I HAD THIS NIGHTMARE THAT WAS LIKE A COMBINATION OF JAWS AND FINAL DESTINATION....
A GROUP OF FIVE FRIENDS AND I WERE ON SOME TROPICAL ISLAND, PARTICIPATING IN THIS POPULAR TOURIST ATTRACTION, A RACE FROM ONE ISLAND TO ANOTHER, REQUIRING US TO TRAVEL THROUGH BOTH JUNGLE AND OCEAN. WE HAD BEEN ON THE MAIN ISLAND FOR A FEW DAYS, MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE LOCALS AND OTHER TEAMS, TRAINING RIGOROUSLY WHILE SOAKING UP THE CULTURE AND CHANGE OF SCENE. I HAD A VISION THAT IF WE WERE TO CONTINUE WITH THIS RACE, WE'D MEET A TRAGIC FATE AND BE TORN APART BY GREAT WHITE SHARKS =/. IT WASN'T UNTIL THE DAY OF, NOT TOO LONG BEFORE THE RACE BEGAN, THAT I TOLD MY TEAMMATES OF MY VISION AND CONCERNS. AS WE, TOGETHER WITH OUR SPONSOR--ONE OF THE VILLAGE CHIEFS--WERE PREPARING OUR SUPPLIES, I SHARED MY VISION AND WORRIES. THE CHIEF SAID THAT HE TOO FELT SOME STRANGE, OMINOUS PRESENCE LINGERING IN THE AIR, BUT SINCE WE HAD ALREADY MADE A GREAT IMPRESSION ON THE LOCALS, MOST OF WHOM WERE ROOTING FOR OUR TEAM IN PARTICULAR, WITH THE TIME AND ENERGY WE PUT INTO TRAINING AND WITH THE GRAND PRIZE, HE SAID THERE WAS SIMPLY TOO MUCH AT STAKE, TO WHICH MY TEAMMATES AGREED WITH CHEER. THEY TOLD ME NOT TO WORRY, BUT NOTHING THEY WOULD TELL ME LESSENED MY FEARS. MY VISION, WHICH FELT ALL TOO REAL, I KNEW WOULD COME TRUE. NONETHELESS, WE CONTINUED PREPARING OUR THINGS. WE, TOGETHER WITH THE OTHER NINE TEAMS BOARDED A LARGE BOAT AND WERE TAKEN TO A SMALLER ISLAND, THE STARTING POINT OF OUR RACE. ALL TEAMS WERE BROUGHT INTO THE JUNGLE AND SPREAD OUT. A GUNSHOT WAS FIRED AND SO BEGAN THE RACE.
WE TREKKED THROUGH STEAMING JUNGLE, HACKING AWAY AT FOLIAGE WITH MACHETES, JUMPING GAPS, SCALING JAGGED WALLS UNTIL WE APPROACHED THE COAST WHERE OUR SMALL BOAT AND PADDLES WERE. THOUGH CUT, BRUISED AND FATIGUED, MY FRIENDS CHEERED, RUNNING TOWARDS THE BOAT, DRAGGING IT FROM THE SAND INTO THE OCEAN. I LAGGED, STARING BLANKLY INTO THE OCEAN, WORRIED, AFRAID. MY FRIENDS CALLED OUT TO ME. "WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" THEY ASKED. AGAIN, I WARNED THEM, DOING MY BEST TO CONVINCE THEM, MY VOICE SHAKING. THE CONCERN IN MY VOICE WAS EVIDENT, BUT HOW FAR WE HAD COME AND THE GRAND PRIZE THAT LIE IN WAIT OVERTOOK MY FRIENDS YET AGAIN. "NO ONE ELSE HAS EVEN REACHED THEIR BOATS YET! WE'VE GOT THIS! COME ON! LET'S GO!" ONE OF THEM SAID, ONE BY ONE THE REST ECHOED THE WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT. I TOOK ONE LAST GLANCE AT THE OCEAN, SCANNING FROM LEFT TO RIGHT AND WITH UNCERTAINTY AND SOME REGRET FOR WHAT MAY COME TO PASS, MADE MY WAY FOR THE BOAT. PERHAPS MY VISION WOULD BE OF HELP. WHEN I SEE THE SHARKS COMING I'D WARN EVERYONE. MAYBE WE COULD CHANGE THINGS I THOUGHT TO MYSELF. WE PADDLED AND BEGAN OUR TRIP ACROSS THE OCEAN. THINGS WERE CALM. THE OCEAN, CALM. WIND, CALM. I FELT A LITTLE MORE AT EASE, BUT MY HORRIFYING VISION FLASHED IN MY MIND FROM