Ruth Writes

She inhales the salty sea water from her safe perch, leaning against the railings of the cruise ship. She closes her eyes and lets the wind play with her hair. Looking at her from the outside, you would see a tranquil vision; a woman having a moment with the ocean. On closer inspection, you would see her knuckles whitened from the death grip she has on the railings as she fights with her fear of wide ocean spaces and attempts to enjoy her newfound freedom. She has escaped. She is free. She is on the way to her new life, whatever that may look like.

‘Katie.’ A voice sounds behind her making her jump. She whips around and steps away from the rails as if they have burned her. Her eyes lock on the source of the voice and her blood runs cold. She becomes acutely aware of how far away she is from the rest of the inhabitants on the ship. It had felt like a good idea when she was celebrating alone but now, with him here, she was regretting ever having moved away from the crowd. She shouldn’t have let her guard down.

‘Did you think it would be that easy to get away from me?’ he asks, tilting his head and leaning against the rails she had just been holding. Shocked into silence, she doesn’t respond. In a choice between fight or flight, her body has chosen that third option everyone forgets exists: freeze. He laughs as he watches her frozen in fear, eyes darting everywhere to try to figure an escape plan but who is she kidding? She’s stuck on this ship with him in the middle of the ocean. There is no escape. She’s screwed. The small taste of freedom she had earlier has vanished from her tongue. He takes a step towards her.

‘You’re never going to get rid of me, Katie,’ he says, lowly. With a force that she didn’t know she could muster, her body suddenly bursts into fight mode. She lunges forward and registers the shock on his face just as her hands make contact with his chest. She uses all of her body weight to shove him backwards until he stumbles and falls overboard. She freezes once again, as if what had just happened was a fever dream, but then she hears the loud, echoey splash of his body hitting the water.

Trembling all over, she takes the rail in her hand and peers over. She can’t see anything in the darkness that is the sky and the ocean merged into one. She starts to laugh, an overwhelming euphoria flooding through her. She’s never felt more alive. Now, she is free. He thought he had her cornered on this ship, but he forgot that cornered animals tend to fight back, no matter the cost. She leans along the rail, no longer as afraid of the ocean. It has helped her take back her freedom. She smiles into the darkness.