silentdescant | Fic: Sinking Fears (Reply)

I wrote this last night. When I started, I had no idea what it was doing, I just wrote whatever word popped into my head and it turned into a sentence. Then a story. I have no emotional connection to this story; it just came out of nowhere. Hope you like.

Sinking Fears

530 words

A wave crashed onto the rocks around midnight, waking Sara from her nightmare. She jumped out of bed and hurried to the window, shivering at the thought of the water bursting through the thin glass. The water splashed onto the window, quickly followed by a flash of lightning and the thundering of rain, and Sara regretted picking this room to sleep in during her family’s stay. She slipped on her robe and quietly went out into the hall. There were no windows, no flashes of lightning, and she immediately felt safer. Until the loud bang of thunder crept up behind her before making itself known. Sara turned to the nearest door and knocked loudly. After a moment, her older brother Ron, bleary-eyed and confused, opened the door.

“What are you doing up?” he asked thickly, blinking down at her.

“It’s the storm. I had a nightmare, and the thunder woke me up. The water was splashing on my window,” she said in a rush.

“C’mon,” Ron muttered, opening the door wider for her. He went back into his room and fell face-first on the bed. Sara followed him tentatively and sat in the swivel chair at his desk. Ron’s window faced the lighthouse, not the ocean, and it’s constant, steady light felt like an anchor to Sara’s thoughts.

“I’m sorry I woke you.”

“S’awright,” Ron replied, his voice muffled by his pillow. He rolled over and invited her onto the bed with him. Sara lay down and leaned against his chest. He cradled her there and gently rubbed her arms up and down, a steady motion. “What was your nightmare about?”

“The bunks were filling up with water, and the peninsula was sinking. We were all drowning.”

“Can I say something, Sara?”

“Yes, of course.”

“This lighthouse, even if it did sink, is not even a mile offshore of the mainland. And it’s almost impossible not to escape from this building. D’you want me to explain?”

“Please.”

“The windows, they’re glass, right?”

“Thin glass. I noticed that earlier.”

“So, if the water even so much as touched them, they’d break. Then we could climb out. Easy-peasy. And we’ve all been certified, we can all swim to the mainland. And trust me, the mainland won’t sink.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” Sara mumbled, smiling a bit. Ron allayed her fears with no laughing tone or ridicule, only a sincerity she greatly appreciated. When the thunder died down and the lightning had ceased, Ron walked her back to her room and tucked her into bed.

“Sara, my watch is up in two hours. D’you want to come up to the lighthouse with me?”

“Yeah, of course!” she said eagerly. “You’ll come and get me?”

“Yeah. You just go to sleep, and I’ll take you up to the lighthouse in a few hours. I’ll show you how to change the oil for the lantern, even.”

“Really? Can I help?”

Ron chuckled softly. “We’ll see. Now go to sleep. I’ll wake you in a bit.” He kissed her forehead and patted her hair before retreating to the doorway. He stayed there until Sara closed her eyes, then quietly closed the door behind him.