From the archives...

Today I was looking trough all things I have written and saved to disk. Some things have been left un-finished, some just ideas of things to write later, and other finished pieces that were done for various reasons. I spent some time re-reading a few articles and short-stories I'd written, mainly un-finished ones and edited where needed to be. Wanted to continue on with some of the things I began but time just got away from me.

Tonight I came across a writing prompt I'd done for Writer's Digest. It was not the one chosen to go to print (they printed winners online in their community forum); I am sure they have thousands of writers submitting these things. I have to say these writing prompts are challenging. They give you an idea and a word limit, the rest is up to you. I can't recall exactly the prompt for this (wish I'd typed it in)but it was something about a group of people going on a boat to an island but never make it. I actually wrote 2 versions of this. I am going to share with you the one I feel is a little more interesting. This is a very short, short story but really could lead to something much longer and in greater detail.


"Distracted"

It was a beautiful day, a perfect day to get on the boat and head out to the islands. The sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and although it was only morning, it was already very hot. I had my bikini on under my shorts, and was all lathered up in sun-block ready to go. I pulled my dark locks into a quick up-do and wiped the sweat from the back of neck.

I was staring out as far as I could see, waiting on the dock for Sean and his cousin Sonya. Then I spotted them as they made their way over to the dock. Sean told me he had invited Ashley and Kyle. The smile on my face faded because now I had to spend the whole day with his ex-girlfriend.

Sean introduced my parents to Sonya and said she’d never been to the islands. I told Sonya that we hadn’t been out there for a while either. We all were looking forward to shopping, swimming and the good food. We’d planned lunch at one of the larger islands after a swim from the boat.

Sonya didn’t say much. She seemed very shy. I wondered if that’s what it was or if she was nervous about getting onto the boat. Right about then is when Ashley and Kyle came strolling down the dock, hand in hand. I could hear her giggling the whole way over. Sonya seemed to perk up a bit and we all got onboard and off we went.

The wind was in my face, the air smelled fresh, the sun warmed my skin, and the view of the islands was stunning. I looked straight ahead of me, and there was Ashley, her perfect body sitting next to her perfect boyfriend with her long blond-hair blowing beautifully in the wind and her tanned skin glistening in the sun. They were face to face holding hands, cuddling and generally just making me sick.

“You’re frowning,” Sean whispered in my ear.

I hadn’t realized I was making a face, and until that moment I’d almost forgotten he was even sitting next to me. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why you asked her to come,” I said.

“She’s my friend,” he said.

“I know. Maybe I’m a little jealous of her,” I said.

“Why would you be jealous of her?” he asked me.

“You used to date her, and just look at her,” I said.

“I don’t want to look at her. I’m looking at you,” he said.

He couldn’t have said anything more perfect at that moment. I truly did love him. He was the most amazing person I’d ever met.

“Ready for a swim?” Dad yelled back over the noise of the engine.

He slowed the boat, dropped anchor and shut off the engine. Poor Sonya looked like she was about to be sick. My mom handed out some snorkeling gear and I pulled my shorts off to reveal even more of my pale skin. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw Ashley pulling her blond hair into a ponytail and pulling off her clothes to reveal her skimpy bikini.

“You’re staring, and you’re frowning again,” Sean whispered in my ear.
Ashley and Kyle were in the water first then Sean and Sonya. I hopped in after. Sonya and Sean swam over to Kyle and Ashley, who was now floating on her back. After a while my dad motioned for us to come back to the boat. It was just as well, I was getting cold at that point, and hungry. We all climbed back up into the boat and my mom handed us towels.

“Where’s Ashley?” she asked.

Sean looked around, and we scanned the water around the boat, but we didn’t see her. Sean looked at Kyle who seemed confused. My dad jumped into the water and began to search. We were all calling out her name. Ashley was nowhere to be found. We had no way of contacting anyone so all we could do was start the engine and head back to get help.

It was going to be a perfect day, but now Ashley was gone. Sonya and Kyle had been with her, hadn’t they? I’d been distracted by Sean so I had no idea what had happened in the water. It all happened so fast. When we docked, my parents rushed for help. Sean just stood frozen, repeating, “What are we gonna tell her parents?”