It's Coming
Disclaimer: You can probably guess.
This takes place in England just before New York starts flooding.
Every one on the entire beach were just staring at the sea. The happy, noisy chatter of people enjoying a sunny Saturday at the seaside had been replaced by quiet, worried voices as we tried to take in what had just happened.
The sea had gone. Obviously the entire ocean had not just vanished without a trace. We could see the the edge of the water in the distance at the end of the newly elongated beach, but that must be the fastest I have ever seen the tide go out; it had never gone out that far before. There were still indents in the moist sand in front of me showing where the waves had pulled at it when they raced in. Some still had water in them. Children clad in brightly coloured swim suits had been left behind like beached fish when the water had made its hasty retreat. They now just stood like the rest of us wondering what on earth had happened.
Thousands of different explanations were racing through my mind, each more ridicules than the last. I could see no reason for what had just happened. Something had just taken the mighty ocean, strongest most powerful thing on the planet and pulled it out from the beach.
In my complete confusion and need for answers my memories turned to a Geography lesson I had been attempting to remain awake in not long before. My teacher had been at the front rattling of facts about natural disasters like stones bouncing off a tin roof when for some reason she suddenly stopped and asked me to repeat the last three facts; I think my yawning had something to do with it. Out of the three facts I had to repeat the only one that stuck in my mind was that when a tidal wave forms it pulls the water from the beach into it.
I will never forget the panic and terror that flooded through me when I realised what had happened. For some moments I just stood staring, almost petrified.
"What's got into you?" my mothers voice brought me back from my frantic thoughts. She must have seen how terrified I looked.
"We have to get every one off the beach. There's going to be a tidal wave." I spoke quickly and quietly, my voice just above a whisper as though talking too loud would make the wave come faster.
How I wish she had believed me instead of just telling me I was over reacting and there was nothing to worry about, telling me she was sure there was a perfectly reasonable explanation to the water going out like that. How I wish she had been right.
The beach life guard was as disbelieving as my mother, even though he too had no explanation to the sea's sudden exodus he was very sceptical about my tidal wave theory. Was I serious? A tidal wave, when had we last had one of those?
I tried reasoning, tried arguing, tried pleading but he still refused to clear the beach based on, what he called, a fanciful idea. I wanted to point out I had learnt it in a Geography lesson so it was likely to be true but I never got the chance; because that's when the screaming started. The beach was in an uproar; people were dropping everything in their mad dash to get of the beach, to simply get away. The life guard was staring over my shoulder out to sea, a look of utter shock and fear on his face. Turning around I was met with the sight of a gigantic wall of water headed straight for us.
Please tell me what you think!