Creative Writing: Storm Water

The boat creaked, rocking back and forth gently in the waves. A piece of charcoal gripped in her hand as she scribbled on a paper, attempting to mimic her brother, who was crudely drawing stick figures in a book. She glanced up at the two adult figures moving the boat, warm affection flooding her. They were comfort, protection and nourishment. As she went back to her drawing, a large blue-skinned hand rumpled her hair, sparking a laugh. The burst came out mixed with a bark, a clear sign of her heritage. Her brother laughed in response, and with a mischievous glance began tickling the foot closest to him. Soon, all the passengers reveled in laughter, their barking and merriment echoing out across the waters. The day passed, uneventful and boring,

I wanted to take that boat out and go tubing for the first time in my life. I was so excited that I even offered to blow up the tube by myself with nothing but my lungs, not knowing we had an air pump. Finally, after what felt like hours of begging like the annoying twelve year old I was, my dad said it was time to go. My sisters and I got our life jackets and wet shirts on, while my baby brother and step mom got on the boat, and my dad sat in the driver’s seat. My sisters and I were on the back on the tube, trying to find the best way to position our arms so we didn’t fall off. My dad turned the key to the boat and suddenly, my excitement turned to sheer panic. What happens if I fall off? What if my sisters fall off? What if there was a lake monster or a really big fish in the water? From that moment on, I was determined to stay on, so I held on to the handles for dear

We slowly drove out to the faster speed limit part of the lake, once there I was given a small briefing about hand signals. Gracye’s Dad told me, “Thumb down means slower, thumb up means faster, and hand horizontal means perfect.” After the briefing we got our life jackets on and literally jumped from the boat to the tubes which were now almost out of reach, quickly trailing behind the boat. The rope attached to the tube was quicklypulled out very far and was tightly being pulled from behind the boat, me on the biggest tube in the middle and Gracye on the smaller one on the right of me. We got to a moderately fast pace for me and it ended up not being as frightening as I thought it would be. Her Dad had started picking up the speed by this time and I was beginning to get scared. I signaled to have him slow down and he ended up slowing down after five minutes, or so I thought, but he was just winding the boat up for a whip which while happening, I was holding on for dear life and I felt my life flash before my

Strolling down a beaten dirt trail with green mossy trees on either side. A soft breeze brushes a kiss against my cheek, as it pushes past, earth mixing with sea salt hits my nose. Soon the faint sound of waves kissing the shore, children’s laughter, and seagulls screeching calls to me. Walking along the winding dirt trail until the texture beneath my toes change. The trees part and on either side the trees rise into the air, becoming cliffs as far as my eyes can see. Instead of dirt beneath my feet it has been replaced by sand in between my toes. I walk towards the white cap waves where the water washes up against my ankles excitedly and then pulls back with remorse. Sea mist leaves a moist kiss against my cheeks and then

By Saturday afternoon, the eighty-seven residents of the rural southern town of Wrongberight have suffered through four days of intense intermittent rainstorms. And to add to their misery another storm approaches the town from the northeast. Now, Clemmy Sue Jarvis since birth has lived here and has a simple philosophy concerning weather. As long as the almighty man upstairs allows her to draw a breath, she will enjoy life, regardless of the weather. At four o’clock, she lifts her petite frame into her rusty Ford pickup, and gradually eases out of her driveway. The soaring Pines that surround her home sway to the rhythm of the gusting wind as she turns south onto Flat Bottom Road and follows it along the edge the Dismal Swamp towards the isolated

Continuous waves pounding against the boat, yet you attempt to remain still.. But now you rise up from your seat, grasping onto surrounding objects to assure stability; all that you smell is the sea salt being carried throughout the air; your skin and hair are covered in a fine layer of sticky salt; you constantly fidget around your overused lifejacket attempting to make it more comfortable; and now you make your way to the white platform at the back of the boat; an assortment of rainbow colors filled the gigantic parasail that blew up off the back of the boat; ropes and latches are pulled out of a discolored bin and strapped around you; you slide into the bulky harness- now you sit… and you wait, and before you know it you hear that small,

I could feel the nice breeze hitting my face as I looked at all of the islands around us. When I felt better, I went back below and saw that the scuba divers had just jumped in and were trying to find some sea creatures, soon, they brought up a sea urchin and brought it up to the window so that everyone could see and inspect it. They did the same with a few more interesting animals like a starfish. I got seasick again so I had to go back up on top of the boat until the end of the ride. I loved the boat ride, but it felt amazing, but also weird to be back on the land. “Ugh”, I groaned. My legs were so sore and I too warm and hungry. My dad wanted to eat, too. We went to eat at the restaurant that was painted light blue with a painted sign and

The sea was like a rippling blanket of jewelled blue. I gazed out around me, taking in the panorama of breathtaking views, from the silk-like sky to the horizon, a line of nickel silver. I watched the water lap gently at the edge of the yacht, hypnotising me. I pulled on my flippers, adjusted my snorkel and fell backwards into the the depths of the tropical sea.

When you’re flying over south-east Queensland and underneath you are the distinctive, sinuous curves of the Brisbane River, you know you’re home. The river is why our city is here. Its waters carved the landscape out of ancient rock and laid down fertile flood plains. It’s a highway and an obstacle to passage. Even in modern times, there are Brisbanites who rarely venture across the river to suburbs on the other side. A source of food and water, transport, communication and recreation over millennia; life-giving, life-taking. The Brisbane River has many stories. This is one of them….

A city layered in the ash of its own citizens. A city muddled and elsewhere, weeping as it toppled. Skyscrapers - gone.

Finally, it was my turn to go tubing. I was so excited, I started to feel jittery. Climbing onto the tube, I gave the thumbs up to the pastor, whose name was Jeff, indicating that I was ready to go. As he started to drive and the boat started to move, I held on as tight as I could. But then I felt the speed increase, I felt a hard jerk like an angry

Meanwhile Nick, Russ , Ron, and I were standing in the jungle of our lawn. All of the sudden,we saw some humongous water bombs. Then Ron said “What do we do Amy.”

It was like we were a couple of high school lovers in heat, until the heat got too hot to handle. It was soon after a major category four hurricane dealt us a glancing blow as it rolled up the east coast of Florida that we decided to pack a little lunch and take a ride over to the beach. It had dropped fifteen degrees after the storm and we had the whole beach to ourselves as I laid out a blanket and sat down to enjoy the last few hours of sunlight. The wind was just cool enough to instigate some heavy petting and it wasn’t long before we were thoroughly hot and bothered. We were like two teens in heat, the way we were grinding and kissing like it was something new, until she panted heatedly that I was going to have a wet spot on my shorts

Renee and Luc loved the waves rocking the boat. During the hours fishing, the waves’ motion eased the pain of their lives. The sound of the wave against the boat combined with the movement of their lines enabled them to see the beauty of the day.

The sound of the emerald green ocean water crashing against the shores filled my ears. Children ran along the shore, smiling from ear to ear while laughing amongst each other clearly enjoying their day. Some people were searching contently for sea shells, that were visible for miles. I looked out at the ocean, it stretched out far into the horizon; as far as my eyes could see. There were jetty’s that were perfectly placed within the ocean. I could smell the salt radiating off of the water. I had been waiting for this moment for a long time; I dashed into the ocean I’d been waiting for for the past