Adrift

By Rich Cole

Life takes an unusual turn for a man when he wakes up floating in the middle of the ocean with the sun scorching his skin intensely.
He could vaguely recall an explosion on his ship, but now, he's without food or clothing, just drifting about.
He spends the rest of the day searching for land, battling the ocean, and hoping to find someone who was also aboard the ship. 
Nonetheless, sometimes our wishes are the cause of our greatest doom and journeys upon the ocean aren't always what they appear to be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seagull Editions
• Release date: May 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223105114

Book preview

ADRIFT

© 2021 Seagull Editions s.r.l.

www.seagulleditions.com

CHAPTER ONE

It was a weird feeling. It felt like one of those moments where you are half awake yet half asleep. I could feel myself waking like I was slowly being dragged from a world where dead men called their home. I had the sense of awakening but my body felt like lead. My eyelids were too heavy and my limbs too weak.

With my eyes still closed, I tried to ensure that I was breathing. Taking two deep breaths, I could feel my lungs filling up and then emptying. The air seemed fresh and for some reason, gave a satisfactory sense of calm. Then the sense of panic began to cripple in like a group of worms crawling all over your skin. I didn't feel held. I didn't feel supported. It was a strange feeling, like one who was held in the air by a pair of wings that were not his own. I felt like I was just there in mid-air floating lightly and yet on the verge of falling and ripping my skull apart.

Slowly, my brain regained control over my body and I could finally move. Lifting my eyelids felt like lifting a truckload of stones. I could feel a thick line of mucus, glueing my lashes to my skin. It was probably minutes of the struggle but felt like three hours had passed. Opening my eyes, sharp pain from the sun's rays had me shutting them back almost immediately.

What on earth was going on? Why was I outside? Why could I see the sun? My brain in five seconds or less tried to imagine that it was probably the light from my bedroom window but nothing hurt to try again. Opening my eyes once again, the pain struck. I shut them again and squeezed hard.

I had learnt my lesson. This time, I opened my eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the light. The rays still caused me to feel some pain but it wasn't as awful as I had expected it would be.

Adjusting my eyes to the light, I looked ahead and stared at the sky. I was out in the open. I tried not to panic or scream. Why was I out in the open? From where I lay down, I could see an entire expanse of space. There was nothing for miles. Confusion stirred within me and I tried to lay calm. Turning my head, there was equally nothing. Just emptiness.

At first, it didn't feel like the familiar feeling of panic. Rather it felt like I was in a world that was not my own. I took a couple of deep breaths and tried to calm myself but I felt the panic rising with every inhalation. Where on earth was I? My mind felt too weak and lazy to conduct any further investigations. I only looked ahead and noted how empty the expanse around me was. The sunlight burned. It felt like its ultimate goal was to turn my skin into some sort of coal and leave me screaming at the top of my voice. I swallowed and tried to think constructively but I just couldn't.

Several wild thoughts danced in my head and threatened to spike the dose of panic that flooded my brain as I regained consciousness. I sighed and closed my eyes once again. Perhaps it was a dream and when I woke up, I would be back in my bedroom and none of these would be happening.

I closed my eyes for a couple of minutes and tried to remind myself that I was dreaming. It felt surreal. Somehow I fell asleep and dreamt of a weird looking place. I stood on a platform but I was alone. It seemed as though there were people beneath me but they could neither see nor hear me. I struggled and screamed at the top of my voice to get their attention but I failed woefully. No matter what I did, they could care less. I sighed and continued in my struggle. I was still straining my vocal cords when I returned to consciousness.

I didn't open my eyes immediately. Instead, I let myself sink in the awareness that I was awake. Why did I feel weird? Like I was floating on some surface. I tried to feel the soft feel of a mattress but my hands met strong hardwood. My eyes flung open and I immediately regretted it. The sunlight caused me to experience a certain ache that I could not explain. I waited for a while then opened them slowly. This time they hurt but not as sharply as they had when I just flung them open and exposed them to the sunlight.

I looked ahead and still saw the expanse. Nothing, just the sky and emptiness. What was going on? Why wasn't I in a room? My room? Why was I out here in the open? Why did it seem like I could see water? Why was the sun shining that bright? I swallowed and tried to recall exactly what was going on but nothing came to mind. Turning around, the image before me caused my heart to stop. I quickly shut my eyes back and laid my head on the surface.

Where on earth was I? Why was I out in the open? Why could I see the sun? It was at that moment that I panicked. It felt like in that single moment, it hit me that I wasn't in my bedroom. Consciousness hit me and I flipped. Struggling to stand up, I rolled over and dunk my leg into cold water. I shivered and hurriedly pulled it up towards the weird-looking board that most of my body lay on. Grabbing the edges of the board, I struggled to regain balance and not fall completely into the water.

After some moments of struggling, I lay panting for a while, struggling to regain my breath. I closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. What was going on? Why was I outside? Flinging my eyes open, I  tried to re-access my environment. I looked around and I was totally and completely alone. I could hear the sound of the water moving below me. I sat on a wooden relic. It seemed just about ten feet in width and length. I tried not to panic with the waves of confusion that swirled in my mind.

My heart beat an erratic tattoo against my chest. I was outside and alone on the water! How would I get out? I was on a board with no food or clothing, save for the pair of...

Casting my eyes to my body, I observed that I wore a shirt that seemed badly torn. It was grey and my pants were a navy blue color. It seemed distressed like it had been wet and then dried off on my flesh.

How on earth had I gotten here in the first place? I closed my eyes and tried to recall getting anywhere near the ocean but no memory came. How have I gotten here? Who was I? Then a strange thought made its way into my mind, trying to erupt some fear and panic,

Sharks!

The one word sent my mind ablaze with thoughts of horror. I looked around manically, waiting to hear sounds of animals perhaps or something rushing towards me from beneath the water. However, I heard nothing. Just the silence patiently mocking me.  I looked far into the distance trying to calm my nerves and at that moment a picture flashed before my eyes.

It seemed like I was on the deck of a ship with a host of other men clothed in navy blue. It seemed like it was noon. I looked around me, with panic in my eyes.

I froze. It seemed like a memory. Was I on a ship? Had I been on a ship? Why could I not seem to recall anything? How come I couldn't even tell where I was? I paused and tried to let that memory form in my mind. It felt like holding onto the tip of a thread that dangled teasingly before your eyes. Looking long and hard into the distance, the memory came back in bits and pieces. I had been on a ship with several other men. I could recall moments where I was there with them. However, after that, the light seemed to go out and I was left with an overwhelming feeling of darkness.

I sighed and turned around. The loneliness seemed to cave in. Like I was slowly being folded into a corner by an overwhelming sense of being alone. I could not even recall who I was and where I was or where I had been rather. My head pounded slowly at the base of my skull. It felt like I was having a migraine. Turning towards my left, I bent and stared at the deep blue. The water