By Nicolas Ciner

 “Captain, she can’t hold much longer,” cried one of the crew. “She’ll hold” shouted the captain over the howling wind, “I hope” he added quietly to himself. “Tom, help get the water out from the lower decks” said the captain. “Aye, Aye” I said in my bravest voice. He finally treated me like a man, great I thought, but now that there was a raging storm outside, I felt being treated like a child sounded better. I liked to be treated like an adult, I was 14 and in my opinion, I was one. I was an adventurous person, and I loved the seas, although I didn’t quite like storms. I have bushy, tangled hair that I can never get straight, and freckles dotted my face. I am a skinny boy without much muscle, but just about enough to keep me alive. I have vivid green eyes, which according to my mother are beautiful. Thinking of my mother made me feel guilty for leaving her and dad so suddenly. I had to escape that boring life. I had to find a life that offered more than just taking care of barn animals. I left my home at the crack of dawn and hid in the lower decks of the ship. I thought I would be dead for sure when the captain found me sleeping in his bed, but to my surprise he put me to work. As I stood there in the flooded decks I couldn’t believe that only a few minutes ago the seas were so quiet and calm. The birds were circling our ship, looking for scraps of food, and then it hit us. First it began with the wind, it died away instantly, as if time had stopped but forget to stop us, then it began to take up speed and power. Soon the men were struggling to keep their balance as the wind rammed into them like bricks, each gust blowing harder and harder. By the time the men had finally tied down the last sail, one of them was ripped off its supporting rope and had thrown itself on two men, which blindly fell into the water.  Then the waves became bigger and bigger, until they came to a monstrous size. They were like solid walls made out of water, thrashing the ship and threatening to tip us over. By that horrific time, the seagulls had disappeared, and the dolphins that were chasing our ship had swum down deep into the ocean.I had no idea that this very storm was going to change my entire life.Forever. It wasn’t natural for storms to come that suddenly I thought. Maybe we went off course or…. Stop! Stop! I said in my head. I had to stop thinking about the worst. “Tom, Tom!” called a faint voice. I came back to reality, back from my thoughts. “What the bloody hell are you doing there, get working!” the captain roared, he looked stressed I thought. I looked at the captain in astonishment, he had never screamed at me, but then again I thought, I asked to be treated like a man. The ship began to violently rock from side to side, and I was thrown against the wall. I went out like a light. I felt cold yet the hot sun was beating against my back, I thought how the sun was on me when I was in the lower decks. Or was I? I opened my eyes too quickly and closed them straight after. It was too bright, too bright to be in the lower decks I thought, was I dead? No I couldn’t be. Everything seemed too real, the sun beating against my back, the sound of seagulls, the cooling breeze of the ocean, the roughness of the sand……sand! I opened my eyes, ignoring the sun’s glare, I lifted my head, spit out the sand in my mouth and looked around. All I saw was sand and trees. My head was throbbing and when I touched the back of it, my hand was full of blood. The first thing that came to my mind was, I’m shipwrecked. I jerked my head in the direction of the sea and I saw bodies floating lifelessly in the water. They were dead I thought, all dead. A little distance behind the bodies, the remains of the ship floated around pointlessly. Around the ships remains were the crew’s half sunk personal belongings. Suitcases, food, boxes, chests, clothes, pans, pots, even the glass plates seemed to have survived. Just not their owners.Suddenly I felt my stomach pleading for food and water. How long had I been out? No time to think about that, I thought. First things first, food. I knew how to make a few useful weapons out of scratch, my dad had taught me. Dad, I couldn’t help but feel guilty, if I hadn’t left none of this would have happened. No! Now was not the time to feel guilty, now I thought, was time to go for some hunting.The first thing I did was walk around the island to know my surroundings. I found a deep gorge with a pitch-black bottom with sharp rocks on the bottom to the north side and few caves that were big enough for at least three people to sleep in comfortably, but when the tide went up the caves became flooded. This was on the east side of the island. There are jagged rocks surrounding the water’s edge on the west side and flat land with grass and a few bushes on the south side of the island and a gigantic jungle in the middle of it all. I had a compass, so it wasn’t hard to remember which side was which. I tried to look for food in these areas, with