Chapter Eighteen

               

 

                     Exploring the Ship

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

      Mai, Wyatt, Celie, and Dakota each picked a bedroom. There was a hall with fifteen bedrooms. Each one with wooden walls, a window, a bed, a dresser, and a desk with a lamp on it. They all looked very similar. The ship was made of metal, but the metal was all covered by wood, except for the bottom. Mai thought it made it look like a floating cabin. The cabin of the ship rose three stories tall. The first two stories were the same size, but the third story, was only a third of the size of the other two. Therefore, the cabin was slanted in the front, making it more aerodynamic. Mai was so excited to finally start their search for the other Chosen Ones. She couldn’t wait to meet more people from this mysterious land that was Solaria. 

     Yet somewhere inside her, she felt uneasy. She was a bit shy about meeting these new people. She imagined them all to be very proper, with big, fancy houses, and wonderful stories to tell. It made her nervous. She didn’t know what they’d think of her. What if they thought she was no good? What if they thought she wasn’t worthy to have powers. After a while, these thoughts made her sick to her stomach.

     After the man had helped them load on all their things, he took them on a tour of the ship, explaining how everything worked. First, he told them how to steer the ship. “This,” he explained, pointing to something that was quite clearly the steering wheel, “is how you control the ship, it’s like a normal steering wheel. And this,” he pointed to a lever to the right of the wheel, “is the breaks.  Pull this and you’ll be able to stop quite quickly. Now this,” he gestured to a small red button next to the lever, “is how you start the engine. This ship has a bonus feature. It has a built-in map. Like a GPS system I guess, only much better…”

     He went on and on with various instructions until he had covered everything from how to work the showers, to the autopilot. Though Mai couldn’t help but think that there was something he was forgetting to show them—something important. She wanted to say something, but she kept her mouth shut. Wyatt was taking notes the whole time, occasionally asking questions. By the time the man had finished explaining everything, it was already noon. 

     The man led them back onto the deck. “Well,” he said, scratching his head. “I think that’s it. Are there any more questions?”                                                                                                                                

     Mai looked at the others who shook their heads. But then Wyatt said, “Is it possible to get someone, like a crew or just someone to help us maneuver the ship?”

    The man smiled. “Weren’t you paying attention, little boy? This ship has an autopilot.”

     Wyatt shrugged. “Alright.” Mai was starting to get suspicious about this man. Something about him didn’t seem right to her. She thought that he was lying about the crewmembers. She was sure that it was possible to hire crewmembers to help them, but for some reason, the man didn’t want to give them any. Mai wondered if he was tricking them.

    The man looked at his watch. “Well, now that you know how to work the ship, feel free to leave whenever you want. Good luck.” With that, the man walked back to the green building.

   “Okay, let’s get going!” Celie said.

     “Sure, there’s nothing left for us to do,” Mai said, looking over her shoulder at ocean. She decided to just keep her uneasy feeling to herself. She didn’t want to be a pessimist. Dakota called Amo, who flew over to them, Tito on his back.

     “Okay everybody! Let’s move out!  Say goodbye to the U.S.A.!” Celie shouted, waving back to the forest. Arm in arm, they boarded the ship. Amo and Tito stayed on deck as the four kids walked into the cabin, up two flights of stairs, and into the control room. It had a large, oversized windshield so that the person steering could see where they were going, as well being able to keep an eye on the deck. There was a panel covered in buttons and levers. Mai remembered what most of them were for, but there were a few that she couldn’t. There was a chair in front of the steering wheel, meant for the driver. There were also a few smaller windows on each side of the room.  

      “I’ll drive,” Wyatt said.  He sat down in the driver’s seat and took hold of the steering wheel.

     “Hey, who said you could drive?” Mai asked, knocking his hands off the wheel. “I’ve seen you playing your videogames! He’s a reckless driver!”

     “I goof off on those games on purpose. It’ll be different when I’m actually driving. I’ll be extra careful!”

