Paradise Calling

Preface

Caroline stumbled over to the life boat, but somebody pushed past her and got there first. The chaos of the screams, the wind, and the roar of the ocean crushed her ears. In a blind panic she tried to remain calm. At last she reached the life boat, and jumped in. She crouched low, like a scared animal, clinging to the side of the small boat. The salt stung her cheeks, and the wind whipped her hair, causing her eyes to blur with tears.

She could dimly make out another figure in the boat, a man? She was not able to tell who. Another person jumped into the boat. It rocked violently, but Caroline held on even tighter. The craft should hold up to eight, but it was unlikely to be filled: the main ship had not held many passengers, and there were plenty of life rafts. After hours of cramped, freezing agony she fell asleep. Caroline did not hear the cursing of a man's voice when he saw the motor was broken. They were safe, they had drifted quite a distance from the ship. The other boats had gone a different way, but they were unable to do this wiht no motor. There were cars, but no one was willing to row, so they could only drift further and further by the current, hopefully to shore.