no luck, because I was afraid of what would be waiting inside the jungle. I had never gone inside a jungle, only a forest but that was different I thought. I had heard stories about men being eaten whole by giant snakes, or the smallest insects with the deadliest poisons. I had no medication, save for bandages, and if I was poisoned I would surely die. As I approached the jungle my heart began to race. Would something be lurking inside, waiting to devour me, or would it jump out the moment I got to the edge of the jungle. I began to picture a bulky shape with razor sharp teeth, with blood dripping down from the corners of its mouth and blunt claws made to torture its victim as it slowly ripped of their face.I had to relax, your armed and you’re not scare I thought. Who was I kidding, I couldn’t even fight the town bully back home, let alone a ferocious beast.  As I walked towards the jungle I thought of home. Home, I thought. What did that mean to me? An exciting life that offered everything you ever wanted, I thought sarcastically. Maybe it was a bit boring I thought, but how could I be stupid enough to leave my two loving parents and my little sister. I may not see her grow up I thought. Your doing it to yourself again I thought. Stop thinking about home, that was before, this is now and I can’t go back. Tears began to swell up in my eyes and I began to sob loudly. I began to think the same thing, I can never go back, I can never go back. Then a new thought struck my mind, making me sob even harder and louder, I might never make it back, what if I’m stuck here for the rest of my life. I heard a rustle in the bushes behind me and I stopped crying immediately. The bushes rustled louder and out of them came a tall, black man wearing nothing more than a cloth around his waist and a bow slung across his chest. We stared at each other under the twisting, tangling trees for what seemed like hours, minutes, or even seconds. The first thought that came to my mind was run.I ran straight into the jungle like I had never run before, the branches whipping my face as I shot from tree to tree. My legs felt like weak lead, as if about to crack any moment but fear kept me running on. I ran out of breath and stopped near a giant tree. I have to hide I thought. I realized that the tree I was next to was hollow because when I leaned against it I fell in. it was big enough to hide me in so there I hid, waiting, watching, listening and overall frightened to think what the man would do to me if he found me.  As the knot in my chest seemed to tighten as I waited in complete silence, my heart racing and cold sweat was running down my face while I was taking deep breaths. Horrible thoughts of torture and death began to fill my mind as my heart quickened. Every joy full moment I had thought about seemed to slowly seep from my weak, fragile body. I heard far away that the black man was shouting in a strange language, his voice sounding a bit annoyed and stressed. I stayed there, crouched in the darkness, for what seemed like forever. At last I decided to come out and as I did a hand went over my mouth and another went over my waist. At once I realized he had come back for me. I tried to scream, but it was muffled by the strong hand over my mouth.  I tried to bite his hand but he would only hold me stronger. I began to kick a his legs and stomach and I must of sent a very hard blow at his stomach, for he let me go. I jumped on him the moment I was let go, and I began brutally attacking his face. I beat him with the little strength I had left, but the man seemed not to care. I kept on striking his head with my dirty hands, but I soon lost the rhythm as well as my strength and stopped. The man didn’t move, but I didn’t notice his hand closing over a blunt square rock. As the man swung the rock at the side of my head I thought to myself, not again.I went out like a light I opened my eyes to a small, dark room, lit only by the dying embers of a fire. The damp earth beneath me was soft and comfortable, but smelled horribly of manure and death, a strange combination I thought. The room itself smelled of rosemary with other strong herbs I didn’t recognize. A small breeze was blowing in from the small flap at the front of the room. My stomach suddenly rumbled as I remembered I still hadn’t eaten anything. At this thought I felt weak once more and once more sleep welcomed my, but with the small breeze came the tantalizing smell of roast pork over a warm fire. I was instantly awake. How long has it been since I last ate? I thought. I couldn’t stop myself from opening the small flap at the front of the room, only to be held once more by two men waiting just outside. I kicked and screamed, but they kept dragging me on. A small group of children began to swarm around me, the girls giggling as the boys pulled my hair. They soon retreated however, when the men gave the children a menacing stare. The two men dragged me inside a small tent with impaled heads on either sides of