Island Getaway

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“Hold onto something. This is gonna be wicked.”

Gretta always exaggerated, so I didn’t take her warning seriously. 

In hindsight, I almost wish I had. The tiny boat was tossed through the waves like a child’s toy, nearly capsizing, and it might have been fine if I had just held on. 

But I hadn’t. 

My body was hurled into the air without warning, and I was flung into the sea. I felt myself somersaulting downward, and my adrenal glands went into overdrive. Fight or flight? That’s not even a choice when you think you might drown. 

I had to do both. I wanted to flee to the surface, but I had to fight in order to do so. Which way was up? There was no way to tell. It was darker than dark.

The ocean has a life of its own, and in that moment… it swallowed me whole. “What good am I to the sea?” I wondered. “Fish food perhaps?” 

I knew that I’d been captured by some kind of liquid tornado, because the water spun me in circles… around and around… down, down, down. I held my breath and I prayed.

A school of fish whirled around me. “Were they watching me?” I wondered. “Would I be their next meal?” Suddenly it dawned on me that if I was able to see these creatures, it was no longer dark.

My eyes followed the light, and I swam toward it. I spotted the island as soon as I got to the surface. Land was not far off, but Gretta’s boat was nowhere in sight.

I floated on my back for a few minutes, just to catch my breath, and that’s when I heard his voice… the fisherman in his boat.

“How did you get here?” He asked sternly, after pulling me to safety.

I told him the story of Gretta and I… about our seaside vacation… about the large waves that hit our boat… and the fact that I’d nearly drowned at sea.  

“Yes, but how did you end up here?”

I couldn’t make sense of his question at first, and it wasn’t until we were back on land, drinking tea in his little village, that I finally understood. 

Markella Island, as it turned out, was on the other side of the world… nearly 12,500 miles away from Gretta’s beach house. 

And now, it’s been 365 days since that day on the boat. Like I said in the beginning, I almost wish that I’d held on.

If I had, however, I would never have known this beautiful Island and its beautiful people, so I’m also thankful that I let go.

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The end.

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It’s funny. As I’m writing this, it feels like an eternity since I published my last post. Maybe it’s good to take a break sometimes… I think it feeds your soul.

Anyway, my son is here visiting and we’ve been running around town like crazy people. What an awesome visit!

I started this story several days ago. I have a book full of writing prompts, and this prompt was the bolded first line, “Hold onto something. This is gonna be wicked.” I saw that line and I just knew that I’d have fun with it.

My son is out surfing today… so I had time to finish! I may do more writing for my “create something new every day week” so that illustrating doesn’t get so monotonous.

Plus I had a hard time just doing this featured image… my visual well is kind of dry at the moment, but the stories are starting to come through loud and clear!

That’s about all for now.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

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“Life is an adventure, and every island is a new chapter.”