Cedar Sentinel 2013-2014 Issues January 2014: Volume 47 Issue 4 | Page 15

Merciless Ocean (Cont’d)
William Herlihey

part 3 of 6

“Then we had better get back, shouldn’t we sis? It’ll be
dark within a few hours.”
Imogen looks at him funny but does not object. I watch
as the two of them walk off. When I am a fair distance
away from them, I turn and sprint to my shelter. I get
there, and push my boat with shaky hands, onto the
beach. When I reach the sand, I immediately collect as
many edible clams or shells as possible. At the edge of
the jungle, I collect bananas, pineapples, coconuts, and
mangos. I load up my boat with everything I can find
that would be useful; clean water (duh!), my medical
kit, a few plants that I know to help cure minor sickness,
and a few palm fronds to cover it all with should it rain.
I spend the night sleeping in my little boat, on the
shore. I would never set sail at night; too dangerous.
The morning comes; I think about what they said. Voda
monsters? Without wasting time, at first light, I use all
my strength to push my little rowboat into the sea. The
water initially pushes the boat back, nearly knocking
me over. But in a few seconds, the ocean’s long fingers
draw the red rowboat out. I hop into it, and set sail.
It was a mistake going to that island, but what can I
say? I tried. Not only that, I did it. I made it to where
I wanted to go, but that wasn’t enough. Nothing really is ever “enough.” There was something so wrong
about that place. I can’t be happier to be away from it.
It’s midday when I notice a ship in the distance, but not
like the ones that I have encountered before. This is not
a boat with stragglers, or people who are decimated and
hungry. No, this boat has aim. It is not wandering the
ocean; it is traveling it, and more importantly, to me. I
try to row away, for this is not a peaceful ship. I think
they are the sea bandits I have heard about. There are
all kinds of groups of them. The boat is at least a hundred feet long and thirty feet tall. A couple of guys hurl
ropes over the sides and leap into the open water. They
crawl over the side of my boat. I scream, taking the
oar in my hand. I strike each person repeatedly, putting up a good fight. But there are too many of them.
It takes five guys to subdue me, but they finally do it.
The biggest guy, who must be the captain, looks down
at me from his boat. “Going somewhere?” he asks. And
I am hauled onto their ship; I am being taken away.

My New Year’s
Resolution
Nyalouk Pal

A new day, a new dawn and
of course, a new year. 2014,
wow, I never guessed that we
would be saying that year.
Well, you know, because the
world was suppose to end in
2012. Hmm…I guess those
Mayans were wrong. Anyway, let’s look at the highlights for a New Year. Life
becomes better and plus we
have to wait a whole 365
days for the earth to orbit
around the sun. God has
indeed blessed us this past
year for us to continue our
lives with hopeful peace in
2014. Now is the year for
us to redeem and make ourselves better in the eyes of the
Almighty. Question: How
can you improve yourself
this year you ask? Answer:
By asking God to change
you from the inside