Short story-- The Boat to Bendiko

I stared out at the grey sea as pouring rain pierced its choppy surface. The storm had come from what seemed like out of nowhere, although it had been gloomy for several weeks now. I could see a few people on the dock wearing different colored ponchos, shouting and running towards shore. Closing my eyes, I felt my stomach do a turn. Although the ground beneath me was flat, I felt as though I was out on the sulky sea, and I only had half an hour until I had to be.

As I waited for the storm to fade away, I fidgeted with a strap hanging from my bag. Already the intensity of the weather was diminishing, and I watched as the raging storm became a steady rainfall, which, in turn, became a drizzle. Eventually, the rain stopped altogether. I sat slouching as my gaze burned into the strap in my hands, but my mind was somewhere completely different-- the future.

A booming voice startled me. Over the wind I could hear him say “SeaFerry 5, Bendiko Island, boarding now!” My stomach dropped. I’d been dreading that moment. Slowly looking up from the weathered strap, I saw that there was now a small speedboat at the dock, rocking back and forth violently. People started to gather. I just sat there staring at them until I realized that I, too, needed to get up and move towards the back of the line that had begun to form on the dock. I stood up and heaved the bag over my shoulder, grunting from the weight of it. I tried to focus on keeping my brand new white shoes clean, a nearly impossible feat considering the multitude of mud-filled puddles surrounding me.

All around me were expressionless eyes, hunched over shoulders, and tired faces. Although everyone appeared to feel dead inside, I could sense a feeling of nervousness floating among the line of people. As we collectively stared into space, the boat captain hurriedly pushed his way through the crowd towards the boat. A few minutes later I looked up from my now muddy shoes and saw that the line was moving up. A trickle of sweat crept down the side of my face. Every couple of seconds the line moved up and I would shuffle closer and closer towards the end of the dock. But I didn’t dare look ahead. I stayed focused on my shoes, half submerged in warm rainwater. Every time the sharp waves lapped up against the boat I shuddered. Then, finally, it was my turn to board the tiny boat.

It swayed incredibly, rocking so violently that I had to firmly grasp the seats on either side of me as I made my way towards the back. Once seated, I realized how little people there actually were. I counted around twenty. The seats towards the front were empty except for a couple of people, one of which had their head resting on the seat in front of them in an attempt to rest. I kept trying to reassure myself that it was normal for the boat to be rocking like that.Once it starts moving, it’ll be much smoother,I convinced myself. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and tried to relax.

Pretending that I wasn’t completely sick to my stomach, I put in my headphones to listen to some music, anything that could distract me from the churning sensation. The engine got louder and we began to turn around slowly, still rocking back and forth. I gripped the metal bar above the seat in front of me hard enough to callus my fingers. The air inside the boat was stuffy and hot. I lifted my right hand off the pole to dab at the beads of sweat forming on my forehead with my sleeve, but in the second that I managed to do so the boat jerked up violently and slammed back down. With one hand on the pole, I started to swing to the left and quickly grabbed on with my right hand again, pushing forcefully against it and leaning back in the seat. My chest rose and fell at an alarming rate. With my heart racing and my eyes shut I sat there, gripping that metal pole as tightly as humanly possible. Deep breaths, I told myself. I never liked boats. Why didn’t I just wait until tomorrow to go? The boat lifted again. I winced, bracing for the impact of another inevitable slam. When it happened, water sprayed into the boat and onto my face. Everybody made some sort of alarmed sound as we were all thrust forwards. I remained dead silent, aside from my hyperventilation. I frantically looked all around me as the boat did another crazy jolt. This time, my hands slid all around on the now-wet metal bar.

My body had never been riddled with such fear. The back of the boat was open so I could see the waves behind me. I couldn’t tell if watching each big wave throw us upwards was better or worse than just closing my eyes and waiting it out. Suddenly, the biggest one yet sent the boat swaying far down on its side before lifting us up and causing us to slam down. I was in panic mode. Looking around me, my body began to fill with dread as a few people started putting on the life preservers in front of them. This was it. This was how I was going to die. Or at least that’s the thought that was running through my head over and over at that moment. Another huge wave sprayed water into my face. I’m gonna be sick, I thought as I readjusted my grasp on the pole.

A few deleterious waves later and I, too, was tightly fastening the neon orange vest from in front of me. Bump after bump, jolt after jolt. In my mind the boat was angling further downwards and heading straight into the dark sea. Within half a second, the bow was piercing the angry ocean and water was flooding in. Another sharp slam of the boat caused me to snap back into reality, which in all honesty was only slightly less terrifying than the fabrication of my death. I frantically took another look around me and noticed a woman behind me crying. My eyes sting and my throat aches as I try to push away tears of my own.

These conditions seemed to continue on forever. I thought about the people I loved, about the way I’ve treated them, and suddenly a rush of guilt came and possessed my body. So, in my mind, I began to apologize... to everyone.

Instantly, the guilt seemed to vanish. The rocking of the boat felt less intense. I loosened my grip on the pole and closed my eyes. Water continued to spray my face as I was being jerked around. Despite being engulfed in my biggest fear, I was strangely at peace. As the boat ride progressed, the waves became calmer. Water wasn’t splashing into the boat anymore, and the clouds began to part. A bit of sunlight peeked through and left a bright spot of turquoise on the dark, colorless sea. Minutes went by and the turquoise grew and even started to appear in other spots. The wind blew my hair and felt nice on my skin. I looked to my right and saw an island covered in green moving past us. Or rather, we were moving past it. The sky was now mostly blue, as was the sea. That nervousness that had taken hold of the boat seemed to be blown away in the breeze.

After only an hour and a half on that boat, although it felt like much longer, I could finally see my destination. In the distance, it looked beautiful. It was surrounded by peace. Birds were soaring, the sun was shining, and a blanket of palm trees covered the lush mountains of Bendiko Island. As we approached the dock, everything seemed to be perfect. The water was like glass, calm and clear. I had never seen the island this beautiful. I was in awe as I began to unfasten the life preserver which had been strapped tightly around me, nearly suffocating me. Swinging my bag over my shoulder, I made my way towards the front of the boat where a man was waiting to help me out. As I walked down the dock towards the island, a smile took hold of my face for the first time in a long time. I had never felt so alive.