    “I still don’t think it’s a good idea.” It was true. Whenever Wyatt went over to his friend’s house to play racing videogames, he always crashed his car or boat, or whatever he was driving. It scared Mai to think that Wyatt would be the one to steer them. She couldn’t trust him with a responsibility as big as steering a forty-foot long ship with all of them on it. What if he crashed?  

     “How about we take turns driving?” Dakota suggested. “Wyatt is the oldest, so I think he should drive first.”

     Wyatt inclined his head. “Thanks for your support, Dakota. You guys help make sure I don’t back up into anything, or hit any other boats.”

    Dakota and Celie assumed their position, and Mai, reluctantly, followed. She was so nervous thinking that Wyatt would crash the ship. She started biting her lip so hard the she could taste blood. It only took Wyatt a few minutes to reread the notes he had made on the ships engineering, and soon, he had pulled away from the dock, leaving behind all that they had ever known. Mai sighed in relief as she saw how careful Wyatt was when handling the ship.  As Wyatt carefully steered the ship out of the small bay, Mai looked back at the shore, and thought of everything that had happened here.  She would miss this place very much. But she wanted to help Dakota and the others so bad, that she doubted she would be too homesick. As Wyatt pulled out of the bay and into the ocean, all that was visible was water. And it struck Mai that the odds of actually finding their way to the SolarianIsland was very slim, and all of them knew it. 

     The ocean was so big, that it would be more than easy to get lost. Mai was just thankful for the autopilot and GPS system. The ship swayed as the waves pounded against its sides. The smell of fresh sea air blew in through the windows as did the sound of seagulls and rolling waves. Mai looked at the deck through the windshield. She saw Amo prancing around excitedly and Tito looking over the side of the ship, into the water.

     “Okay, now that we’re in the clear, let’s see how fast this thing can go!” Wyatt said, flipping through his notes.

     “Just be careful,” Mai warned. She didn’t want Wyatt getting over excited. Normally, when that happened, the events that followed were seldom pleasant. Wyatt found the page he was looking for and set the notebook on his lap. He gave the page one last look before reaching up and placing his finger on a large, purple button.

     He shouted, “Hold on!” and pushed the button.

     There was a loud roar from somewhere below them, then the huge ship gave a lurch and zoomed off, fast as a speedboat. Mai was expecting to be thrown backward, so spread her legs wide apart for better balance. But to her surprise, she wasn’t thrown backwards at all. Even though the ship was going extremely fast, there was no force, and Mai couldn’t understand why. She looked out her window, back at the shoreline, which was slowly fading out of sight. She wondered for the first time in days, if Matty and her step mom, Alice, were still there, or if they really had been taken to Lascelles prison. There was still so much that she didn’t understand, about her powers, about Solaria and Romokka, and about what they would soon be facing. It scared her. She didn’t know what was going to happen to them. One of her favorite subjects was history, and she had done several studies in war, and knew what it was like. It was not something she had ever planned to participate in. There was several unpleasant things running through her mind, and she was glad when Dakota interrupted them.

      “I can’t believe we’re actually going to the SolarianIslands!” He sat on the floor and put his hands in his lap.

     “Wyatt, why don’t you put this thing on autopilot for awhile so we can look around a bit?” Mai said. Her thoughts were starting to get disturbing, and she wanted to do something that would take her mind off them.

    “Oh…fine. But I want the rest of my turn driving!”

     Celie, who had been quiet for a very long time, said, “Okay, but I don’t trust the autopilot, so I’ll stay here to make sure it works properly. We don’t want it to break, then we’d be completely off course and completely lost. We’d never be able to find our way if we got too far off course.”

    Mai shrugged. “Okay, if that’s really what you want to do. But I guess if you think about it, that’s not such a bad idea.”

    Dakota stood up. “Let’s look at the sitting room first, there might be some cool stuff in there!”

