Lindsay felt like she was trapped, being stranded in the middle of the Pacific was not exactly a lifelong dream of hers. In the midst of shark, whale, and bass fish Lindsay was the most feared predator. She always had violent tendencies and wasn’t exactly the best to work with. Her sister, Melissa, had found herself dragged along for the ride.   Lindsay time after time found herself shouting at Melissa,“ Help me out Melly you lazy sack of crap”! Melissa ignored her. Melissa layed against the rowboat, perhaps counting stars. Lindsay rowed with a steel oar. She had surpassed the point of exhaustion and her veins wrapped around her thin arms like barbed wire. She was dying to stay alive.

               Two days now had passed that the two had been lost at sea. Melissa had stopped responding, she grew apathetic, Lindsay thought. She was basically on her own it seemed, she was now responsible for having to work hard enough for the both of them. Well she had always been. Lindsay’s opinion was that Melissa was too weak for this insensitive world. Melissa had always been the spoiled younger sibling who always has her way. Lindsay did not get to go to the One direction concert because she had to spend the Saturday night addressing Melissa’s whims.

               Waves tossed and turned like a sleepless dreamer. An eternity at sea is enough to bring two sisters together, but this was not the case. Lindsay was enraged, here they were dying and Melissa lay helplessly; never acknowledging her sister. Lindsay tried to paddle north, or south. She just wanted to reach land. Lindsay couldn’t picture how amphibious creatures dedicate most of their time to water, when land was so concrete and so structured. Water is abstract and there is no shape. Her watch had been swallowed by the sea; fishes cannot tell time so the hour was lost. Lindsay knew that it had been two days though; She watched the moon and she watched the sun, both forever feuding.

               Lightning struck. Lindsay thought why god chose them to try to survive this. She felt like Noah. Lindsay sat with her back to her sister’s as she attempted to paddle. She had taken naps but always found her self awaken by the roars of the sea. She was too young to mimic the odyssey. The two belonged with their family. Their neglectful family were the only ones in the world who had any type of love for them. This was a major conflict; an internal conflict that subconsciously rules one’s life. The type of conflict that cannot be solved by a normal doctor, or a priest, or a social worker. This family acted more like bad friends.

               Lindsay held her sister in her arms, kissing her forehead, caressing her neck. She truly loved her sister. So much that it killed her. Melissa’s head slumped on Lindsay’s neck as she looked passed her into the abyss. The horizon was decked with stars, like a bowling alley. Lindsay laughed and laughed hysterically. Tears fell as she realized that they might never reach shore. She felt abandoned and she felt lost and she felt scared but somehow could not pinpoint her emotion.

                The thunders grew louder. Louder. Even louder.  The thunder was actually banging. Banging could be heard in the distance. Aggressive intruders entered the room. Three officers walked in and occupied the vicinity like Swat troops, securing the premises. Blood drenched the bed and Lindsay could be seen clinging on to Melissa’s lifeless body. Two concerned adults could barely speak. They were like Pinocchio, who all of a sudden had become real. A woman broke into tears “ Lindsay, why!?”. The Ocean became still.

Seatime – by Byron Otis