"Oh come on! A little extra luck would've been nice you know?" Laura yelled out over the storm. Her boat had stranded about 200 metres from her destination. The storm prevented her from seeing anything else then the island and the lighthouse. The lighthouse itself didn't work anymore, and big rainclouds prevented any moonlight of coming through. "Of course!" Laura ducked back into the safety of her cabin and started throwing bags around. "Come on, it's here somewhere…There!" Pinned against the wall of the cabin was a flare gun with three cartridges. "This ought to do it." She said, climbing back outside, only to return instantly. "We better stay safe now; we wouldn't want anything to happen." She grinned, strapping on a life jacket. Back outside Laura checked that she wouldn't hit any of the mast poles or worse, the sails. Even though they where made of a special fabric and drenched from the storm she couldn't take any chances. To make things even harder the boat wasn't exactly lying still. With one eye shut she squeezed the trigger. The kickback of the gun surprised her and Laura fell backwards against the mast, hitting her head. "Ah fuck! Enough already!" Swallowing her tears she crawled back up. The flare did the trick though, and 30 metres above the sailing boat the flare exploded, bathing the surroundings in a bright red glow. She could now clearly see a set of stairs going up the island. The water on the stairs reflected the red glow of the flare and burned in Laura's eyes renewing her hope. Suddenly through the crashing of the sea she heard something.
"Is…out…? Hello! … Someone…there!" It couldn't be! Laura's eyes raced from spot to spot trying to find where the voice was coming from. "Hello! …out there!" The rain had stopped, but the wind was still raging on. How could she be sure what she was hearing? A flare. She needed another flare, she had to see more! Pushing another cartridge in the gun she readied herself. At the same moment a wave crashed against the boat, tilting it sideways. Laura lost her grip and slid down only to be stopped by the railing of the boat. The flare bounced off one of the rocks and went straight in the water. The voice continued to shout, though only fragments reached Laura's ears. While sliding down she hit her head for a second time and everything was spinning. "I can't give up now." She thought. "That voice who calls for me doesn't give up, so neither can I!" Careful not to lose her grip she climbed back up and pressed herself to the mast and grabbed one of the ropes holding the sails. "No mistakes now." For the third and last time she fired the gun. A perfect shot. The flare flew all the way to the island and exploded right over it. It was the last thing Laura saw before passing out.
It was an ordinary day for Tom Murray. His job was nearly done, he only had to get his bathysphere in the docks and he could go home. If it weren't for the girl. Tom was always looking to impress the ladies and one of the advantages of being a bathysphere pilot was the easy transportation. He could get them anywhere, anytime. Only this time, the girl in particular had a rather daring request. "Topside? You've got to be kidding me!" Tom said surprised. It wasn't impossible, Tom had done it once before. It wasn't a pleasant sight though: cold, gray, windy and most of the time it was raining. He preferred staying below the surface. At least there the weather was fine. But if he was going to impress this little lady, he was going to have to get her on the surface. "Fine, you're on. But we can't stay there for too long you know." Turning off all communications, the bathysphere started to make its way upwards. "Attention passengers, terminal reached! You may now move freely and exit the vehicle. We hope your journey was to your satisfaction." Tom said smiling and giving his date a wink. The building was a bit worn down and the statue of founder Andrew Ryan in front of the door was crumbling down. The big metal door was firmly shut, almost looking cocky at Tom. It wasn't an easy thing to open it, but one look at his date who was looking anxiously at him, Tom didn't doubt for a minute. Using his weight the door opened up and immediately let in a chilly breeze from outside. Slipping past an exhausted Tom, the girl rushed outside, only to stop almost right again. He went up behind her and gave the girl a kiss in the neck, Tom asked: "So, what do you think, impressive right?"
"One might call it that way, sure." Tom's date said rather disappointed. What do you mean, isn't it…" Tom choked. He saw what she meant; the sea was running wild, splashing up high on the rocks. There was no rain, but the wind was howling in their ears. It sure was impressive, but you could hardly call it romantic… A violent thunderclap startled the pair causing the girl to flee in the arms of Tom. But he wasn't paying attention to it. For a moment he thought to have seen a red flash. But it couldn't be. Who would go out in a night like this? And besides, they where in the middle of the ocean! A smack on his shoulder broke his line of thought. "Hey! I asked you something you know?" Tom's date said furiously. "Wait, what? Oh, I'm sorry, what did you say?" "I said, let's go back inside yeah? I'm scared. And cold." "Ok, but...Ok, why don't you go on ahead, I have to check something out… You could, like, go warm up in the bathy alright?" Before his date could say anything else they got interrupted. Both startled, they flinched. There had been a loud bang close to them, but this was no thunder. Only a few metres above their heads a flare had exploded.