It was their second-to-last day of their cruise voyage and due to rough seas, they had not yet arrived at their island destination. The skies were clear this day, and the waves calmed somewhat. The captain announced that morning that he promised to get them to their destination today.

Len was laying on one of the open decks, working on a puzzle with a friend, Adrian, and her mother sat on a lounge chair in front of them. The sun shone down on them, basking them in warmth. They were on the bow of the boat, so there weren’t many other passengers around.

Another friend of hers, Clara, stood at the front railing of the bow, watching the clear, blue water pass by.

Suddenly, Clara circles behind her and Adrian, with a somewhat excited and scared look. Len and Adrian both looked up from their puzzle curiously at Clara.

“I’ve never been on a boat this fast,” she said. Len began to chuckle a bit because, being on cruise ships in the past, she knew they didn’t go noticeably fast and she thought Clara was overreacting. Len raised her head and looked up over the bow of the boat, noticing the waves becoming more haphazard, as the boat seemed to be rushing forward through the beautiful, clear, blue water. Len pushed herself up from the deck, sitting back on her knees to get a better look while Adrian raised his head to observe.

“This doesn’t look right,” Len said softly, and looked at Adrian. His face matched hers – a look of uneasiness, unsure of whether they were still safe. Clara ran to the right side of the deck and laid across a padded lounge chair, holding onto the railing of the bow to keep her safe. Clara still assumed everything was fine, being it her first time on a cruise.

However, the waves became more turbulent, the clear water under them becoming a blur as the ship raced through. The ship began to rock more unsteadily.

Len’s mom was now sitting up on her lounge chair, looking toward the bow, but not saying a word.

A strong ripple rocked the boat from its starboard side to its port side. Len’s eyes flared in panic as they were pushed closer towards the water.

Past them, a few passengers were jumping into the water as the ship’s starboard side edged higher over the port side. Adrian also seemed to be preparing to jump into the water as he got up slowly, attempting to gauge when swimming would be the last resort.

Len looked up and could see their island destination in view, parallel to their ship. It wasn’t far off. They could make it to the island should the ship overturn. There was only one problem…

“I can’t swim!” Len shouted in a panic at Adrian as he prepared to jump into the waters. The ship was being rocked stronger, threatening to be turned vertically any second. Gravity dragged Adrian and Len to the port side, closer to the water.

Adrian stood on the port’s railing, using it as a diving point. Adrian paused and looked back at Len as she shouted in his ear that she couldn’t swim. He motioned his head as if it to say, “Come on!” Len clasped her arms across Adrian’s chest, aligned her body with his, took a huge breath, and closed her eyes as Adrian leapt off the ship.

A second later, they hit the water together. Adrian propelled towards the island in front of them while Len held onto her hands tightly around Adrian, careful not to impede his movements. Len tried to pry her eyes open to see where they were going.

Just as her eyes were opening, stinging from the seawater —

She woke up.