    So the three of them walked out of the control room, and down the flight of stairs. They were now standing on the second floor, this floor had all of the bedrooms. There were seven doors on one side of the hall, and eight on the other. They made their way to the end of this hall and opened a door. Behind it, another set of stairs. They walked down these stairs as well and out onto the main floor. This hall had the other rooms like the bathrooms, kitchen, sitting room, and one empty room for storage. They walked to the door that led to the sitting room. This room—like every other room and hall on the ship—had wooded walls and floor, making it very cozy like a cabin. There were four long couches, a large coffee table, a TV, a small, stone fireplace, and one empty bookcase. The TV was sitting on a small, wooden cabinet that had a strange carving of a dragon on it. There were two windows on one wall, both had short, green curtains. Dakota knelt down and opened the cabinet doors. He pulled out a flat, square box: a pizza box.

      Wyatt knelt down beside him. “What is that?” Dakota handed him the box and he examined it carefully.

     “Why don’t you open it? You’ll never find out what’s in it if you don’t open it.” Mai said irritably.

     Wyatt shrugged and opened it. “It’s a dartboard!” He exclaimed. “Look, here’s the darts!”

    Dakota smiled. “Cool, I always liked playing darts! Fudo had a dartboard in his room, but he hardly ever let me play it.”

    Wyatt stood up and turned the TV on.  The screen was black. “How many channels does this TV get? There must be a remote and TV guide around here somewhere.”

    Mai walked over to the door and turned around. “I’m going to go set up my room, if you’re looking for me.”

      “Okay.”

     “Sure, whatever.”

     They’re so interested in those darts, I bet they didn’t even hear me, Mai thought as she closed the door behind her. She shook her head and walked back to the staircase and onto the second level. 

     Now, which one was my room? Mai asked herself as she walked down the hall of many doors. She pushed open the first door and looked inside for her things, but the room was empty except for the furniture. Mai shook her head and closed the door. She had to look in four other rooms before she finally found the room she had chosen. She walked in and, closing the door behind her, flopped down on her bed. She heaved a great sigh. She was exhausted. The past week had been nothing but running, fighting and duels. She wondered if the autopilot was working properly. 

    She was starting to regret wanting to do this so badly. It was her fault her family was gone. If only she had just stayed inside on that fateful night when she had met Sam. None of this would be happening.

    What are you saying! Mai said to herself. If you hadn’t found Sam, you’d still be lonely old Opposite Girl. And besides, this is a good thing. I’ll finally get to do something worthwhile. I guess its better this way. I wonder what Danny would say. Would he be proud of me?

   She thought glumly about her older brother, Danny, who had mysteriously disappeared shortly after they had moved into their new house, on Earth. She hadn’t thought about him in a long time. Now that she did, she wondered if he had had Water Powers like she and their father had. Now that she knew about Romokka, and Solaria, she wondered if Danny’s disappearance had anything to do with the war. She looked over at her dresser, and on top of it, was a calendar.

     It would have been Danny’s seventeenth birthday tomorrow. Wait, Wyatt’s birthday was just a few days after his! Wyatt will be fourteen soon! I have to tell Dakota and Celie, so maybe we can get him a present together.

    She jumped off her bed and ran out of her room, down the stairs, and back into the sitting room. There she found Dakota and Wyatt, throwing darts at the dartboard, which they had nailed to the wall. They looked around in surprise as Mai came in. Dakota set his dart on one of the couches.

     “Is something wrong?”

      Mai’s eyes darted from him to Wyatt. “No, nothing’s wrong.” She realized that she was breathing rather hard from running, and that she had a startled look on her face. She put on a calmer face and continued. “Say, Dakota, can you come here for a second?” She hoped that Wyatt wouldn’t get too nosy about all this. He had always had a bad habit of getting nosy. Once he had found a stash of his and Mai’s Christmas presents. Their stepmother had gotten so angry, she only gave them half of what she gotten them. Mai thought it had been very unfair since she had taken no part in snooping about the house. She had been mad at Wyatt for a while afterwards.

