Golden

14

"Looks like there's about to be a pretty big storm, huh?"
I glanced over my shoulder at the voice behind me. Harry stepped forward out of the shadows, the forceful wind blowing back his hair as he squinted towards the rapidly darkening horizon. I looked down at my hands, noticing that I was gripping a long, steel railing on the side of a gigantic ship. It was slick and wet from the rain and I felt the sharp sting of falling water droplets pelting my skin. The sky in front of us was an explosion of brilliant, terrifying colors: purple, black, crimson, grey, indigo and pink; almost as if the heavens couldn't make up its mind about what it was feeling. In the distance, I could just barely make out a glimmering light, dimly glowing in the misty fog.
I jumped as the powerful rumbling of thunder erupted loudly, shaking everything around us. I quivered, chilled and soaked to the bone.
"We should go back to land. I don't think it's safe to be out here," I said warily, trying to roll down my shirt sleeves that were heavy and drenched. Shivering from the cold, my teeth chattered roughly, giving me a headache. I turned around to face Harry again, wanting his warmth wrapped around me and to return to safety.
But he was gone.
I desperately scanned the empty deck with wide eyes, not seeing another soul on the abandoned platform. My stomach flipped in a panic, wondering where Harry could have disappeared to so quickly. And worse - why did he leave me here all alone?
I opened my mouth to call out to him, but my words were lost before they even left my lips. Lightning suddenly flashed, enveloping everything in a cloak of blinding white. Thunder clapped through the brightness as the sky suddenly opened up. I frantically tried to regain my vision, grabbing the railing for support, but still fumbling in the incandescence.
"Harry!" I shouted fearfully, but I couldn't even hear my own voice over the roaring storm and violent seas.
I blinked rain out of my eyes and sputtered salt water out of my mouth. In an instant, I lost the remainder of my balance and fell to my knees on the wooden deck.
The wind was howling as I struggled to stand back up. The ship tilted beneath my feet as the relentless waves kept crashing furiously into its side. Harsh splinters were embedded into my palms as I reached out and grasped the railing once more, holding on with every ounce of strength I had left.
"Harry!" I called again, prying my eyes open against the overwhelming gusts of ocean air spraying sea water into my face.
Another crack of lightning startled me as the boat suddenly capsized, slanting entirely sideways against the vicious tide. I lost my grip on the railing, feeling my feet slip out from underneath me as my body slammed against the floor. I slid down the deck, trying to find anything to hold onto that would keep me from falling.
"Harry!" I cried out, my arms and legs wildly flailing as my body skidded down the slick and slippery floorboards. "Harry!"
Streaks of lightning lit up the black sky as I kept descending downward into the pitch dark. My ears were ringing loudly inside my skull as tears stung the corners of my burning eyes. I heard another deafening crack, the sound of breaking wood, as one more bolt illuminated the world around me for a brief moment.
I shrieked in horror as I realized the lightning strike had completely blew out and destroyed the back of the ship. The entire stern was now just a jagged heap of sharp shards of splintered and fragmented wood.
And I was sliding right towards it.
I rolled over on my stomach, trying to slow myself down without any luck. There was nothing to grab onto and I was dreadfully close to the edge of the ship and getting closer by the second. I dug my hands into the planks, feeling my nails break against the speed.
Fight, fight, fight, fight!
I braced myself for impact as I plummeted towards the broken back of the ship. My body lifted into the air and I was weightless for a split second. Everything had gone so quiet and still.
Am I alive?
The air immediately escaped my lungs as I was suddenly submerged in freezing, ice cold water.
I yelped in pain, feeling like a thousand tiny needles were pricking every inch of my skin all over my body. I struggled against the strong current, trying with all my might to keep my head as high as possible. I was exhausted from thrashing and kicking and losing my weakened energy rapidly. My lungs were burning from the bitter salt and everything felt so, so heavy.
"Harry." My voice sounded so far away.
It felt like the tide was swallowing me whole. I couldn't lift my head anymore as I took one last, shuttering breath before I began to sink beneath the waves. I was choking, my lungs quickly filling up with water. My head was growing fuzzy as the surface grew further and further away the deeper I sank. I closed my heavy eyes, unable to breathe, succumbing to the darkness.