[ IP ] Sinking

[ somewhere EAST of EDEN ] 
 
 
 
 The body sunk. 
 
 Going… 
 
 Going… 
 
 Gone. 
 
 He could no longer see it. 
 
 Satisfied, the man sat back down and grabbed the oars. Dark clouds gathered on the horizon, looming ominously. A low roll of thunder caressed the air, muttering tropical threats to come. For now, however, the sun seemed content with streaming down through the sticky, humid air. The glare on the waves was hypnotizing. 
 
 He didn ’ t feel bad about it. Kline had been a prick; only trouble, really. Now he could breathe easy. 
 
 A voice whimpered, and the man looked down at a figure curled up on the floor of the boat. 
 
 “ Shut it, or you ’ ll end up like Kline. ” 
 
 The terrified whimpering ceased. 
 The man looked around once more, observing the unusually calm waters. 
 Nothing. 
 Nothing to be seen for miles. 
 
 “ Let ’ s just start over, ” the voice peeped from the floor. The man looked down in disgust. 
 
 “ What did I say- “ 
 
 “ We can ’ t keep going like this. ” 
 
 “ Maybe you can ’ t. ” The man spoke with an edge to his voice. “ We can ’ t get out- not now. ” 
 
 “ That ’ s your fault, not mine! ” 
 
 “ I said shut up! Shut up or I ’ ll finish this by myself and you can join Kline! ” 
 
 Silence. 
 
 A breeze began to pick up. 
 The man continued to row. 
 The whimpering voice belonged to a girl, barely a teenager. She had been sent with them for who knows what reason. The kid was simply a pain. 
 
 The man looked at the girl now, as she drew herself off the floor and perched as far away from him as she could. The breeze pulled at her matted hair. 
 The clouds were moving fast, and another round of thunder gently rocked the boat. 
 The girl stared at the clouds before turning and locking eyes with the man, looking at him questioningly. 
 
 “ What, ” he inquired. 
 
 “ That, ” she gestured toward the approaching inclement weather. 
 
 “ What about it? ” 
 
 “ We aren ’ t going to make it. ” 
 
 “ Yes we are. ” 
 
 “ No, we aren ’ t. ” Hysteria began to creep into the girl ’ s voice. 
 
 “ Yes. We are. ” The man wasn ’ t amused. “ I thought I told you to shut up. ” 
 
 “ You ’ re going to get us both killed. ” 
 
 “ Then so be it! ” 
 
 “ So be it?! ” 
 
 “ You heard me! ” It was a sort of challenge. The girl stared wide eyed at the man for a moment. 
 
 “ You ’ re insane. ” 
 
 “ Insane… ” A low guttural laugh worked its way out of the man. It rose in pitch and volume, and continued to escalate until 
 he was in a fit. The man let go of the oars, doubling over, laughing even harder. “ Insane! ” 
 
 The girl looked on, horrified. She seemed to gather what was left of her resolve and took advantage of the moment. 
 Lunging past the man, who was still bent over convulsing, she grabbed the single item in the boat: a small knapsack. Withdrawing the flare gun that was stored inside, the girl pointed the firearm at the zenith. The man whipped around, incredulous. 
 
 “ Stop! ” he roared. “ You won ’ t live either way if you do that! ” 
 
 The two seemed frozen there for an instance, the girl with the gun raised high above her head, the man tensed and ready to pounce. 
 
 A flash of lightning ripped open the sky. 
 The man leaped at the girl, tackling her. 
 She simultaneously launched the flare as she felt her body slam into the side of the boat. The ball of light shrieked upward, ascending into the heavens. It followed an elongated arc, fizzling out halfway back to sea-level. The man stood up in a stupor, staring after the fading flare. His senses began to return as he looked down at the crumpled girl, who was wiping blood from her mouth. 
 
 Thunder clapped. 
 He could feel the anger rising. 
 
 “ What the... ” The man tried to contain himself, but couldn ’ t. “ Do you know what you ’ ve done?! ” He turned away from the girl and snatched up an oar, smashing it against the floor, again and again and again. 
 The girl curled up where she was, closing her eyes, feeling the rhythm of the ocean. 
 Once the first oar was nothing but splinters, the man grabbed the second one, redirecting his wrath towards the girl. 
 
 “ They're going to kill me now! ” 
 
 “ Well maybe you shouldn ’ t have killed KLINE! ” The girl got up, now equally enraged. 
 
 “ Well maybe I should've killed YOU! ” The man swung the oar over his head. The girl winced, once again closing her eyes. She knew that she couldn ’ t escape death. It would come, if not from this man, then from the others. But the blow never came. 
 
 She opened her eyes to see an elated look creep across the man ’ s face. He was staring off into the distance. 
 The girl turned to see what he was so enthralled with; there was nothing but an endless blue line, nothing but the void of the ocean. She looked back at him. 
 
 “ What are you looking at? ” 
 
 “ There! ” The man exclaimed, upmost joy cresting his voice. He pointed a shaking finger past the girl, which, upon examination, revealed nothing to her vision. “ Don ’ t you see it?! ” 
 
 “ No. ” The breeze died down, and the girl scoured the horizon for what had captured the man ’ s attention. 
 
 “ Don ’ t you see it?! We made it! Eden! ” 
 
 “ Where?! ” The girl began to become exasperated. “ I can ’ t see anything! ” 
 
 “ It ’ s so beautiful. ” The man ’ s voice dropped to a whisper that was barely audible. “ It ’ s so… ” He collapsed, heavily thudding to the floor of the boat. 
 
 The girl stared, bewildered. After a moment, she cautiously prodded him. He didn ’ t move. With some effort, the girl managed to flip the body over, eliciting a sob of terror upon seeing the man ’ s face. 
 It was barely recognizable. Melted in and marred beyond recognition. 
 
 “ What… ” she whispered to herself. 
 
 Something bumped the boat. 
 At first it wasn ’ t noticeable. Then it seemed to happen at regular intervals. 
 Terror seized the girl as she mustered the courage to investigate. 
 She found nothing malicious; instead, the girl extracted two perfectly intact oars from the brine. 
 
 Etched into the surface of one: “ Keep rowing. ” 