     Dakota looked at Wyatt who shrugged. He followed Mai out of the room and she closed the door behind her.

     “Dakota, I almost forgot something, well I would have if I hadn’t seen a calendar! But anyway, it will be Wyatt’s fourteenth birthday in a few days! I was wondering if you, Celie and I could get him a present together.”

     Dakota’s eyes widened. “Wyatt’s birthday? Wow, he’ll be fourteen? Sure, I’d like to get a present with you! But how will we? There’s nothing but water out here. There isn’t a way to get him a present!”

     Mai bit her lip. “Maybe we can find something interesting on the ship before he does, something he would like. If only you had found the dart board while he wasn’t in the room.”

    Dakota nodded. “Sure, let’s do that. We can tell him to go do something up on deck while we look. Hold on, I think he’s coming!” Sure enough, the door Mai had just closed swung open and Wyatt walked out. He was holding his dart in one hand and was holding onto the doorknob with the other.

     “What’s going on out here? Is something wrong Mai?” Mai shook her head and looked at Dakota.

     Dakota smiled and said, “Hey, Wyatt, Amo just said he wanted to see you. There’s something he’d like to say to you.”

     “Amo’s not in here, how can you have just talked to him?” Wyatt asked, rising one eyebrow.

     “We can speak with our minds. That means we can communicate over long distances. Like a walky-talky in our heads. It really cool!”

     Wyatt shrugged. “Fine, where is he?”

     “On deck,” Dakota replied.  Wyatt turned on his heel and started down the hall, where he disappeared behind the door that led to the deck. As soon as he was gone, Dakota said, “I’ll tell Amo to keep him busy until we find something.” He closed his eyes, and about a minute later said, “Okay, I explained the whole thing to him, and he said he’ll keep him busy.” Mai and Dakota decided to go get Celie and explain their plans to her. As soon as they reached the control room, they found Celie sitting in an armchair by a window, watching as Wyatt approached Amo.

    “What is he doing?” she asked. 

     Mai walked to Celie’s side and peered out the window. Wyatt patted Amo on the head, and Amo lowered himself so Wyatt could climb on. As soon as he was ready, Amo started at a run, then spread his wings and took off, leaving the deck behind him. Wyatt yelled, though Mai did not know if it was it was in fear or excitement. She smiled. She was glad that he was enjoying himself—or at least, she thought he was. Amo flew in circles around the ship as it cut smoothly through the waves, occasionally coming extremely close to the water, but then shooting off again at a great height.

      Celie pushed the chair away from the window. “What is he doing?” she repeated. “I thought he didn’t like flying.”

     Mai backed away from the window, accidentally bumping into Dakota. “Oops, sorry.” Dakota just smiled. Mai explained everything to Celie. “…So Amo will keep him busy until we’re ready. But we’d better hurry, Wyatt has a very short attention span. He could be done out there in a matter of minutes!”

     Celie stood up. “I noticed. So, where have you looked so far? There’s nothing Wyatt would like in the control room, it’s really boring.”

     “Only the sitting room,” Dakota replied.

      Mai looked down at the small panel of buttons and levers, and spotted a small screen, showing their surroundings. “Is the autopilot working properly?” She crossed her fingers and hoped she would get the response she wanted.

      “So far, but I still don’t trust it very much, so I think I’ll stay here and keep an eye on it. That way I can also watch Wyatt and let you know when he’s coming. I’ll tell you mentally, Dakota.” She paused and pushed her chair in front of the window again. “You’d probably know better than anyone what Wyatt likes, Mai. So you can go with Dakota to find something, and I’ll be waiting here once you do.”

    “Okay then,” Dakota said, heading for the door with Mai right behind him, “we’ll come back up as soon as we find something.”

