Her shallow breathing was the first thing she could hear as she slowly regained consciousness. Unsure of her surroundings she looked around, only to be stunned at the sight that embraced her. Even through her impaired eyesight, she could appreciate the beauty of this underwater cave. As the seaweeds danced and sunbeams through the numerous levels of water to hit the burning limestones, making it look like she was in an underwater festival of calm and gracefulness. The only thing that disturbed the image was the huge pieces of wood floating around the cavern. Suddenly a striking pain coursed through her, gasping as she looked at herself. The first thing she noticed was her dislocated shoulder that throbbed as soon as she touched it. Looking further she saw her dress ripped at her lower back, which carried a long cut but it wasn't deep enough to hurt her spine. But the worst pain wasn't from either of the two injuries. Her thigh was filled with splinters and was bleeding out fast. Panicking, she tore her dress from the bottom to make a gauze around her leg to control the bleeding. Once the immediate danger was over she leaned her back on the rock that was supporting her, as she tried to recall how she ended up in her current situation. It was an extremely chaotic day aboard the ship as her younger brother and their dog ran across the mast. She briefly recalled her mother, who was talking to the other sailors about how King George the Third had managed to unite both Ireland and England. Her father was voicing his concerns to the captain about the abnormal weather but the captain only waved them away. Over the next hour, the weather just continued to worsen to the point where you could no longer see or hear because of the storm. The continuous havoc caused by the waves wrecked the sails. Their dog was long gone in the never-ending blur of dark blue. The harsh currents had swept her younger brother and mother away, taking them out of her sight forever. The rest of the crew were already beyond the point of no return. The last thing she recalled was her father pushing her off the boat as the mast broke causing the ship to break from the middle taking all down along with it. Gasping, she tried to forget about her memories, but they would always come back to haunt her. The emotional toll was far too great for the mind of a sixteen-year-old girl causing her to blackout for the rest of the night. The next time she opened her eyes, the sun was already high up signalling the start of her second day underwater. As her instinct kicked in, she knew that she had to move in order to survive. She decided that before doing anything else, she had to take care of her wounds as she won’t have any remedy if they started to bleed again or got infected. She held her breath as her hand gripped her dislocated shoulder yanking it back to its original position. It was as if the cave was encouraging her to give up by bouncing her screams off the walls. Doubling over in pain, she took deep breaths to stabilize her shoulder and the pain. After resting for a while she moved on to the next task which was to control the bleeding from her cuts. Wincing, she looked around to see what around her she could use as a bandage. The dancing seaweed then caught her eye. Using whatever little strength she processed at the moment, she dragged herself towards them. Ripping them from the cave floor, she tied them around her back and her leg. The pain mixed with her impaired eyesight was enough for her to pass out till the later half of the day. The third time she woke up in this cave she decided that will be the last. Forcing her half-broken body to move, she swam to one of the bigger pieces of wood floating in the cave. Pulling herself aboard, she used her hands to paddle out of the cave. Once finally free from the cavern, she allowed herself to collapse again. She let the after storm currents drive her, her hunger was almost unbearable but her thirst had been quenched as she had collected little water in the previous storm. Although her journey was to find land and survive, she found herself awestruck by the wonders of the sea and its creatures. She knew she had little time left if things carried on the way they were, but she couldn't get herself to force past the pod of dolphins or the bale of turtles.
On the fifth day from the crash, she spotted the land. She believed she would be overjoyed as she did all that in order to survive, but laying on her giant piece of wood she felt an odd sense of achievement. She, a noble who had lived her entire life in the city of London, never knew that the sky could hold so many stars, never knew the beauty in the smallest or the largest creatures, never knew the dangers of nature, never knew the peace or the calm of the oceanic world and most definitely never knew how different the real world is from what the humans have created it to be. As these thoughts ran across her mind, the warm feeling of satisfaction coursed through her cold and numb body. Delight filled her barely beating heart. Tired, she closed her eyes drifting into sleep, perhaps, for the last time as she heard distant voices calling out to her.
The Cave
The Starry Night Sky
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