wrote another story for the same competition ^^;... it's 1490 words long... so you have been warned... hope you enjoy it... =) tell me what you think...
WaterChristine threw her bag in and slowly climbed into the boat at the pier. Heaving a long and heavy sigh, she thought, “What a long and boring weekend this is going to be… Why did Mum have to agree to let him bring me here? I would have been much happier at summer school.”
Christine’s parents were divorced since she was one. Her mother had custody over her. So for the past fifteen years, all she had was her mother and maternal grandparents. Her father had visitation rights, but he barely or in fact, never used them till now. He was always too busy with his trading business to spend any time with her. He had missed all her birthdays, her first tooth, her first day of school and more. Why the sudden change of heart? Did he even love her? He had always been out of her life.
So here she was, at the secluded Lake Fallen, spending her summer fishing with her father. The area, she had to admit though, was simply stunning and captivating. The lake was surrounded by green, grassy hills with brightly-coloured flowers growing wildly, dancing gracefully with each passing breeze. A little cottage, where they would be staying, was at the foot of the hill with a little cobblestone pathway leading to the pier. It was as if the place had popped out of a painting.
“Christine? Are you listening to me?” Her father asked, interrupting her wandering thoughts, “You should put all the fishing gear and the cooler box here. We are going to catch dinner, understand? I’m sure you’ll like fishing at the end of this trip.”
“Yeah, whatever,” muttered Christine, rolling her eyes. When would this eternal summer ever end?
Her father tenderly gazed at her with a sad, forlorn look. How he regretted not being able to be there whenever she needed him. Words could never express how terrible he felt. He was at a loss at what to do with her, so he had suggested this fishing trip, hoping to be able to bond with her.
“Vroom… vroom…,” the engine roared to life. The boat left the pier, heading towards the middle of the lake. Sprays of cool water flew into the boat, landing on Christine’s face. It was very refreshing. The boat slowly sped away from land. What a great body of water this lake was, about one kilometre wide. It was just like that broad river of hatred that separated daughter from father, Christine thought; the very same one that he was trying to build a bridge over to join the two sides together again, after it had been swept away by the torrents of his business. Well it would not be that easy; thought Christine, promising herself that she would give him a hard time.
They reached the middle of the clear, deep and blue lake, and dropped anchor. The water was still and calm after the propellers stopped. Picking up one of the fishing rods and a worm, he asked her, “Do you know how to hook a worm? If not I won’t mind showing you how.”
She shook her head, pretending that she was interested. Then, he explained and showed her how, but she did not pay any attention to him. Her mind was busy wandering elsewhere. Why did people have to be so nasty to the poor worms, they were always used in fishing and either eaten or drowned as a result, thought Christine, what a cruel sport fishing was. Seeing she was not looking, he frowned with a tinge of sadness in his eyes.
Christine watched with disgust as he cast the line into the water, ‘plop’ went the bait. She could see the worm struggling for its dear life, creating many ripples on the surface. She wondered how was it that water could sustain a fish’s life, yet could coolly take that of a worm. People needed water for survival too, but water could come in the form of floods and tsunamis, taking precious lives away too.
A few seconds later, all was calm. The worm was dead. All that struggling for nothing, it still perished. The struggle though, had attracted the attention of a fish that was hiding at the bottom of the lake.
Soon, another struggle ensued, this time, between fish and the hook. How the fish fought for its life! Splashing water all over about, the fish was finally caught, after a long, hard fought battle with the hook. Christine’s father reeled in the remaining line and took the fish off. It was a dull-coloured middle-sized fish, dull to be able to hide from its predators at the bottom of the lake, just like how she wanted to hide from those who taunted her because of her father’s absence all these years.
“Well, now that you know how it goes, would you like to try your hand at it too, Christine?” asked her father kindly.
“Go ahead and fish yourself! I rather read my book!” replied Christine curtly, taking out a book from her bag.
Her father continued fishing on his own, disappointed. However, he could not blame her as he knew that she was hurt and angry at what he had done so many years ago. All the hurts and resentment were buried deep inside her heart.
Time flew by very quickly, but no one realised it. Father was too preoccupied fishing for dinner and daughter too engrossed in her book, to notice the dark clouds that rolled so suddenly and silently by.
All of a sudden, without any warning, a bright flash of lightning was seen and a loud clap of thunder was heard. He noticed how dark it was...
“We should get back to shore now. It’s getting very dark,” Father said with a worried tone, “I mean, who knows what will happen if we continue to stay here?”
Christine ignored him and continued reading; she wanted nothing to do with him. He hurriedly brought up the anchor and started the engine. It sputtered then died out. He tried again, but the engine simply refused to start just as giant raindrops began to pelt them. Strong gusts of wind blew and howled. Christine finally looked up. How dark and cold it was…
Beside them, the black water was churning, and a mini whirlpool formed. Christine stared at the water. She stared and stared, thinking how peaceful and calm it was as it grew and grew in size. Suddenly, she lost her balance and fell overboard. The last thing she remembered was her struggle for dear life, and then everything went black …
Seeing that Christine had fallen overboard, her father swiftly dove in to rescue her. He had already lost her once and he promised himself that he would not lose her again. It was very hard. The current got stronger and more powerful with each passing second due to the high-speed winds, and the water became darker and murkier, making it harder to find and grab her. Overcoming all these, he managed to grasp his unconscious daughter and pulled her to the safety of the boat.
The storm soon calmed down as quickly as it had arrived and vanished, leaving no trace of it except the very wet Christine and her father in the boat. Luckily, he had learned CPR during his days as a soldier and performed it on her.
Christine woke up to the concerned face of her father, choking up the water she had swallowed. A tide of relief washed over him when he saw she had opened her eyes. How delighted he was, that he did not lose his daughter. He gently stroked her hand and said, “Rest well my dear,” after which he kissed her affectionately on her forehead.
For once in her entire life, Christine smiled at her father, she was extremely grateful to him for saving her life, even though she had behaved so poorly towards him. He could have left her to drown in the water if he did not love her. She felt that a great, sturdy bridge of love had been built over the river of hatred between them. Now the gap between father and daughter had been bridged by this incident. She felt a new and different feeling towards him, not one of abhorrence, but of love.
“Vroom… vroom…,” the boat finally started. They were on their way back to shore for Christine to rest after such a terrifying day.
Reflecting on what had happened that day, Christine realised that relationships were just like bodies of water. They could be stormy or tranquil, murky or clear and dangerous or safe. The storm in their relationship was over, the bridge of love had been repaired; it would be sweet and peaceful at least for now, till another tribulation comes, for water is always changing, always flowing and no one ever knows what to expect…