog towards her daughter, who clung to her moist fur for dear life. In her haste to push the dog towards her daughter, she took note that the four-legged members of her pack were all equipped with their emergency tags on their harnesses, a precaution Raelyn had learned to make early on in their voyage up from the lower 48. "We need to get to the skiff," she said quickly as she scooped her son, Salem, up in her arms. She quickly pushed the two oversized hiking backpacks towards the end of the boat as she tried her hardest to ignore the plume of smoke that rose from below the deck. "Sky, grab the medical kit," she urged as she tucked the younger child into her chest, nudging the remainder of her pack of dogs towards the tail of the boat. Once the small family was all assembled and had what they could potentially carry pushed towards the end of the boat, she grabbed her older child and held her close. She tightened the life jacket against her skin, grateful that she had spent more on the safety device than she'd have liked to. The florescent orange material would be easily seen against the rain and waves.

"Listen to me, you need to get down there first, the dogs'll follow you," she instructed carefully. "I'm going to lower the packs down to you, then your brother, understood?" Sky had been on the water for the better part of her life and Raelyn had high hopes that the young child could remain calm despite their dire situation. "I need you to make sure the dogs, packs, and your brother are all tied down. If we're lucky, the Sinclair will shield you from most of the wind until I can get down there."
"What about you?" Sky cried out, frantic with fear.
"I'm going to cut the skiff loose and hopefully, luck have it, jump off this hunk of junk before you drift too far. You remember how to kick the motor over, right?" she was putting an incredible amount of faith into her young daughter.
"Yes," she bobbed her blonde head.
"Remember the biggest rule for survival right now," she said softly, kissing the top of her daughter's head. "Respect the danger but show no fear."
"Fear is a weakness we don't possess," Sky said strongly, her hands balling into fists at her side. She may have been young, but Sky grew up quicker than most kids her age, even those who spent most of their lives on the road.

With a plan slowly in motion, Raelyn checked to make sure they had the essentials. Thankfully, she was not one to travel without planning for the worst. Both packs were prepacked with the necessary essentials to survive in the wild. A waterproof tent, two large sleeping bags, the lock box that held their essential paperwork and what little cash they had left, along with provisions and collapsible cooking utensils that have proven useful since the last time they were shipwrecked almost a year earlier. She also knew that the bigger of the two packs was packed with whatever clothes they could easily carry. Again, items that costed a pretty penny, both packs were supposed to be able to bob in the water if something were to go wrong, allowing them to be easily retrieved. Raelyn secured bright rope to both bags, both to allow her to lower them easily, but also to ensure she could see them if they fell overboard.

"Ready?" she shouted over the roar of the storm. Sky nodded her head and moved to where she had to stand in order to lower herself onto the skiff. Thankfully, the skiff wasn't nearly as rundown as the vessel itself was. As soon as Sky jumped down onto the smaller boat, the pack of five dogs followed suit. Gypsy was the last one of make the leap before Sky nodded to her mother as she quickly tied the dogs down, clipping their leashes to one another before tying them to the small hook on the side of the skiff.