-
The steady rumble of the diesel engines
filled the air as I prepared for a new adventure. Over the hull was expensive
blue abyss that was the ocean. Faded black lettering on the green hull read,
“Ms Thunchble.” White foam cups formed on the small waves as the 60-foot
trawler glided with ease. The Pacific Ocean awaited myself, twenty unfamiliar
faces and a person I knew but did not associate with. Four training sessions
replayed over in my mind, preparing myself for the worst and aiding my fishing
technique.
-
“Prepare the nets. Its fishing time.”
Yelled the skipper. His voice barely audible over the engines. Excited crew
dispatching anchors and water splashing up the great wooden mass. I tied,
pulled and untangled lines well into the night. Climbing arms and pulling
lines. Catching fish and putting them in 100 year old eskies that was home to a
fish, crab and shark, all living a happy dead life.
Dinner on board was well thought. It was fish and chips, as if the crew missed
FISH.
-
A guy my age turned to me.
“Why are you on board mate?”
“My dad sent my sister and myself on board
to promote love, or something, I don’t really know.”
“You have a sister?”
“Yeah, but we don’t speak. We don’t get
along. So why are you here?
“My parents just split up and my mum’s
boyfriend is a Nazi. He sent me on board. I don’t really know why.”
-
The remainder of the night was spent
sharing stories, playing games and eating fish and chips. As always, half the
crew would continually check the nets and catch fish to meet the quota. I laid
there in my uncomfortable bed when I heard a snap and yell. Everyone woke from
their uncomfortable slumbers as the cabins filled with frightened youth.
“Get up here. We are capsizing.” Yelled the
skipper as a blue light turned on with a continual alarm bell.
-
On deck, life rafts were being inflated and
lowered. Just as they were being lowered a surge of water took the rafts. The
boat was tilting more and more. The arm fell into the water and suddenly
everyone was in the water. I swam as fast as I could to the yellow circular
raft, struggling to get in I aided others in the raft without thinking,
everything was a blur.
-
I scanned the black surroundings and
couldn’t see my sister. I remembered all the times I said I hated her, the
times I was not there for her or her for me. Than I remembered the times she
was there for me; the times we laughed together and the things she did for me.
I realized I loved my sister, and she was a part of my life that I couldn’t
live without.
-
I sat in the raft and cried. All I could do
was cry. A rescue helicopter hovered above and everyone was silent, but their
happiness was obvious. The helicopter returned everyone on land where medical
attention was sought.
Just as I thought everyone was safe and well I received news that would brake
my heart. A police officer approached me with sincere.
-
“I’m sorry to tell you sir, but your sister was struck on the head from
large Debreu and drowned. She was dead on the scene and there was nothing we
could do.”
-
My heart stopped and everything was such a
blur. Couldn’t believe what I had just heard. I had to see her; I had to see
her bright bubbly face light up. It wasn’t until the police had walked me over
to her lifeless body to reveal reality. A part of my heart had died. I will
always remember the times of hatred that we had with each other. They were my
only memories of my sister. I will always remember the relationship we could
have shared together.
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