Cliffhanger

By Lee Kendrick 

I had never been to a tropical

country before but Indonesia was my friends and I chose a holiday destination after we had scanned the Internet for tropical countries. We all agreed to go to the Indonesian island of Sumba, an island as large as Jamaica. Apparently, Indonesia boasts the most islands of any country, unbelievably… over 17,000! My friends Michael, Bob and I Dave had booked a holiday here for two weeks. We plan to do some snorkeling exploring the corral wreaths and go on some boat trips to some of the Indonesian islands. For now we were just chilling out on a sunlounger, drinking cold beers, on the white sands of the Mbawana Beach. 

 The Sumba Island landscape is so rich in exotic plants and animal life; it also boasts unusual rock formations, including the…”Halfling Giant Stone” this is a coastal rock with a large gaping hole through it…In fact me and the boys are just thirty feet away from it to our left.

 Another unusual thing about Indonesia is the Indian Ocean. It changes colour; varying from Turquoise to Ultramarine blue to a remarkable… golden orange. 

Another thing this part of the world is known for is its… Earthquakes and Tsunamis! Just a few minutes ago we felt a heavy earthquake but this was normal for Indonesia. We were glad we weren't in a city full of buildings. The tremor only lasted for about 20 seconds and then it just fizzled out…nothing to worry about!

Feeling hot I decided to go for a dip in the ocean. As I slowly walked in the soft, powdery white sand towards the ocean I sensed a foreboding; And for some reason I noticed it was taking me longer than usual at this time of day to arrive by the ocean… I also observed pools of seawater with seaweed,crabs and other sea creatures, which weren't there before! and I'm sure by now I would've been hearing the waves come crashing onto the beach, but the ocean seems much further away!

Then it dawned on me…! As I stared out into the distance, there it was…!

A few miles away… a massive wall of water. Difficult to measure, but I would say it must be at least 50 feet high and it was heading towards the beach… It was

 a tsunami!

I had heard in documentaries about how the ocean suddenly withdraws from a beach,heralding a tsunami.

“Is this my time to die, I thought?”

I turned and ran as fast as I could, back towards my friends, wearing my stupid flip flops. As I ran I observed dozens of people lying on their beach towels, oblivious to what was about to happen. I attempted to shout to warn them but no words would come from my mouth. I was unable to speak…because I was in the grip of fear!

I managed to attract a couple's attention,but they just waved back at me, and continued sunbathing. I picked up a heavy shell and threw it at them, and then pointed frantically towards the ‘wall of death.’

I ran and ran, painfully slowly, getting closer towards my friends!

Then my friends Michael and Bob saw me. I waved with both hands frantically in desperation to try and warn them as I pointed back to the ocean. They just seemed to ignore me.

Finally, I reached Michael and Bob to pull them away…my larynx was constricted,paralyzed I couldn't utter one word as I pointed back towards the ocean… A bloody, gigantic blue-green wave was only a couple of hundred yards away!

By now there were people screaming everywhere on the beach.

We all started running But where? Where do we go? 

Do you climb a tree? The waves are too high.

Do we try to outrun it? No It's too close behind us, and it must be moving at over 100mph now!

Do we go left or right? Maybe the wave isn't as long as the beach!… Very unlikely we could escape it; it probably stretches as far as the length of the beach!

We kept on running in front for our lives. As the adrenaline coursed through our veins, I spotted the cliff some fifty yards away. The tsunami was now so close behind us you could hear its thunderous roar… like a wild beast after its prey!

As we managed to reach the cliff we climbed as rapidly as we could,managing some thirty feet when… The wave crashed heavily into the cliff, it demolished the halfling giant stone and engulfed the surrounding area, the beach had been swallowed up; and the ocean continued to climb moving closer towards us. This wild beast wasn't done until it caught up with us. 

All three of us now exhausted,and… like a gazelle tired out with all its energy spent it was ready to drop and resign its fate to the beast chasing after it. 

I knew it was just only seconds away before the wave would claim me and my two friends!

Suddenly… my heart stopped beating! To my horror I was unable to lift my leg up to a ledge, it had got entangled in some plant's tendrils. Bob and Michael were too busy escaping to not notice me in trouble.

The water was now up to my ankles as I frantically moved my foot to budge it free. The b*****d just wouldn't move! By now I resigned to the fact that I was going to drown. As a twenty-six year old I was hoping for longer on this Earth and I just wish Bob and Michael escaped the wave! The water was now rising up to my neck; I closed my eyes and saw flash images of my Mother, Dad, sister and brother.

But wait a moment! Why hasn't the water covered me yet? I thought. The next thing I noticed was the water level was going down. It was now down to my feet and I was able now to budge my foot free. 

The water was drawing slowly away, down to where the ocean and beach would normally meet.

I looked up to the top of the cliff and there looking down were my two buddies Michael and Bob waving to me laughing…We all had a miracle escape. Sadly many tourists didn't!

End