Swim Away The Continuance

Swim Away

The Continuance

Tom Edwards

Copyright ©2017 by Tom Edwards

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. Please do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 1

A naked body lay parching in the sun. Floating along the currents of the sea to some unknown destination. The cheap dollar store float blending in with the blue water. The girl on the float had long since lost consciousness.

Small fish hung close under the shade of the float. Sharks came and went out of curiosity; looking for opportunity. Shelly Williams would die here, parched by the sun like a piece of jerky, if she was not found soon.

It’s not likely that she will fall off and become food for the sea. She lay stiff and straight as if a mortician had laid her there. One of her last conscious moves was to lock her fingers across her belly. Her fear of the sharks that swam below was so strong that her fingers had remained locked even as she lost consciousness.

Her legs were also crossed. The only plan that she could come up with was not to draw any attention from the sharks. As she baked in the sun, she remained stiff as a board and would lay there and simply die rather than be eaten alive.

*****

Sam had been swimming for three days with very little rest. He had found a small piece of styrofoam board. Placing it under the small of his back, he could float and managed to get some sleep. Yet he was tiring from his monotonous task of swimming across the open blue water.

Endlessly dodging jellyfish until he became lack and paid the price. Fending off occasional remoras that wanted a free ride. A curious shark would sometimes cruise by and of course dodging all the ships and boats. He had no idea there would be so much traffic at sea.

Sam could easily avoid detection. His year or two or three, of living in the sea had enabled him to hold his breath for many minutes. He really didn’t know exactly how long it had been. Time, he found, was of little importance when you lived in the sea. He could cover long distances underwater and surfacing with only his face exposed to breath. If someone was close enough to catch a glimpse of him, he would be long gone and no one would really know what they had seen.

Food had been scarce. Lying motionless in the floating grass lines that he came upon, he soon learned to catch a few sea robins. Eating these raw had sustained him with much needed nutrition and water that was in the fishes meat also.

His destination was east, the Bahamas Islands. He had memorized the maps back long ago and knew that the currents would try to sweep him north as he rounded the tip of Florida. By reading the stars at night and watching the sun rise and set, he kept his bearings. During the middle of the day, he could only guess which direction he traveled by the direction of the prevailing wind.

He knew the currents were moving as they always did, but without a stationary object, there was no determining this direction. Trying to compensate for the currents, he would swim south and east at night. Knowing that if he missed the islands, the currents would carry him into the cold north Atlantic.

Sam really didn’t care whether he arrived at the north or south of the Bahamas. Just finding some part of the islands would allow him to get his bearings and he wanted to be out of the deep blue. He longed to stand on some sand, to eat some crab, shrimp, or lobster roasted over a fire. The flying fish weren’t bad and he was thankful for them, but he yearned for more.

He missed CAT and wondered how he was making it. There was no one to talk to out here. He had buried CAT back in his grave on his island in the Dry Tortugas and felt bad that CAT could no longer gaze at the stars at night. It would have been nice if CAT had accompanied him, but his bones were too fragile and would have ended up strewn across the sea.

Sam had expected to see dolphins, but as yet, none had appeared. He enjoyed playing with the dolphins and their company would have made this journey less burdensome.

No big sharks either, which was ok with Sam. He had learned to deal with sharks. They were fascinating creatures and the secret, it seemed, was to not give the appearance that you were food. Of course there are exceptions to the rule. As in the case of the big hammerhead who had left his mark on Sam and would have eaten him. He was the big kid on the block and Sam just happened to be in his territory. The scar on his arm was a constant reminder that at sea, death is always close at hand.

Sam accepted this with no regrets. Civilization had been cruel and had almost caused him to take his own life. That was the point at which he made his decision to swim away.

The hammerhead had not attacked him because he had a deformed face. It was the law of the sea, Eat or be Eaten. Sam didn’t fault the shark for attacking him. He simply killed him to survive. This being the endless cycle of the sea. If you live in the sea, you live by this law.

Sam spat out the tiny bones of the Sea Robin. He had lain in the grass line all day catching his lunch and occasionally dozing off. Most of his rest came throughout the middle of the day. As the sun started setting, he took his bearings and headed southeast.

*****

Shelly and five of her friends had taken Michelle’s father’s boat out from Key West. Michele, at twenty-five, had piloted this boat many times on fishing trips with her father. Today the girls will go out and have some fun.

Several bottles of rum later, they all hit the water except Shelly. She really didn’t like the idea of swimming out here. There was no land in sight and only God knows what could come out of the depths to eat you.

Come on Shelly! Don’t be a wuss! Michelle called out to her and then took her top off with a very mischievous grin. She twirled it around her head before tossing it into the boat. The other girls laughed and began shedding their suits as well.

Now all the girls were laughing, yelling, and calling for Shelly to get into the water. A wet bikini bottom hit Shelly in the chest. She laughed as she looked down at her five very drunk and very naked friends.

I don’t want to swim she lied as she wiped sweat from her brow. God it is hot. The water does look good.

Come on Shelly. Did you forget to ask your Mommy? prodded one of her other friends.

