READER'S ROCK LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE VOL 2 ISSUE 4 NOVEMBER 2014 Vol 1 Issue 11 May 2014 | Page 41

Planet Water ~
Draugar of the Abyss
Published by: JLB Creatives
Publishing
Arrowanna watched
Sidra dash into the shallow
water and disappear out of
sight when she reached the
ship. Arrowanna
screamed, “Don't let the
ship run her over!” At
Sidra's shrill cries,
Arrowanna flew to the side
rail.
“Help me Arrowanna.
Help me!”
Arrowanna peered over
the ship's railing. She saw
Sidra tangled in the rope
ladder. Arrowanna's bigsister instinct kicked in,
and without another
thought she began
climbing down to Sidra.
“Hang on Sidra. I'm
coming.”
Arrowanna could barely
tolerate the fading sound
of her panic-stricken
parents from the shore
along with Sidra's intense
crying. The ship picked up
speed, and Arrowanna
could hear Charleo in a
commotion on deck.
“What? Who be ye? We
be a-havin' stowaways!”
shouted Charleo.
Two unknown
deckhands rushed across
the deck in front of
Charleo and stopped
before him. “I'm Torleik,
and this is my twin brother
Meilí. We're here

because... because...”
Meilí pushed Torleik
toward the ship's rail and
shouted, “Because
Arrowanna wanted us
here!” The boys slammed
into the railing.
“Arrowanna, we're
here,” Meilí shouted.
“Hang on to Sidra. Don't
let her fall. We'll get a
basket down to you. Hold
on tight.”
Arrowanna returned a
tense shout. “She's not
going to fall because she's
tangled in the ropes of the
ladder. What about
Meemaw and Poppie, I
can't see or hear them. Can
you?”
Torleik glanced toward
the stern. “Nei. The ship's
really gaining speed and
we're sailing into the
deeper waters.”
Meilí shouted, “Keep an
eye on her. We're too far
away from the shoreline
for Sidra to drop and touch
bottom. She hasn't learned
how to use her gills well
enough to get all the way
back home from this far
out.”
Arrowanna's heart
pounded as icy waves
broke and sprayed her and
Sidra. She saw her home
island, now nothing more
than a dot among the
other islands floating on
the horizon. She had never
been out this far before.
She was frustrated, angry,
and scared, all in the same
breath. This was not the

grand departure she had
hoped for.
She continued to work
one-handed at getting
Sidra untangled. At the
loosening of the last knot
she said, “You hold onto
me. Do not let go, Sidra.
Do you understand?”
Sidra nodded, her
bottom lip quivering and
her teeth chattering from
the cold. The wind was
picking up, and the ship
was beginning to roll and
list as it plowed through
the waves in the open
water.
“Here it comes!”
shouted Meilí. Arrowanna
looked up as he threw a
large empty fruit basket
over the edge; it was tied
to a heavy rope.
Arrowanna felt her hair
swish from the breeze of
the dropping basket. It
came to an abrupt halt just
below Sidra.
Arrowanna shouted,
“You need to raise it a bit. I
can't get her into it down
there.” The basket swung
and banged into the side of
the ship as her twin
brothers pulled it upward.
The wind blew the cold
waters of the deep even