TIME TO TIME AND WHEN IT WOULD, I TRIED TO SHAKE IT OFF. WE WERE HALFWAY TO THE MAIN ISLAND. ONLY THEN DID WE SEE OTHER BOATS IN THE DISTANCE. THEY WERE BUT DOTS OF A PAINTED SCENERY. WE WERE AHEAD, LIGHT YEARS AHEAD. THE TEAM CHEERED. MORALE WAS HIGH. WE MOVED FORWARD. I SMILED. *BUMP* "DID WE HIT SOMETHING?" A FRIEND ASKED. I RESPONDED, ASKING "OR DID SOMETHING HIT US?" I HAD TWO FRIENDS FOCUS ON PADDLING, WITH TWO OTHERS AND I ON GUARD, MACHETES READY. I SAW DORSAL FINS SKIMMING THROUGH THE SURFACE OF THE WATER, ONE FAR LARGER THAN THE OTHERS. "THEY'RE HERE," I SAID. MY VISION WAS COMING TRUE. HELPLESSNESS BEGAN TO SINK IN. WE COUNTED THREE FINS AS OUR BONES RATTLED, SHRINKING IN FEAR. *BUMP* ANOTHER NUDGE. *BUMP* ANOTHER NUDGE, STRONGER THAN THE LAST. "AHHHH," A FRIEND YELLED, FALLING INTO THE OCEAN. "HELP!" HELP!" THE FINS DISAPPEARED. IN SECONDS, HE WAS CARRIED AWAY. "NO!!!" WE SCREAMED IN UNISON. "WAIT! HE'S OK." HE WASN'T BITTEN. HE WAS HOLDING ONTO THE DORSAL FIN. HE HELD ON WITH BOTH HANDS AS THE SHARK CONTINUED TO COAST NEAR THE WATER'S SURFACE. WITH ALL HIS MIGHT, HE TRIED PULLING ON THE FIN, TRYING TO TEAR IT APART, BUT IT WAS FAR TOO STRONG. MACHETE IN HAND, HE HACKED AWAY AT THE FIN ONE CHOP AT A TIME UNTIL IT GAVE. "I GOT IT!" HE SCREAMED, DRIVING THE MACHETE INTO THE FRESH WOUND." THE SHARK BEGAN TO SINK SLOWLY. "I GOT IT!" WE STARED IN DISBELIEF. *SPLASH* ANOTHER SHARK--BY THIS TIME WE HAD FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE OTHER SHARKS--CAME FROM THE OCEAN DEPTHS, LEAPT INTO THE AIR AND TOOK OUR FRIEND ON THE WAY DOWN, A TRAIL OF SCARLET DISSIPATING INTO THE BLUE-GREENISH WATERS. "NOOOO!!!" WE ALL CRIED OUT, OUR JOY SHORT-LIVED, REPLACED QUICKLY BY THE PIERCING PANGS OF GRIEF. HE WAS ONE OF THE BRAVEST, ONE OF THE STRONGEST MEMBERS OF THE GROUP. "STAY FOCUSED GUYS. WE HAVE TO KEEP CALM. WE HAVE TO KEEP MOVING," I SAID. AND SO WE DID, WITH TWO SHARKS LEFT, FINS NOWHERE IN SIGHT. WE WERE ABOUT THREE QUARTERS OF THE WAY TO THE MAIN ISLAND. OTHER TEAMS WERE STILL FAR BEHIND, WHILE WE WERE STILL IN THE LEAD. *BUMP* "THEY'RE BACK!" A FRIEND CRIED OUT. *BUMP* A SECOND NUDGE AND THEN A THIRD. THE SHARKS WERE HUNGRY. *BUMP* WITH THE FOURTH AND MOST VIOLENT CHARGE AT THE BOAT, ANOTHER FRIEND FELL OVERBOARD. I LEANED OVER THE BOAT QUICKLY EXTENDING MY HAND. OUR HANDS MET. FINGERS LOCKED. JUST AS I BEGAN PULLING HER UP, SHE WAS TUGGED THE OPPOSITE WAY IN THE JAWS OF A SHARK AND SHE DISAPPEARED WITH A CRY, A HAUNTING, SHRILL CRY THAT SCARRED MY MEMORY AND RESONATED IN MY MIND AND EARS FROM THAT POINT ON. SHE TOO WAS A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE, JUST AS EVERYONE ELSE WAS. I COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE GRAND PRIZE. WE HAD TO SURVIVE. WE HAD TO LIVE. WE CONTINUED MOVING FORWARD, WITH EACH PASSING SECOND LIKE AN HOUR, MOVING WHAT SEEMED TO BE BUT AN INCH AT A TIME DESPITE OUR STRENUOUS EFFORTS ACROSS