The WaterWorld Wanderer

Waking With A Splash

It was a relatively pleasant morning. Not too hot, not too cold, just a perfectly cool breezy morning. The sky began to lighten and the stars faded into the light as the sun emerged from the horizon. There was no land in sight. The sky, ocean, and a little raft was all there was to see for miles.

There on the little raft was an equally little girl in a yellow raincoat that was far too big for her. Her hair was a light cocoa colour, and her eyes were as blue as the depths of the endless ocean. Kailani was her name. A name that her mother had told her was the middle name of her great grandmother.

Kailani tossed and turned, seemingly having a not so pleasant dream. This wasn't exactly the safest place to fall asleep nor was it comfortable. In fact, you shouldn't be sleeping on a small raft in the middle of the ocean at all. She had been up late at night fishing when she had succumbed to her slumber, but now she would suffer the consequences for doing so. All that tossing and turning caused her to roll right off the raft and into the water with a splash.

She immediately awoke upon contact with the cold water and screamed. She was not in danger though. Instead, she was merely shocked at the sudden splash of ice cold water. Groaning, she crawled back onto her raft and wringed the water out of her hair and clothes.

"I just had to fall asleep, didn't I." She sighed in the most sarcastic way possible.

Once on the raft and everything had been counted to confirm nothing had been lost, she sailed away to the next floating village in a not so pleasant mood.

If she could remember correctly, it is said that most of the materials we use for practically everything was the garbage people back then would toss out. Apparently, plastic lasts for years. I guess one man's trash is another man's treasure. This floating village was no more than a dozen or more buildings floating on rafts tied together like what a neighborhood or whatever it was called back then would look like, but only these are the actual towns instead of just a part of a town.

Another thing she knew was that a majority of humans were lost to the first major floods. If what she had been told by her parents whenever she got curious about the world and it's history had been true, around more than one third of humanity had been lost. What is left of humanity was communities living in raft houses tied together to make little towns or living in the only available land there was. Some of these people aren't even human. She remembers her parents talking about some scientists who decided to try and make genetically modified humans that could live in water like those mermaids do in myths. All she knows is that there was at least one successful experiment.

Before she could continue to space out and get caught in more random thoughts and memories, she had arrived at her destination. She waved at the locals as she neared the market to sell last night's catch. It was nothing special, but a good enough amount of fish to make some money off of. She grabbed her pail full of fish and made her way to a store where she could sell what she had caught.

"Welcome to my store kiddo! What can I do for ya?" Said an older man in his sixties said from behind the counter.

Kailani was just tall enough to peak over the counter to look up at the man. She gave him a smile and tried to get the bucket of fish up there. He laughed and lifted the pail onto the counter with ease. It was a wonder the girl could even catch this much fish with her size and strength.

"First of all, I'm not a kid! For your information, I am a big kid. I just wanted to sell these fishies. I caught them last night." She said proudly and puffed up with pride.

"Really now? All on your own? You do know how dangerous it is for kids like you to go out fishing on their own, right?" He said almost jokingly as he checked the fish, not believing that she could actually do such a thing to which she grumbled something about her not being a kid. "What was that?"

"Nothing! Anyway, I know it can be dangerous, but it's not like I have a choice. Gotta get money somehow!" She grins and sticks her tongue out.

"Alright, here's your change. You kids are always living life dangerously. Ya be careful out there." He sighs, handing back her bucket as well as some coins and even tossed a pearl in with them.

"Okay, I'll try, but I can't promise anything!" She gives him yet another grin and a thumbs up on top of that. Before heading out, she paused as she had remembered what really had been searching for, and turned to ask one last question before she left.

"Oh and do you know anyone by the names of Alan and Luana Walters? They're my parents a-and..." She trails off as she could feel the tears welling up. Her grip on her poor old bucket tightened as she looked down in an attempt to hide her tears.

The old man looked at the girl with grim understanding. After all, life at sea was sometimes harsh and dangerous. Lives were lost to the storms and waves more times than you can count, so it would only be natural to assume any young children traveling the seas alone are orphans. There were plenty of people who had lost their own children who would gladly take in an orphan rather than let them wander the world for the rest of their lives with false hope of finding their family.

He sighs and shakes his head no. "Look kid... I know this must be hard for you, but I think you should give up searching or at least have someone else search with you. There are plenty of people who would be glad to take you in or at least accompany you on your journey... Ya know what? You could come back here anytime you'd like and I'd be more than willing to help you find someone who'll look after you." He said a bit more seriously and cautious as to not make the girl burst out in tears or something, but of course this was a little girl he was talking to do there was no telling if she would continue to cry anyway.

Instead of crying, Kailani wiped away her tears and raised her little fists in the air saying, "I'll never give up looking for them! I know they're out there waiting for me somewhere! I'll find them and come back here just you watch!", and like the child she is, stuck out her tongue at the poor man who just wanted to help.

He sighs again, giving up on convincing her otherwise. "Okay kiddo. If you say so", he said, not believing her one bit,"What's your name kiddo?"

"It's Kailani, and how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a kid?" She grumbled and crossed her arms and pouted as she could tell he didn't believe her.

"Ehh I'm too lazy and old to say such a long name all the time. How 'bout I call you Lani instead?" He laughed and ruffled her hair.

"What am I? A joke to you?" She pouted even more, if that was even possible, put her hands on her hips, and stomped. She of course wasn't strong enough to do any damage, but it was quite hilarious to see some ten, almost eleven year old acting like a toddler.

After a while more of the nice old man calling Lani a kid and her almost throwing a tantrum after the seventh time, they finally said their goodbyes, and Kailani left for her beloved raft which she had cleverly named "Rafty the Raft". She then set off on her way to wherever the waves took her as she was in too good of a pleasant mood to not spend the rest of her time fishing and relaxing.

|Author's Note|

This is my first novel that I'm trying not to immediately delete afterwards in fear that everyone will hate the book and me for making it, so don't be surprised if it isn't any good. Feel free to leave suggestions or tips if you have any. Thank you for reading my book, and I hope you enjoyed it too!
~Avi