The Boat

“I’m afraid of water”, Juliet said nervously as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, hair weave blowing in her face.

“You will absolutely love it. Imagine a boat, music, booze and such great company you will not even realise you are on the water.” Charles was smiling suggestively, charmed by her apprehension but unwilling to take no for an answer. He loved the way the sunflower yellow blouse exposed her shoulders and her midriff, only for her floral palazzo pants to hide away the rest of her shapely body. He liked her. A lot. He knew it and she knew it.

“How long will it take? And I mean from start to finish.” She was biting her perfectly polished nails, weave now tucked behind her left ear. He slipped an arm around her slightly chubby waist and drew her close, stopping her just as her forehead touched his chin. “It will be alright. I have got you.”

“Okay…” she breathed her uncertainty into his neck and then rested her cheek on his chest. Ten minutes later they arrived at the buzzing landing site where an excited throng of people danced to music blaring out of an unbalanced speaker. Charles immediately spotted his friends and led Juliet to them. In no time she was laughing, clearly at ease and with a strong cocktail in a seemingly innocuous plastic cup. The boat set off late but even then it was an hour before it registered in her mind that there was no land in sight. Juliet was tipsy, aided in no small part by the oppressive heat. Even so, she was laughing so loudly that her past fears seemed a figment of her own imagination. Charles was just that much more handsome in orange and she could have sworn she had swooned just looking at him. But it was not swooning as much as it was the boat actually rocking. A few shocked gasps stole through the crowd, many drinks were spilled as confusion danced all over the faces of the people closest to her.

“D..d..d..id you feel that?” A girl in ripped jeans slurred her question. Juliet did not get to respond. She felt her body fly to one side and tasted the blood in her mouth before her mind registered what had happened. She felt the cold water cover her entire right side, a million fireworks crackling in her head at the same time. Horrified screams drowned out her own thoughts. A man in white shorts fell close to her, an ominous crack sound announcing the meeting of his head and the same railing that had drawn blood from her. Had she blinked she would have missed it but somewhere in the water, too far for her to reach, she saw the same orange tshirt glide ably away, bare arms glistening where the sun touched them as they expertly cut through the water.

‘Jesus, please. Not like this.’ Just then, the murky green lake embraced her.