THE VAST OCEAN. THE WATERS AGAIN WERE STILL. SINCE THE LAST, AGONIZING SCREAM, NOT A VOICE WAS HEARD. WE ALL KEPT SILENT. WE KEPT WATCH WITH VIGILANCE. WE ROWED. TIRED, OUR PACE SLOWED, SO I CALLED FOR A SWITCH OF DUTIES. SHUFFLING DUTIES PUT US AT A BETTER PACE, THOUGH WE WERE ALL DRAINED. TWO FRIENDS AND I WERE ON PADDLES; THE OTHER TWO ON WATCH. "'I'M SORRY WE ALL LOST TWO OF OUR FRIENDS,' I SAID, 'THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE. I KNOW WE'RE ALL VERY MUCH TORN, SAD, BUT...WE HAVE TO MAKE IT. THAT COULD'VE BEEN ANY OF US BACK THERE. WHETHER WE WIN OR LOSE, WE HAVE TO MAKE TO THE ISLAND, FOR THEM, THAT THEIR SACRIFICES WON'T BE IN VAIN. THEY WOULD'VE WANTED THAT. SO WE HAVE TO MAKE IT TO THE END. AGREED?" THE TEAM NODDED AND ANSWERED QUIETLY. I SMILED A HALF SMILE. *BUMP* WE ALL FELL INTO THE WATER. THE BOAT TURNED OVER. "IS EVERYONE ALRIGHT? WE HAVE TO FLIP THE BOAT AND GET BACK IN. GO, GO, GO," I SAID. I LOOKED BEHIND ME. A FIN WAS HEADING STRAIGHT FOR ME, QUICKLY. AT THAT MOMENT, I CLOSED MY EYES AND SAID A SHORT, SILENT PRAYER. THE OTHERS FLIPPED THE BOAT OVER, GOT BACK IN AND STARTED DUMPING WATER OUT OF IT A HANDFUL AT A TIME. I STARTED CLIMBING INTO THE BOAT WHEN SOMETHING SLAMS AGAINST MY SIDE, KNOCKING THE BREATHE OUT OF MY LUNGS. THE BOAT ROCKED SOME, BUT MY FRIENDS WERE OKAY. I GASPED FOR AIR, ONE HAND HOLDING THE SIDE OF THE BOAT, THE OTHER, A MACHETE. I TRIED TO FEEL AROUND THE WATER FOR THE SHARK, BUT IT WAS GONE. HHOLDING THE MACHETE IN REVERSE TO STAB DOWNWARD, I READIED MYSELF, TIGHTENING MY GRIP. I FELT A SURGE OF WATER AGAINST MY SIDE, FEELING THE SHARK MISSED A NUDGE, BUT JUST BARELY. AIMLESSLY, NOT CERTAIN THE SHARK WAS ANYWHERE NEARBY, I DROVE THE MACHETE DOWNWARD AND I FELT THE BLADE MEET FLESH. I PIERCED THE SHARK A FEW FEET BEHIND ITS HEAD. THE SHARK SWAYED LEFT AND RIGHT AND BEGAN TO SWIM AWAY FROM THE BOAT, TAKING ME AND MY MACHETE ALONG WITH IT. MY FRIENDS AT THE BOAT, BEWILDERED, WATCHED AS I FADED AWAY. THE LAST WORDS THEY HEARD ME SAY WERE "KEEP GOING," HEARD EVER SO FAINTLY FROM A DISTANCE.
BEATEN UP BY BOTH THE CRASHING WATER AND VIOLENT MOVEMENTS OF THE SHARK, I JUST HELD ON TO THE MACHETE. I HELD ON FOR MY DEAR LIFE. THE SHARK SLOWED DOWN SOME AND AS IT DID, AND AFTER A BREATHER, I GRABBED HOLD OF THE DORSAL FIN, REMOVED THE MACHETE FROM THE SHARK'S BACK AND DROVE INTO IT'S FACE, GAUGING ITS EYE. I REMOVED THE MACHETE FROM THE LEFT EYE AND PIERCED ITS RIGHT EYE. I THEN DROVE THE MACHETE RIGHT INTO ITS SKULL. THE SHARK, LIFELESS, STOPPED MOVING AND BEGAN SINKING. I HADN'T REALIZED THAT THE SHARK BROUGHT ME CLOSE TO SHORE. I SWAM THE REST OF THE WAY, GRATEFUL WHEN MY FEET FINALLY TOUCHED SAND AGAIN. I LAID IN THE SAND, STARED AT THE SKY, SQUINTING SOMEWHAT BECAUSE OF THE BRIGHT SUN. I MADE A SAND ANGEL, SMILED A FULL SMILE AND IN EXHAUSTION, FELL UNCONSCIOUS...
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