     So Mai and Dakota walked back out of the control room, down the first set of stairs and onto the second level. “Do you really think there will be anything in any of these rooms?” Mai asked more to herself than Dakota.

     Dakota moved to the first door on his right and put his hand on the handle. “I hope so. Let’s look in this room first, then work our way down the hall.”

     Mai nodded and followed him as he entered the room. This room looked like all the other bedrooms.  There weren’t many differences between them. Mai walked up to the dresser as Dakota looked under the bed, and she opened all its drawers: nothing. She spotted the closet door and opened it. All that was in there were a few clean towels and a small pile of violet cloth. Mai knelt down and gathered it up in her arms. She held it out and saw it was some sort of cloak. She slipped it on over her robes. It was lightweight and came down just above her ankles. It had a hood in the back, and fastened in front with a large, round button. On the bottom, was a symbol. It looked like a black and white sun. The dark violet color of the cloak matched her robes and it fit her perfectly.

     “What’s that?” Dakota asked. “It looks like a cape or something.”

     “I’m not sure, but I think it’s a cloak of some sort.  This isn’t something Wyatt would like, it made for a girl. I like it though, I think I’m going to keep it.”

    Dakota nodded. “It looks very nice on you. Hey, it had to Solarian symbol on the bottom!”

     “So that’s what that is!” Mai said, examining the button closer. She thought it was a good thing she new what the symbol was. It might come in handy someday.

     “What else is in the closet? There’s nothing under the bed,” Dakota said, walking over to Mai.

    “Only a few towels, but I don’t think Wyatt would like towels that much. Let’s keep looking.”

     She didn’t want to have to give Wyatt something like towels for his fourteenth birthday. He deserved more than that. They would have to keep looking.

 

~        ~        ~        ~

 

     “Wow, grandfather, it’s huge!” Fudo exclaimed. “I never knew you had such a big ship! Actually, I never knew you even had a ship.”

    Aldrich smiled. It was good to see Fudo happy for once. He could not remember the last time he had seen him this happy. He had gotten this ship many years ago. He used it as a base for the group he had formed all those years ago. But Fudo didn’t know that. No one did. “I am glad it is to your liking. Now, why don’t you go choose your room? I’ll steer for awhile.” Fudo nodded and walked into the cabin of the large ship.

  Aldrich followed, but after a few seconds, took a right and walked up a flight of stairs to the control room. He pressed a large purple button to the right of the steering wheel: the autopilot.  He had not been to the SolarianIslands for years, he was excited, though still nervous. He might bump into his son again.

    Poor Kegen, he thought, I haven’t seen or talked to him in years. I wonder if he is still with Eva. As he pulled the ship out of the harbor and steered it out towards the never-ending sea, unpleasant thoughts ran through his mind and he couldn’t help feeling that he had let down all those that he had helped in the first place. All those he had trained and instructed. He had failed them. He had to make it up to them. He would find them and start over. They would win this time.

 

                                      ~        ~        ~        ~

 

     “Mai, we’ve been searching for hours. Face it, there’s nothing on this ship that Wyatt would like,” Dakota said wearily. They had been searching for hours, and hadn’t found a single thing. Mai was very surprised that Wyatt hadn’t barged in on them yet. He had been playing on deck with Amo and Tito this whole time. Mai had never known him to have such a long attention span.

    “We can’t give up yet! We have to keep looking,” Mai objected. They had searched every room on the ship and still hadn’t found a present for Wyatt, and it was starting to get dark. She couldn’t give up hope yet. She couldn’t give up on Wyatt. She couldn’t let him down on his upcoming birthday. Even if he was a pain in the neck at times, she still loved him. She would make this birthday special for him, no matter what. It would mean the world to him.

     “Let’s call it a day for now, we can look again tomorrow.”

     Mai nodded, disappointed. The two of them walked back up to the control room. As soon as they walked through the door, they saw Celie, looking out the large windshield. She was watching Wyatt as he chased Amo and Tito in circles around the deck. When she heard the door open behind her, she turned around in her chair.

