My Future (Short Stories)

When I Was Older

The boat rocked in an almost hypnotizing way, that made me feel tired and groggy even though I stood at the bow of the ship, looking out across the frothy water. There was no land in sight, something that would scare most people. But I found it almost peaceful knowing that I was completely alone with my thoughts, away from the busy and crowded city I had moved to three years ago. I breathed in the salty air and I knew at once that I was finally home. I was a sailor on an open sea.

The deck was wet from the foamy waves crashing against it, and I found my feet slipping against my will. After so many years away from the sea, I had lost my sea legs. As the boat gave a particularly violent jerk to the right, I slipped and fell onto my back, sliding under the railing I had been holding onto. I tried desperately to hold on to the railing, but it was wet and cold, and my fingers slipped. As if in slow motion, I felt my body slide off the boat.

I fell into the water just beside my small boat, and water poured down my nose and ears. My boat was small, but I had still gained enough momentum from the fall to descend several feet into the clear, salty water below.

Most sailors wouldn't be scared by this, they would know how to get back on their boat...but I had never learned to swim...

I groped frantically in the water, my hands clawing from something, anything to save me. My skin looked almost green in the water, and paler than it should ever be. Waves crashed over me, driving me deeper into the water...

I closed my eyes against the salty sting of the water, and a memory surfaced of my father, who had died before I was sent back to the city. I knew that I was going to see him again, after all this ends.

I had trusted myself to never fall overboard, I had tricked myself into believing that my foolishness was actually confidence. And now here I was, trapped underwater, about to meet the same fate as many sailors had before me.

As I sank further under the water, my life flashed before my eyes. Memories of my childhood burned like a forest fire behind my eyes.

I was a sailor, it was in my blood. But now I was underwater...

As another wave crashed into me and drove me deeper still, I knew I was getting close to the end. My vision became splotchy and unclear, like I was watching one of those new black and white films.

My eyes closed slowly, and the burning in my lungs turned to a dull ache. My body felt colder than it had ever felt before, and I felt my consciousness slipping away. As darkness came upon me, I only had one thought, dad's never going to let me forget this.

Then everything went black.

A\N Such an underrated song! It's definitely one of my favourites! I tried to write about what I imagine when I hear When I Was Older, but it was kind of difficult as my imagination never makes much sense when I try to write it down lol. Anyways, I hope you liked this short story!