The Islands of Magic

The Boat Ride

Eric walked out onto the deck of the cruise ship.

"Amazing, I'm finally going," He thought.

"Eric!" called Jill.

"Oh, hi Jill," Eric said, smiling.

"Eric, would you like to go to the pool with us?" Jill asked as Jack, Eagle, and Tsuna walked up.

"Oh, uh sure, just let me get my swimsuit on." He replied, running to his room, which over looked the railing on the side of the boat.

As they arrived at the pool, they saw little kids running around, screaming and splashing water.

"Grumble Now what, we can't relax with all this!" Eagle complained.

Tsuna walked over to a lawn chair, shielding himself from the relentless

splashing.

"Argh, I can't listen to music here, my CD player'll get soaked." He complained as he sprinted back.

"So, uh, anybody want a slushie?" asked Jill. As Tsuna came to a stop.

"Sure," they all said in unison.

"The line's too long. I'm goin' over to get a snow cone." Tsuna remarked.

"Ok," said Eric.

They all went over to get their snacks; afterwards returning to their rooms to do some final deck drafting.

Once in his room, Eric took out his deck; he had a Green and Black deck. He thumbed through it, looking for a certain card. Suddenly the deck pitched sharply! Eric lost his hold on his cards as they went flying, scattering themselves all across the floor.

"What the," He wondered.

He walked outside to see what was going on; not even paying attention to his cards now lying on the wooden boards of his room. As he opened the door he noticed a peculiar smell.

"Sulfur," He said quietly to himself.

He opened the door all the way, looking left and right as more and more people opened their doors at the same time as him; most of them remarking about the strange smell lingering in the air. Although it was night, Eric could clearly see all of their faces. Two of them in particular stood out. Huddling close and shaking they looked nervously about them, as if searching for someone.

Eric walked over to them and asked, "Are you okay?"

"sniff It's me boy, he's been knocked unconscious by that awful shake." He said as he hugged a woman who Eric took to be his wife. "Can you help?"

"I'll see what I can do," He replied.

As Eric walked through the door he saw the boy lying on the bed. He was lying face up and had a blanket covering him. He looked to be about five or six and had brown, wavy hair which fell to just below his ears. His eyes were closed and he was breathing shallowly. As Eric walked over to the boy the ship pitched again; sending him sprawling onto the bed just below the boy's feet.

"Whew, that was close," Eric whispered.

He looked at the boy lying down and saw that he appeared red and faint. He looked around the room to see if there were any cloths or cold pads. He spied some pads sitting on a table next to a black purse. He grabbed one and unwrapped it quickly, setting it on the boy's head.

"Don't worry," Eric Whispered.

He walked out and told the couple to keep him from rolling and banging the wall when the ship rocks. "He should be fine then," He said.

He started walking towards the main dining area while holding onto the rail for support. The floor creaked below him as he continued across the deck. Once he got to the double doors the ship pitched again; this time sending Eric flying over the rails. He struggled to hang on as the wind swung him around. He was loosing his grip on the outside rails just as a wave splashed up against the side of the boat. Eric fell, yelling, into the dark abyss below.

He awoke several hours later, drifting on a broken plank. He was in a daze and couldn't move. He tried to move his head, but that sent waves of pain across his temples. He was looking straight up towards the sky. Seagulls were flying around loose formations.

He started thinking about what happened last night on the ship.

"Was it last night or have I been drifting longer?" He wondered.

He tried moving his head again; less pain struck him, but still too much to move. He decided to wait a few minutes and try again. He knew he needed to get to land, but if he couldn't move his head, then sure couldn't move his arms or legs.

He waited until he thought he could move and sat up. He slowly looked around him. All he saw was water; great expanses of water shown around him in all directions.

"But, I saw Seagulls," he thought, "Seagulls mean land."

As he pondered his eyes focused on something way out in the distance. It was a large black … thing … out in the distance; he though he could see movement, but it was too far away. He decided to check it out; he didn't have anything better to do. So he started paddling his beat up body towards the object in on the horizon.