Jacob's Abyss

The water fizzed up around Alice. The bubbles rushed in her ears, and burned her eyes and nose. She twisted around, disoriented under the water. Alice kicked her shoes off and allowed them to sink into the endless watery abyss below her. She squirmed and twisted out of her corset, forcing the burdensome fabric off of her body. Once she was no longer bogged down by her dense skirt she straightened herself out and searched frantically for the surface.

 It took her a minute to recognize where the light was filtering in from but as soon as she did she propelled herself upwards. Alice’s head burst out of the water for a brief second before it was covered again by the waving water. The waves continued to swallow and spit her out, swirling her around mercilessly until she figured out how to ride the waves while treading water. Once she was able to hold her head above the water for long enough, she began to get her bearings. 

The sun was insufferably hot. It blinded her from two directions, reflecting up at her against the water. The only place that made the heat bearable was under the shadow  of the ship sailing past her on the right. Alice adjusted her position so that she could see who was up on the deck of the ship.

 She recognized Jacob immediately. His back was turned to her, his tousled auburn hair shifted under the wind. Jacob’s knuckles were white on the railing and his head was stiff. He was watching something Alice couldn't see from below. Suddenly his whole body seized and a muffled crack rippled over the sound of the waves. Alice muffled her wail of anguish with her hand as she watched Jacob collapse. When his head was no longer in view Alice could finally see that there was another figure on the deck. 

The first thing she noticed about him was his grubby beard. It was so wild and tangled that at first Alice didn’t realize it belonged to a human being until she saw his eyes. They were black and gleamed maliciously through his frazzled mane. Alice had never seen a pirate before and she looked at his hands as he tucked his gun back into his belt. 

Alice’s tears flowed silently over her hand and melted into the sea. The pirate leaned over the rail and raked the moving water with his beady eyes. Alice pressed herself against the wood slatted hull while stifling her own sobs. She listened to his footsteps on deck while desperately searching the horizon for an escape. As she blinked away her tears a small forest green spot slowly came into focus. There was a small island sitting on the edge of the horizon. Alice listened intently as the soft footsteps gradually faded away. 

She breathed deeply, readying herself, before plunging forward into the water. She thrust one arm forward and then the other, taking care to rotate them all the way around her head just like Jacob had taught her. She pulsed her legs precisely, using her knees to flick her ankles back and forth in the water. Alice counted each stroke; one… two… three… four… She stopped at the fifth stroke. She straightened her legs out and bobbed above each wave to see the island again. She repeated this pattern for hours, stopping every five strokes. Swim five strokes, bob, readjust course and then swim five strokes again.

It was hard at first, the urge to go back for Jacob was overwhelming in the beginning. Even if it was just his body, Alice wanted more than anything to see him again, but his voice kept echoing in her head as she remembered his last words, “swim Alice. Swim and don’t look back.” 

So she swam, Alice swam even when her arms began to ache, and her knees started to click. She swam even when her arms hurt so much it felt like her shoulders were going to fall off. Alice swam even when her sides hurt too much to breathe. The pain eased her mind. It was easier to block the grief out when all she had to do was push through her physical anguish. 

Every time she paused to adjust her trajectory the island she was aiming for grew consistently closer. The first time she had seen the island it looked like a tiny dot on the horizon but as it got bigger it slowly began to take shape. First the mountain with an emerald peak started forming slowly. At the next stop she made, Alice saw the mountain split in two and the peaks turned a frosty ash color. After a few hours the emerald color transformed into leafy foliage. By the time Alice could see the sandy gold of the beach the sun was setting. The orange light was peaking through the trees and Alice felt completely hopeless. 

She was no longer rotating her arms properly, and her hands dragged under the water. She had used every ounce of strength she had left to drive herself through the waves. Her knees were sagging, and she could barely move them. Her chest began to sink under the water. The waves lapped at her throat, and Alice began to panic. She gasped and coughed. 

The salty water scratched the inside of her throat and caught in her lungs. She began to cry but it changed nothing. Her sobs were identical to her choking and her tears were instantly absorbed into the ocean. As she floundered in the water Alice reached out with her hands. Her vision blurred and swirled as she gasped, stretching her arms out in front of her. The water clung to her under skirts and she sank even more. 

Her feet suddenly hit something sharp and Alice felt her heel split open. Her mouth gaped open, she had found the beach! She pushed hard off of the rock and swam for her life 

Each new stroke that she made was tortuous and only half as effective as they were before. Alice propelled her body forward aggressively, but she only inched pathetically toward the beach. Finally her knees scraped against more rocks. They snagged against her skin, shredding her skirt. Alice began to crawl on her hands and knees. The salt water stung in every one of Alice’s scratches and it eventually became a vague burning that covered the skin on her hands and feet. 

The rocks softened gradually and soon they became sand altogether. The sand was soft and cool, soothing each of Alice's many scratches and sunburns. The wet sand soon became dry and the dry sand eventually became grass. 

Alice flung herself onto the soft grass, jolting her sore body. She looked up and the sky. Her limbs were stiff and she couldn't feel her fingers or toes. The sky was black, but it was faintly illuminated by millions of stars. Alice's eyes explored every constellation she could find with her eyes until they glazed over. Her tears dripped slowly down her face as she slowly raised a shaking hand to the heavens. Jacob loved the stars.

Special thanks to Reedsy.com for the prompt I used: https://blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/.