That’s it! Shelly returned as she grabbed a life jacket and started to jump in.

No! No! No! Not with a life jacket and not with those clothes on! Michelle called. Shelly stopped dead in her tracks just before bailing off the deck. One of the girls started humming a strip song and the other girls laughingly joined in.

Alright! Is this what you want? Shelly started unbuttoning her cover up as the girls whooped and hollered. Shelly reached around and grabbed the bottle of rum. Taking a big hit, she unbuttoned the remaining buttons, twirled it around over her head and took another hit of rum.

Oh yeah baby! Take it off! The girls grew louder. Shelly unbuttoned and wiggled out of her shorts. One more hit. She grabbed the bottle of rum and turned it up. The crowd grew rowdy and called for more.

Ok, I’ll give you more. Shelly freed her boobs, much to the enjoyment of her audience. Then pulled her bottoms down and mooned the girls. The rum had kicked in. She let the bottoms fall to the deck.

I’m naked! This feels good. The exhilaration of being naked out in the open hit her and she liked it. Grabbing the bottle, she drained the last few drops and jumped in with the empty bottle.

God this feels good. She plunged down into the clear blue water. Opening her eyes to a myriad of naked bodies treading water. She smiled as she popped back up to the surface.

The girls carried on until the rum started to wear on them. They started climbing back into the boat one by one.

Throw me a float. Shelly called. She was tiring of treading water, the rum bottle that she still held was very little help. The contents of the bottle being the main reason she was in the water. Michelle tossed her a cheap blue float.

Thanks. Shelly smiled.

Least I could do after the show you put on! Michelle smiled back at her.

Climbing up on the float, Shelly turned her buttocks to the sky. The sun felt good on her naked body. She soon rolled over to give her front side a little shine. Just the experience of being totally naked, the energy from the sun pouring in every pore of her body, was a new and welcome experience.

The other girls had grown quite and were scattered over the deck in various places. Their minds dulled by the rum and their still naked bodies relaxed by the sun. One by one they drifted off to sleep.

Shelly hadn’t noticed that everything had quieted down. Her mind and body was in a state of utopia. This was the closest she had ever been to meditating. She absorbed the warmth of the sun and the wind cooled her naked body, she tingled all over.

I feel so good! Naked and floating in the sea. What would Mom think? A smile lined her lips as she had images of her mother’s distain of her nudity. Mom, you would like this yourself. There is nothing wrong with being naked. I was born naked. God intended for us to be naked until Eve screwed all that up. What was she thinking? Shelly traveled in her mind through the Garden of Eden openly, not ashamed, but proud of her nakedness. While her Mom followed constantly trying to cover herself. You are just like Eve, Mom. I would never have messed this place up.

Rum, utopia, meditation, and nakedness had carried Shelly to a place she had never been before. All thoughts of reality set aside as she soaked up the sunshine, was caressed by the wind and traveled through this new universe in her mind. More relaxed than she had ever been, her last conscious thoughts were of her Mom talking to the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The serpent’s sly tongue working it’s magic on her. She is going to sell us out. Then Shelly was out.

Chapter 2

Sam lay on his back in a floating grass line. The styrofoam board placed under the small of his back enabled him to relax and even sleep.

How long has it been? Four or five days? Should be getting close to the islands. Don’t know how much longer I can take this. I didn’t miss the islands, go too far north did I? Couldn’t have. I have been swimming east and south. Surely the currents haven’t carried me that far north.

Something nudged Sam’s leg. He quickly rolled over, putting his face in the water. He saw the shark and then another one and another. Not a huge shark, but big, maybe eight or ten feet long. One of them had nudged his leg hanging down from the grass line. Just to see if it could be food.

The texture or the electrical energy from his leg must have been convincing. The shark was coming back for a taste test. Sam quickly discouraged this with a jab from the point of his long spear. The shark got the message and swam off with the others following.

Sam grinned. How many times has this spear saved me? He carried two. The long one was always at hand and a short one he kept fastened to his shorts with a lanyard. It didn’t take long after he had swam away from land, to live in the sea, to realize that he needed the spears to survive. He had the scars to verify this.

Every creature of the sea had teeth, spines, pinchers, horns, armor plated scales or some other kind of defense. Those that had little or no defense were mostly food for the toothy crowd. Sam had learned and adapted well. He didn’t fear the sharks, but knew that they had to be dealt with.

Sam noticed more sharks in the area. This is not good. I won’t be able to sleep with these guys around. If one of them bite my leg, I’m done for. Out in this open water, bleeding? It would be my time to contribute to the food chain. When that time comes, it comes, but I am not ready yet. There is too much more that I want to see. Why are all these sharks here? Maybe I am getting close to the islands. God I hope so. I need to rest and there will be no rest now.

Since there was going to be no rest, Sam took his best guess at southeast. He had a growing fear that the currents were taking him much farther north than anticipated. Since there was no resting, he swam.

*****

Something woke Shelly. Her consciousness slowly returned. The empty bottle of rum was violently snatched from her hand. She had clung to the bottle this whole time for some reason. Even as it dangled in the water, she had retained her grip. Now something had taken it from her. She opened her eyes in a panic.