the flap, and within the tent sat an old man with tangled gray hair and a necklace made of what seemed like human bones hanging around his skinny, wrinkled neck. The room smelled of incense and the floor was matted with furs over furs. There was a small oil lamp on the furs he was sitting on, shedding enough light to see the man properly. “Why have you come here?” bellowed the old man. His deep voice had a strong aura of command. I was at loss of words, I didn’t know what to say or where to start. “ Why have you come here?” asked the old man again. Finally I pulled myself together and said “There was a ship wreck and I was the only…” I couldn’t bring myself to finish it. “Survivor” the old man finished. “Yeah, the only survivor.” I was surprised the man knew English. The old man nodded slowly, obviously thinking of what to do next. “I take it you are hungry?” Food, food all I could think about was food. “Very well.” As if reading my mind. “There well be dinner shortly, until then you will stay in your hut.” I have to escape I thought, escape. “If you attempt to leave or escape my men will find you and kill you, understand?” said the old man, as if reading my mind again.  I nodded. So much for that plan I thought. The men escorted me back to the hut, I didn’t even try to free myself from their strong grasps for all the strength. Had I found friends or enemies, hospitality or hostility, food or to be food. I had no time to think about these things. I was tired and weak and I felt as though sleeping could just end all this madness. I felt it would bring me back in time, so I never left my home, and none of this would have happened, not to me at least. As they pushed me in the hut, I lay down, making a pillow of dirt and closed my eyes. I thought in my mind as sleep swept over me, stop the madness.Stop the madness.I woke up in what seemed only seconds later as a hand shook me roughly, talking in a strange language I didn’t recognize. As I sat upright I realized I was under fur blankets and I was completely naked. I pulled the covers around me as the man pointed at my clothes drying over the steady heat of coals in the corner of the room. As I looked back I saw the man leaving the flap of the hut, I jumped up and put on my warm clothes. Beside the clothes were thick leather boots and I wondered why I would wear them in such hot climate but seeing that I didn’t have any other footwear I put them on. I thought why they would warm my clothes and give me warm leather boots if they weren’t wet or cold, but I soon found out when I went outside because it was freezing cold. My hands went in my pockets as I made my way to the blazing fire.  I heard a crunching noise each time I walked but kept going anyway until I became curious. I stopped and looked down and saw the ground was covered in ankle deep snow. Snow? But that’s impossible I thought. I’m practically next to the equator I thought, or according to the captain, at least when he was alive. But then again I thought, we did crash and I had been floating in the water for god knows how long. Why didn’t I notice the snow before? I asked myself. Maybe I was in so much fear and hatred that I didn’t have time to think about those kinds of things. I stopped wondering at once when the smell of roasted pork held me again. I began to walk towards the blazing fire when it began to snow. I thought this was even stranger but I decided to walk on. As I neared the fire, heads began to turn as they saw me walking towards them. As I sat on one of furs surrounding the fire a woman handed me a wooden tablet with a steaming portion of pork. I devoured the delicious piece of meat within seconds, the people watching my every movement as if waiting to learn something from my eating habits. When another woman brought me a second portion of meat the old man I had talked to earlier rose from where he was sitting and said to me          “We are willing to accept you as one of us if you choose, if not, death will be your only escape.” He smiled. I thought for a moment and said “ I choose death” I had no idea of what I just said, it just came to my mind and I couldn’t control myself. The small group of people seemed to have understood what I said and gasped. “Very well then, follow me” his voice without expression. I followed him to the edge of the jungle and he made me stand against a bloody tree. “Are you ready?” said the man, stone faced. “Yes” I replied. He took a knife out of a small pouch and slashed it across my neck.I woke up panting and sweating. The dream had indeed changed my life, for it had given me a new perspective of death. I went to my parents room and saw them sleeping soundly. I breathed a breath of relief. It was only a dream I thought.

Only a dream.

This was a short little story I had to write in the 7th grade for english. This is my final draft and hasn’t been touched or edited for about a year. Please feel free (and by that I mean do!) to critizie and tear my heart apart  at your hearts desire. Enjoy.