     “No luck,” Mai said glumly. She was exhausted. 

     “Yeah, I didn’t think you would find very much. Although I see you found something, Mai.” She pointed at her.

    “What? Oh, you mean this cloak. Yeah, I found it in a closet. I’m going to keep it. Wyatt wouldn’t like it.”

     Dakota sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. A few seconds later he opened them and said, “I told Amo Wyatt can leave.”

    Mai sat down next to him. “I’m starting to wonder if Wyatt even remembers it’ll be his birthday soon.” Normally, before his birthday, Wyatt would constantly be talking about it. He would always have a big party with all of his friends. He had had so many friends, that they would have a houseful. Mai had always admired how popular Wyatt was. She had once had as many friends as he had, but she had lost them all - they had all left her. This year however, Wyatt had not said a single word about his birthday, which confused Mai. She figured that he had just been so tied up in everything that was going on, that he had completely forgotten.

     Celie announced the autopilot seemed to be working and that she was tired and needed some rest. Saying good night, she walked out of the control room and closed the door behind her. 

    “Let’s go see what Wyatt’s doing,” Mai said, standing up. “I wonder what he’s been doing all this time.”

    Dakota stood up. “Yeah, let’s go.” They made their way back out of the control room, down the stairs, and back down to the first level. They walked out onto the deck, to see Wyatt, leaning over the rail, and looking down into the water. Mai walked up right behind him.

     “Wyatt, what are you doing?”

     “I’m counting fish.”

     Dakota walked up next to him and looked over the rail. “But I don’t see any fish down there, Wyatt.”

     Wyatt sighed. “That’s what makes it so boring.”

     “I think we should get some sleep.” Mai said, putting a hand on Wyatt’s shoulder. He nodded.

    “Mai, where did you get that cape?” he asked.

     “I found it in a closet.”

      Wyatt nodded again and started towards the cabin. The other two followed. They were all too tired to eat dinner, so they all changed into their pajamas and brushed their teeth. Dakota used a toothbrush he found in the medicine cabinet. It had never been opened and it was hard to get it out of its packaging. There was a whole drawer full of them, so when they found the other Chosen Ones, they would have a toothbrush to use if they forgot to pack one. As soon as they were all ready for bed, they said good night and headed their separate ways, off to their own rooms. It only took Mai a few minutes to fall into a dreamless sleep, and when she woke up, she felt much less tired. They all met up in the kitchen for breakfast.  Mai was the last one to get up, and all the others had already started eating the new food that the man at the dock had provided them. Celie was eating an orange, Dakota was eating a piece of toast, and Wyatt was eating one of each. Mai just had an orange. They spent this day like they had the last. Wyatt was on deck, playing with Tito and Amo, Celie kept an eye on both him and the autopilot, while Mai and Dakota searched the ship for something for Wyatt. They still had no luck. They decided that it was useless to keep looking, so they went and got Wyatt, who said he wanted to watch TV. The three of them went into the sitting room and turned on the TV. Wyatt said he wanted to watch cartoons, but Mai said they should keep an eye on the weather channel to make sure they didn’t sail into any storms.

     “But I’m gonna miss The Flying Elephant Show!”

      Mai shook her head. “No, we need to watch the weather first.” Mai wondered if Solarians watched television. She asked Dakota.

     “No,” Dakota answered, “we don’t. The few of us that moved to the U.S. got to watch TV, but the ones that live in SolarianIslands don’t. We don’t get TV back on Solaria either. Our knowledge of technology is very limited. We are only able to make certain things, like this ship and other things like weapons.”