She was naked on a float. Frantically looking around; where was the boat? The bottle popped back to the surface five feet from the float. Two fins appeared from opposite directions and exploded on the bottle.

Shelly screamed as she was soaked from the terrible slashing around in the water. The bottle popped back up and started slowly drifting away. The sharks had determined it inedible. Now they passed under the float back and forth, occasionally a fin or tail brushing the float.

Shelly covered her mouth with her trembling hands. Go away. Please go away. She controlled her panic with fear. Yes she was freaking out, but not so much as to bail off of the float into the water with hungry sharks.

Just be quite. Be still. They will go away if I will be still. Her eyes closed as though she could remove herself from this situation by keeping them tightly closed. Go away. Lay still. Where is the boat? Her eyes popped wide open.

Moving her eyes only, she looked around for the boat. It’s gone! No, maybe it is behind me. She started moving her hands toward the water to turn the float around. A wake formed as a dark shadow passed under the float.

She gasped for breath and pulled her hands back away from the edge of the float. Her eyes once again so tightly shut that it hurt. Oh my God, oh my God. She breathed and tried to calm down. You have to look behind you.

Forcing herself to open her eyes, she slowly arched her neck and tried to see over her head. This didn’t work. You’ve got to roll over. Ever so gently, she rolled onto her side and slowly cut her eyes. There was no boat! Panic hit her once again and heavy breathing. Small ripples moved across the water as her whole body trembled.

Immediately another shark brushed the bottom of the float and then another. Be still, just be still. Her heart was racing as she struggled to control her heavy breathing. Another shark passed under the float. This time she felt the hardness of his fin through the float as it passed across the small of her back.

She tightened up, but dare not move. Be still, be still, be still. Another shark appeared at the bottom of the float. Something touched her foot. She quickly crossed her feet to keep them away from the edge. Then thinking about her hands, she locked her fingers tightly and lay them on her stomach.

Complete terror had seized her. Be still, be still, be still. Don’t move. She lay motionless. Her fear enabling her mind to command her body to do the next to impossible. Don’t move. This tactic worked. The sharks eventually moved on, but Shelly remained locked in fear. There was no movement except that of her breathing. And this was very slight as she finally controlled her breathing. Don’t move.

After a couple of hours, she calmed down enough to think rationally. Where is the boat? I fell asleep. They will come looking for me. Michelle will know how to find me. But they might not find me. Where will I drift to? I could drift for days and die.

She started to raise up and look around, but stopped herself and only moved her eyes. Be still. The sun had been baking her, but it was going down now. The air was beginning to cool. Soon it would be dark.

Shelly had been so frightened that she hadn’t even noticed the sun baking her skin. But now as darkness came and the air cooled, she felt the tingling of her sunburned skin. It also brought new thoughts of sea monsters that could devour her in the night.

I have to pee. Don’t move. I have to pee. I can’t pee on myself. Yes I can, I have to. She held it as long as she could and finally had to release. It’s warm, it feels like hot bath water. It puddled in the trough formed by her crossed legs. Then spilled over her thighs and onto the float.

Will the sharks smell it? Oh no, they will come back! She tried shutting it off in mid stream, but it was finished. She squeezed her legs tightly together to prevent anymore of the pee from escaping.

How did this ever happen? I’m laying naked on a float in the middle of the ocean. I just peed on myself. This is impossible. This can’t be happening to me. I don’t even like being in the water. Now it is dark and they will never find me! Something bumped into the bottom of the float.

She had been looking up at the stars, but once again tightly closed her eyes. Be still. Don’t move. Repeating this over and over in her head seemed to bring some mental relief. Otherwise she would have gone completely mad. She was in a battle of a lifetime to survive and survival instincts can push you to limits that you never knew existed.

The night was long and sleepless. There were no more visits from sea monsters, except the ones conjured up in Shelly’s head. The sun was coming up. Thank God! Shelly was shaking uncontrollably. Her body temperature had dropped considerably overnight. As the sun rose, there seemed to be a calmness to the sea. Her shivering stopped as the sun warmed her body.

God this feels so good. The pee had drained from between her legs so she uncrossed them and unlocked her fingers as the warmth soaked through her body. Stretching, she put her hands behind her head. She was stiff and ached, but the warm sunlight was helping.

They will find me today. They have to find me today. I’m thirsty. She parted her lips and noticed that her tongue was sticking to the roof of her mouth. I need water. They will come today. I will never get in the water again, never.

Raising her head, she surveyed her body. She was red, painfully red. The lily white skin that was usually covered by her bikini was fried. Small blisters were already forming on her skin. She ran her hand over one of her breast. The pain was excruciating. The sun was rising in the sky.

A fin appeared not twenty feet from her on the calm waters. Shelly quickly crossed her legs, locked her fingers together, and tightly squeezed her eyes shut. They’re back! Be still. Michelle, I need you!

Chapter 3

Michelle opened her eyes. She had passed out in the captain’s chair of the Wind Song. Rising to her feet, she swayed and began rubbing her temples.

God, my head hurts. Attempting to focus, she