6

The sea barely made a noise as it caressed the hull of the fishing boat. The sails were limp. Everything was quiet. Dwayne stirred. After a few seconds of hellish disorientation, he scrambled to his feet. Jasmine was still asleep. Her back rose and fell slightly with her breath. Dwayne watched. A perfect rhythm. She froze in the middle of exhaling; her soft rounded shoulders became angular as she tensed her muscles. Dwayne stood. The boat moved slightly in the moment of imbalance. A knife appeared at Dwayne’s throat. A few seconds of stunned silence was ended with a short apology from Jasmine. Dwayne was about to reply when he saw something. He pointed behind Jasmine who promptly turned then, after a split second’s thought, crouched beside the water barrel.

Shapes stuck out on the horizon. Like wisps of coal smoke only somehow linear, flickering between the sea and sky. Dwayne had never seen anything like it but the look in Jasmines eye’s told him she knew only too well and the prospect wasn’t good. The objects seemed to be getting larger...or closer, Dwayne wasn’t sure which.

Jasmine scanned the lifeless sails and quickly realised the boat wasn’t moving anytime soon. She took her only other option quickly, quietly lowering herself into the water. She made no attempt to swim; she just floated with one hand on the hull. Dwayne made a considerably less quiet entry into the ocean and parked himself next to Jasmine.

“What is it?”
Jasmine didn’t answer; she was preoccupied with something else.
“Jaz...what are we...?”
He paused, noticing the earnest concentration on Jasmines face.
“What are you doing?”
A large bubble surfaced next to Dwayne from under the hull and Jasmine smiled.
“Follow me.”
(Tag to Nick)