The Boat at Sea

Later that day, the beach was empty because of the rain. The rain was light for a while but then it started to pour. That night, Tyler is sleeping in his bed when he is awoken by the sound of his door making a creaking sound. He wakes up to see the light in the hallway and Emma standing there.

She walks in and says, “Tyler, are you sleeping?” She pushes on his shoulder until Tyler finally sits up and rubs his eyes.

“I was,” he says. “What?” Emma crawls into bed next to him. “Aren’t you getting a little too old to be doing this?” Tyler asks. “Go into mom and dad’s bed.” Emma scooches, and hops closer.

“There is something I need to tell you that you can’t tell them,” Emma says.

“Okay, what is it?” Tyler asks.

“I felt something underwater and then it pushed me towards where the lifeguard was,” Emma says. “I think it was helping me.”

Tyler turns on his lamp next to the bed, then looks at his sister. “You need to get some sleep,” he says. “It’s been a long day for all of us. The most important thing is that you’re okay, and no one got hurt. You should go back to sleep because I didn’t see anything.”

Emma gets out of bed. “I felt it,” she says.

“It could have been a large fish that may have bumped into you,” Tyler says. Emma walks towards the door to leave.

“Okay, but just remember, it may come back,” she says. Emma leaves the room and closes the door. Tyler turns off the lamp and turns to face the window. The sky is clearer now after the short rain earlier. Slowly, he falls back to sleep. The next morning, after breakfast, Tyler and Emma head over to the beach on their bikes. Tyler sees Calem sitting by the window, putting on sunscreen before going outside.

“Hey, Calem,” Tyler says. “We’re going to the beach with our parents if you want to join.”

“Sure,” Calem says. After finishing with the sunblock, he gets ready and goes into the garage to get his bike, with Mr. and Mrs. Blaze heading to the car. Chris and Jill also come out of their house, packing up the car to go to the beach.

Chris sees Calem coming towards him while pushing his bike. “You must be Calem,” Chris says.

“Tyler told us about you,” Jill says. “Chris is taking the car to the beach, and I’ll be riding my bike there with the kids.” Calem’s parents agree and go out to run errands while their son spends the day with the Josie's.

“Calem you be careful,” Mr. Blaze says.

“I will,” Calem says. They wave goodbye as Calem rides away. They finally reach the path on the highway that will take them to the beach.

“So, do you like the Blazes?” Jill asks.

“They’re great,” Calem says. “Better than other places I’ve lived. But I’m used to bouncing around from one place to another.”

“Why does that happen??” Emma asks.

“That’s how the system works,” Calem says. “Homes I move into aren’t a perfect fit for me, so I get moved to another family. I would say my new foster parents are the best ones yet. I’m always worried about being placed again in another home. And making friends is hard because I keep moving to new schools, depending on the district my new home is in.” He, Tyler, and Emma get to the beach as it starts to get crowded, just like the day before. They chain their bikes in the parking lot next to others.

“I don’t think you need to worry,” Tyler says. “They’re great people.” Calem has hopes of staying with them longer if the system doesn’t remove him. To keep his mind off of it, he would rather spend time at the beach with his new friends.

Today will hopefully be a normal day. Jill and Chris lay on the sand while the kids swim. While swimming with her boogie board, Emma looks out to where she almost drowned yesterday. She sees the same boat with the same fishermen, holding nets and fishing rods. Emma swims over to Tyler and Calem as they toss a ball back and forth.

“Hey Tyler, look over there,” Emma says pointing at the boat. “Those look like the same men I saw yesterday when I was in the water.” Tyler swims closer to get a better look. The fishermen do not look like they’re doing any harm.

Tyler turns around after seeing nothing happening. “Emma, it’s fine,” he says. “Like I said last night, they probably work here. You know there are plenty of restaurants in town that serve fish.”

“But why there?” Emma asks. “I’ve never seen any kind of boat this close to the beach besides sailboats and yachts.” Calem holds the ball while swimming over to take a look. The fishermen prepare their nets while looking out in the water.

“That does seem unusual,” Calem says. “Why isn’t anyone stopping them?”

“Maybe they allow it,” Tyler says. As they try to swim closer, a lifeguard blows the whistle.

“Don’t go out too far down there,” the lifeguard hollers at them. “You need to be careful to not go way out at sea, especially on this part of the beach. The waves can get rough, and could push you by rocks.”

“Great,” Calem says. As soon as he looks up, Calem realizes that the boat is gone. “Hey, where did the boat go?”

“Maybe they left for the dock,” Tyler says. Emma looks around, but all they see are people.

“I don’t see any other boats around,” she says. “How is it possible that it disappeared so quickly?”

“Something doesn’t look right,” Calem says. “I have the feeling I’m starting to agree with Emma. What if there’s something out there?” No other people are swimming at that spot. The waves are lighter today than they were yesterday.

Tyler swims over to get a look at the quiet area. “Unless we hear a noise otherwise, nothing’s there,” he says.