      The next couple of days on the ship were extremely boring. All Wyatt wanted to do was play darts and watch TV, Celie stayed in the control room most of the time, so Dakota and Mai played with Amo and Tito on deck most of the time.   Soon, their food was running low and Wyatt would not stop complaining about it. On the fifth day of their voyage, Wyatt finally decided to go out on deck for some fresh air. Mai and Dakota were going to look one last time around the ship for something for Wyatt, when Celie came running down from the control room.

     “Guess what?” She said, out of breath. “We’re coming close to an island! It’s one of the SolarianIslands! It’s called Muwao!”

     “Really,” Mai asked, “we’re almost there? I knew this ship went fast, but I never knew it went that fast!” She was amazed that they were approaching their destination already. She was almost shaking with anticipation. She didn’t know whether she should be excited, worried, cautious, or nervous.

     “Solarian ships are known for their speed,” Dakota said.

     “Let’s go tell Wyatt,” Mai said. Dakota nodded and the two started to the deck at a running pace.

    “I’ll be upstairs if you need me,” Celie called after them. As Mai looked over the horizon, she saw a dark, hazy shape on top of the water: the island of Muwao. They found Wyatt leaning over the rail, probably counting fish again. Mai walked up to him and tapped him on the back.

     “Wyatt—“

     Wyatt jumped in surprised and yelped. He tried to turn around, but tripped over his own two feet and fell backwards. Mai grabbed his shirt as he fell over the rail, but he was too heavy and she couldn’t hold him. He slipped out of her grasp and fell into the raging water below.

    “WYATT! NO!”

     He seemed to fall into the water in slow motion. Mai could feel her eyes start to sting as the tears started building up. She could feel her heart pounding so hard she thought Dakota might be able to hear it.

     She attempted to jump overboard after him, but Dakota grabbed her arm. “Let’s try and pull him out with Water Powers.”

    Without a second’s hesitation, the two tried to summon the water around Wyatt as he bobbed in and out of sight, yelling things they couldn’t hear. The ship stopped moving forward, so Wyatt was not left behind. 

    “It’s not working! The water’s moving too much and I can’t see him anymore!” Dakota shouted. Mai could feel tears running down her cheeks as she scanned the water’s surface for her brother, but he had dropped below the waves and was hidden from view.

     “Dakota, use your Defensive Power or something! Please!” Mai sobbed, squeezing Dakota’s arm. She wanted something to happen that would save her brother from drowning. He had never been a good swimmer, and she knew he would never be able to survive in the ocean.

    Dakota shook his head. “Mai, you know I can’t control it! But I’ll try!” He closed his eyes and took deep breaths, but nothing happened. 

     “Dakota!” Mai screamed as she saw Wyatt’s head poke out of the water. He was moving father away from the ship. “Do something!” Wyatt disappeared from view as a wave crashed over him. She was starting to get and more frantic. If they didn’t do something soon, it would be too late.

     “I’m trying!” Dakota shouted. “I’m trying!” There were tears in his eyes as well. Wyatt’s head poked up one last time, before another wave hid him from sight. Mai was clinging to Dakota’s arm as she frantically scanned the water for any sign of Wyatt, but found none. Minutes passed and Wyatt did not re-appear. It felt like an eternity that Mai stood on Dakota, squeezing Dakota’s arm with tears in her eyes as she looked frantically for any sign of Wyatt. But there was none. Amo and Tito ran up to them and Tito jumped onto Mai’s shoulder. About a minute later, Celie ran out of the cabin and stopped next to Dakota.

     “I stopped the ship when I saw him fall.” Her face grew solemn as she asked, “Did you get him?”

     Mai looked out over the ocean. She couldn’t bring herself to say it. If she said it, it would only make it real, it would make it final. She didn’t want to accept the fact that she would never see her brother again, that he was gone forever. The thought sickened her to the point where she felt like she might throw up. She felt a sharp pain in her chest as the sadness of losing her brother began to take its toll. She couldn’t bring herself to tell Celie what had happened. 

     But Dakota managed to say it for her. “No, Celie…Wyatt….He’s…..he’s gone.”