I wrote this story ages ago, it was s'posed to be a class assignment, the way i wrote it was obvious :P. Something about it made me decide to use this as my first post :P . Do read and tell me what you think about it ;)
Seagulls are beautiful and innocent creatures. To some people, they represent the peace of home, to others, they are a symbol of the sea and its great simplicity. Sadly, such wonderful creations seem to Joyce a painful reminder of a traumatic incident that still crush her weary heart with shame even today as she thinks about it. "What can I do?" , she wondered, her eyebrows twisted with pain. "Oh god... what else can i do?" And with what looks like a strong determination, Joyce de Richetti takes a deep breath, blinks her eyes and tells her story. A story that of compassion and cruelty, of happiness and pain, of life - and death.
***
A beautiful August morning, it was. The air was warm, the sea was placid, the happy seagulls were screeching, calling for each other high above them.
Joyce stretched out her arms to the wide open space in front of her, then slowly moved them down to the water, splashing it playfully. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She turned back to find her husband, James de Richetti, smiling at her.
"Look at them." he whispered and pointed at a family of four paddling just about 10 metres in front of them.
Joyce's eyes followed the direction of James' fingers and landed on the happy family. She smiled tenderly at the children who were laughing, splashing water at each other merrily and gently placed her delicate hand on her stomach, picturing the image of the little girl she was expecting in her womb.
Lost in her own world of fantasy, Joyce was starled to find herself tilted to the left as the kayak swayed from side to side. Black clouds were booming ahead, the wind started howling furiously. The sea which was so placid minutes ago was then tempestuous, throwing a tantrum on the innocent humans.
"Help!!!" - she heard a high, screeching voice of a child calling out behind them as her husband redirect the kayak, paddling back to shore.
Joyce de Richetti turned back to find the family's kayak overturned, her lips fell apart immediately and a look of horror came to her big brown eyes. Too panic to even utter a word, she tugged at her husband's sleeve, at the same time poiting furiously to the victims of the merciless waves.
The first drop of rain plonked onto the sea. More and more followed suit, until it firmly grew into a raging downpour, beating hard on everything it touched.
"They have paddled beyond the mark of safety!"-he said, almost shouting trying to outvoice the sound of the raging rain. "And our kayak is way too small for six people! It will get turned over, too, Joyce!"
"BUt we can't leave them to die, James!"- she demurred, her voice trembling - perhaps from the icy cold rain, the fear, of the fury of James being so heartless.
"The baby, honey! You're carrying a baby!" he shot her a look then immediately soften his voice as he saw the look on his wife's face. "Dear, I would risk my onw life swimming over there to rescue them, and i'd hardly mind even if i die. Byt we shan't risk the baby." - his voice was firm.
"Now we shall go back and get help, alright?"
She nodded silently and clasped her arm around her stomach, as though to protect the little soul inside her. Joyce took another look at the family who was desperately holding on to the kayak. Her eyes met the little boy's and he looked sadly as they paddled away. That look, she knew she would never forget.
The rain was getting unbearably cold. Joyce huddled herself around her husband as he rowed furiously to shore.
"Help!!! Quick! There are people drowing over there! I need help!" - James yelled at the top of his voice and soon people came dashing towards them.
Her mind was whirling, her body trembling as the icy cold wind wrapped itself around her.
"Some one take her into shelter, hurry! The others, I need a rescue boat. They can't hang on much longer." - she heard him order .
As a kind lady came to help her back into the coffee shop to warm herself, Joyce turned around for one last look, and she wished she had not, for she saw the hungry water swallowed them up, one by one...
Clasping one of her arms around her stomach, Joyce passed out.
***
"When I woke up," Joyce continued," I found James beside me. His eyes were grave and immediately I knew something was wrong.
" 'What happened, James?' I asked, shaking his arm like a kid asking for his mother. 'Oh James... the family with the blue-eyed kids... do tell me they're alright, are they not, James?'
"He never answered, and I knew. If only I had not been so selfish,thinking about myself, if only i had been firm with James and asked him to go back! But no, I had not.... and forever these will just be "if only"s."- she paused, tears were brimming in her eyes.
Wiping away the tears, Joyce looked at Joanna tenderly.
"Joanna dear, " she said. "I have told you the most shameful story of my life, and i sincerely hope that you would not make such a mistake I did." she said slowly, looking out of the window.
"Joanna, would you please buy me a basket full of apples please?"- Joyce asked.
"Why, of course, mom!" - she replied, astonished by her mom's sudden change of subject.
Joanna rushed to buy what Joyce had asked, when she reached home again, she found her mom lying back with her head turned to the sky, and the light that filtered through the window fell upon her face.
A lone tear slowly formed in Joanna's eyes, to brim over and flowed down her cheeks, she knew then that her mother had embarked on a new journey, of her own.
Somewhere outside, beyond the window pane, Joanna thought she heard the waves, whispering softly, telling the story of a woman...
that was actually really nice. loved the setting and feeling, but i found everything a bit too short and lacking in detail. other than that... hope to see you round here!