The sea stretched for miles, seemingly unending. It stretched so far, she wondered if she would ever find the shore. She hadn't thought about how long she would be at sea, she had packed supplies to last her weeks if rationed correctly. The food was alright, she could always fish for her meal.

Water was a problem of another level. Surrounded by water on all sides, it was rather frustrating to not be able to drink any of it.

There were times when the wind blew fiercely, pushing her boat along the rolling waves. According to the compass found in the crate, she was heading in an eastward direction. And she had been doing so for days.

Then there were the times when she didn't move at all and had to resort to the oars. The wind sometimes, decided it was done, and left her floating, with not even a whisper of a breeze.

There had been no storms since she had set sail, there was rain ever so often, but not a storm.

When she had been on the island, there had been a number of storms she had watched from the trees, hiding from the lightning and thunder.

Thunder had cracked through the air, and lightning had flashed. Then there were the waterspouts. Tornados of water, ripping through the peaceful island waters. 

But now, it was anything but torrential rains and flashing storms. The sun was angling across the sky, painting pictures in the water.

Her favorite time still was sunrise. Watching the sun rise from the island was beautiful, and it never ceased to amazing her. But watching it rise from the sea, it was breathtaking.

And now it was setting, illuminating both sky and sea. She smiled slightly, and lay next to the mast, tying the rope around her waist.

On her first night, she had, on complete accident, rolled off the side. Waking up to cold water, she had coughed and sputtered to the surface. There was a fish that had curiously nudged at her feet, which caused her to scream, and scurry up to the boat.

The fish swam away as soon as she cried out, startled by her voice. She had bent over the side and watched it swim elsewhere.

Watching the sunset and listening to the rolling waves, she drifted into a doze. 

Rain. It was pelting down on her like bullets, and it woke her from her doze within seconds. Bolting up, she glanced around.

The sky had turned from vibrant colors to a dark blue mixed with gray and black. The sea matched, its waves no longer gently rolling her boat. Now, they were taller than her and choppy.

Gaping at the open sea, she stood up, untying the rope around her waist.

The wind howled through her ears, whipped through her clothes, making them snap.

Wrapping the rope that had secured her to the boat, she grabbed another, one that was attached to the sail, and control which way it turned.

During the raging winds, she had blown off her usual direction, and now, pulling as hard as she could, the sail slowly turned into its position.

Tying it down, she scurried to the supplies scattered around the mast, securing them to the wooden planks.

She jumped out of her skin when thunder ripped through the sky. And not long after, a flash of lightning illuminated the barren clouds.

She was drenched by now, and the rain wasn't letting up, in fact, it seemed to be beating down harder by the minute.

Another roar of thunder raged across the sky, the flash of lightning following not far behind. 

And it only got worse from there.

The waves become taller. The thunder louder. The lightning more frequent. The winds harsher. The rain coming harder.

Land. That was the one thing she needed right now. There was no way she was surviving this. She had seen enough storms to know when it had gone too far, to head for cover.

And here out on the open sea, there was no cover. She was the tallest thing for miles, count the waves, which meant there was that more of a chance lightning would find her boat.

Turning around, she nearly screamed.

A wave, at least thrice the height of the raft, was riding her way.

And it wasn't stopping.

Out of instinct, she ducked, turning her head the other way, as if it would help. It didn't. The waves felt like a boulder had just been smashed on her back. She ended up on the wooden floor, her legs dangling in the water. Rolling back onto the raft, gasping for air, she lay drenched. 

Rising to her knees, she shakily stood up, gripping the mast for balance. Stumbling to the piles near the mast, she rifled through them.

Half of them were gone, unaccounted for, thrown overboard. She growled in frustration as another smaller wave rocked the boat, causing her to lose her footing, and fall.

Hissing, she rose to her feet, only to be knocked down again, this time by a larger wave.

Opening her eyes to salty sea water and her legs once again dangling in the water, she heaved herself on board.

Scanning the horizon, she came to the realization that she might not live through this, if the storm kept up like this, it would tear her boat apart.

And it did just that.

Turning to find a wave, twice the height of the first one, heading her way and gaining speed and height, she gripped the rope tied to the mast and hung on for dear life.

The rope was wrenched from her hands, leaving a burn across her palms, and water filled her ears, making it impossible to hear anything.

There was water in her eyes, inducing the sting she hadn't felt, owing to the fact that the only water she had swum in was fresh, and didn't sting her eyes as much as the salt did.  

Water seemed to engulf her entirely, covering her head sending her spinning.

When cool air rushed to her lungs, she gasped, her eyes springing open.

Now she was entirely submerged in the water. Swinging her head around, looking for the tall mast or perhaps the dirty white colored sail, all she met was dark clouds and the raging sea and winds.

It was gone, and it hit her like a wave. The boat, that she had spent so much time one, the thing that kept her going. Was gone, taken by the sea, probably sinking as she floated here.

Swimming forward, her arms slicing through the cool waters fo the Caribbean, she came across a piece of wood floating.

It was part of the vessel, part of its deck more like it, but it was something.

It wasn't all that big, the length of her legs if she was lucky, but she grabbed onto it anyways. Heaving her body aboard, a dark shape in the water caught her eye.

It was moving. Not with the waves, not like a piece of wood adrift, no, it was moving on its own. 

And it was coming closer.

Only when the dorsal fin broke the surface did she scream, scrambling aboard the scrap of wood as much as she could.

It went under the cut of wood, and for a minute, she lost it. Until it bumped her.

She screamed even louder, shaking from head to toe, clutching the wood for her life. She could feel the splinters cutting into her palms, but at the moment, she didn't care.

Scanning the water around her, she searched from the shark. Seeing nothing, she decided that the best course of action was to paddle, but to where she didn't know, she hadn't worked that part out yet.

Hesitantly moving her hand toward the water, she pulled it back almost immediately, owing to the huge set of jaws and eyes staring back at her.

Sucking in a gasp, she scooted to the other side of the part of her raft, as far away from the sharp teeth as possible. 

Her eyes set on the horizon, scanning for any stretch of land, but she found none.

But something else caught her eye.

It looked as though a funnel was forming over the waves, it was nowhere near her, but give it a couple moments, and it would.

Another wave was forming, the biggest yet she had seen. Gaining both height and speed, she braced for another blow, only to be brought into darkness, the world fading around her. 

YAYAYAY!!! Fifth chapter!!! So happy!!! Love you all!!! Thanks so much for your time and reads!!!

~ Kelly~