A Disaster in Paradise

A Disaster in Paradise

                He thrashed and fought wildly in the water, trying desperately to get free. Finally, he was released. He couldn’t swim, and felt his body sinking to the bottom in a cloud of blood.

The night before, Paul sat at his dinner table in his hotel, staring at the empty seat across from him.

“Where is she?’ he thought sadly. Paul and his date, Alex, had agreed to meet at seven at the hotel restaurant. Minutes passed, and she was nowhere to be seen. Those minutes turned to hours eating away at Paul’s stomach, filling it with sadness. Finally, at eight, he gave up. He walked slowly up to his room, undressed, and climbed into bed.

                The next morning, he walked out onto the beach. Paul felt the cool, fresh Hawaiian breeze on his face, and smelled the faint scent of coconut on the air. He walked down the beach and spread his towel in an isolated place, away from other people. After what happened last night, he just wanted to be alone.

                Paul listened to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach as he sipped his pineapple juice. The sun steadily rose across the sky. He tried to tell himself that his only worry in the world was getting sunburned. Paul’s face became too hot, so he grabbed his surfboard and jogged into the clear Hawaiian water. Water splashed around his feet, scaring a striped fish away. Paul stopped before he got to the breaking point where the waves were mountains in front of him. He admired the clear water, a deeper, purer, blue than anything he had ever seen. The sun reflected off the water into his eyes.

                He dove through the waves and paddled effortlessly on his board to go catch a wave. He arrived at his spot, and waited. He waited for half an hour with no waves. Paul began to get cold, and he shivered. By then, he noticed that he had drifted out too far from shore, and he wasn’t sure that he would be able to get back. He wondered what he would do.

                As Paul started to panic, he noticed a gray fin snaking towards him. He climbed onto his surfboard to stay out of range of what he presumed was a shark. The shark hit the bottom of his board, and rocked Paul into the water, knocking the board away. Paul tried to stop shaking and calm down, but he couldn’t. The shark came closer, and Paul felt a sharp pain in his left leg.

                He was dragged underwater, thrashing at the shark and clawing at its eyes. Judging by the pressure in his ears, he was being pulled deeper and deeper. He fought wildly in the water, trying desperately to get free. Finally, he was released. He couldn’t swim, and felt his body sinking to the bottom in a cloud of blood.

                Through the red haze, he noticed another gray fin, and knew he was done. He closed his eyes and waited. When it hit from beneath, it was soft. The bite was gentle, this time, and it was tugging him towards the surface. He was beginning to lose focus, although he was able to recognize that the shape was different than that of a shark.  A dolphin had found him. With new hope, he sputtered for air at the surface, then hung on to the dolphin’s back as it swam toward shore faster than he had ever moved before. He flopped onto the beach and crawled up the sand, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He collapsed on his back and closed his eyes.

                When Paul woke up, he was in his bed at home in Arizona, miles from Hawaii. He was lying in a pool of sweat. He looked down at his leg, searching for the shark-inflicted bite marks. He found none. His wife Alex was in bed next to him, still sound asleep.

“What happened?” he wondered to himself. “Maybe it was all just a dream.” He lay awake in his bed for a while before falling back asleep. When he woke up in the morning, Alex had a surprise for him.

“We’re going to Hawaii!” she exclaimed with a smile.

     This story was an assignments based on music, and the ideas that we associate with it. A series of songs were played in the classroom, and we were to write a one paragraph story starter for each. I then chose this one to develop into a full story. The fifth paragraph contains a version of the original paragraph. I really like this story because it includes a flashback, develops the character, and is somewhat realistic. It shows creativity and a love for Hawaii, as shown by some of the positive descriptions included. Similar to many of my other stories, if I had time to revise it again, I would develop Paul's character further, and increase the timeline of the shark attack.