Mystic Waters: Out of the blue

Chapter 1

The wind blew against her face and Meranda relaxed; she felt carefree. The gradual disappearing shoreline surrounded them in many shades of blue, as they headed east, toward the horizon.

Meranda blinked a few times, as she stared at a dense black and gray wall of clouds that appeared out of nowhere. "Pete--is that fog?"

Petes eyes narrowed at the storm front rolling straight at them, he had checked the marine forecast and all was clear. However, on this big sea-like-lake the weather could change quickly. He needed to go below and make sure the emergency radio was working, he turned to Meranda and asks her to take the wheel keeping a northeast heading.

Meranda's legs threw her body to a stand, after all she was the first mate. The butterflies in her stomach released, as she stood behind the large steering wheel. She placed her hands at the ten and two oclock position like her father had taught her how to drive. With her chin out, she firmly took the helm.

"Ill be right back!" Pete yelled before disappearing below deck.

No sooner had the small cabin door shut behind him, the marine radio started to scream beep, beep, beep. This is the NOAA weather service issuing a small craft advisory for Lake Superior and surrounding waters. A fast moving front, out of the northeast is approaching with winds gusting to 40 mph, producing waves up to 15 feet. It will reach the Knife River Marina at 10:05 A.M. Friday, April 9th, 2011. Repeat, this is the NOAA weather service with a small craft advisory. Take immediate shelter. This storm is fast moving....

Meranda's muscles flooded with adrenaline as fear ripped through every fiber of her body. She felt like letting go of the steering wheel to get Pete when he emerged from the kid-size door of the cabin. His eyes scanned the horizon and settled on the fast approaching wall of terror.

"Meranda," Pete yelled over the howl of the wind.  "We are not going to make it back to the marina, or the safe harbor, were too far out."

Pete heard the alarm in his voice and quickly regained his composure. Looking at the fear on her face, he felt compelled to reassure her that they were going to be okay. "It's going to get rough, but I have weathered worse storms." Pete glanced at the storm trying to gauge how long it would take to reach them.

     Sitting quietly back down, Meranda looked as the peaceful glass surface began to break into rhythmic waves.
     In the next moment, the boat jerked sharply to the right throwing Meranda on the floor. The tossing and turning made the cabin cruiser feel like they were playing London Bridges between the now larger more violent waves.

     "What do you need me to do?" Meranda offered head high with her shoulders back, she was ready to take orders.

     "Theres nothing we can do, but ride it out. I'll drop the anchor for added stabilization. The cabin has seats with harness', it's the safest place to be. You might get seasick with waves this high." Pete tried to prepare her for what may well be the ride of her life. "All the equipment is locked-in place down below."

     Pete radiated confidence. His eyes shined, and his hair danced in the wind. Meranda noticed his eyes had changed color and were now a dark blue. Something was different about him as he anticipated the danger. He connected in some way to the approaching storm.

     Without warning, the boat twisted, then swirled on the wave that had captured them. The organized mound of water began to lift the cruiser like a toy boat as they climbed higher and higher, until all Meranda could see was the sky. The wave spun the boat 180 degrees before it dissolved, dropping the boat on its side.

The boat corrected itself to an upright position as the vessel shifted, and sent anything not nailed down slamming to the front. With a death grip, Meranda locked her fingers around the railing to keep from going overboard.