Perchance to Dream

By Emma Davis

“To sleep – perchance to dream: ay there’s a rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come,” –Hamlet (III, i)

Chapter 1

Water

Catherine looked once again at the endless ocean. The sail boat that her sister, Elizabeth, her best friend, George, and herself had been sailing for a month rested a half mile off shore. The sun beat down on her skin for the first time in a week and she was enjoying the brilliant sunshine. When Catherine and Elizabeth left that morning for the shore clouds spanned over the sky and Catherine believed that the day of exploring on this seemingly uninhabited island would be wasted.

It was a strange day. Not in the way that the weather was acting, but truly strange. When Catherine had woken up that morning and life had been routine. George was already up top with Elizabeth guiding the boat through the grey waters. Catherine said her morning greetings and set about making coffee and breakfast. The radio would not come in this morning because the boat was too far from any inhabited shore. So, Catherine slipped a CD of 40’s music and continued her work.

Her day always continued in the same way. It included cooking, cleaning, relaxing, reading, and chatting. But today the water wouldn’t turn on, her books were all somewhere where Catherine didn’t feel like going, and they were no where near any charted shore. Then the mysterious island appeared in the distance. Nothing that seems to out of the ordinary, but to a girl who was used to her strict routine and land masses where, when she landed, she could buy groceries.

Catherine made her way down the long stretch of sand towards a cave whose mouth stood perfectly open at the end of the sea. Taking off her shoes, Catherine walked through the water to the caves opening and looked inside. It was a long tunnel and turned at one point. Water dripped from the walls into the moist sand. Catherine pressed the button on her radio to talk with her companions, “Hey guys, I’m going to explore this cave over here.”

Elizabeth’s voice crackled onto the radio, “Be back before high tide, Cathy, or you’ll drown.”

Paul joined in as well, “And high tide is soon.”

Catherine walked into the mouth of the cave, which sloped downward into the earth. She continued down to the turn of the cave. The moist sand slanted down and ended at a sandstone wall. Catherine ran her hand across the stone. Her hand grazed something sharp and she drew it away quickly. It took her a moment to realize that were the shard on the wall was actually a thin crevice. Catherine tried to look into the crevice but it was far to thin.

Entranced in her world, Catherine failed to notice the water that was washing around her knees. Leaning carefully forward, Catherine took another careful look into the crevice. She noticed a glint of white but other than that all was dark.

There was an odd pushing sensation at Catherine’s feet. In an instant she realized that the tide was crashing around her shoulders. It took her a moment more to adjust to the situation. As quickly as she could, Catherine pushed away from the ground and the wall. She forced herself to swim toward the mouth of the cave. However, this proved to be a difficult task. The tide was pushing her into the wall and the water was continually rising.

Catherine let out a scream. She knew the rushing of the water was too loud to let her scream be heard above its roar. Her kicks became fiercer as an attempt to escape. The tide was stronger than Catherine though. With a strong wave, she was dragged underneath the dark waves.

Catherine pushed her head through the unforgiving waters. In the short amount of time that she had been in the cave the water had risen greatly until there was barely a space between the caves ceiling and the relentless waters surface. The tide bashed her back against the cave wall, pulling her once more down into the waters depths. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Catherine to remain above the surface.

Once more she broke the surface and sucked in a great gulp of air. A wave of dizziness overcame her this time. In a final effort, Catherine unleashed a loud scream before the dark, warm water took her to its depths. Catherine thought there was a chance of her escape under the water. Unfortunately, the current continued to push her back into the wall. With an incredible effort, Catherine managed to make it around the curve of the cave before the dizziness took over her thoughts.

Moments later her throat began to burn. She wanted to scream. If there was one thing she hoped never to do, it was drown. Her head was pounding with the pressure and she felt as if she would explode (which would probably more pleasant than the uncontrollable pain surging through her body). Her whole body was being crushed under the weight of world and no one was coming to save her.

Things began to flash around her. Fish were darting around her. Black shapes were coming and going. Something brushed Catherine’s arm. In response, she opened her mouth. On top of the pain, water was now pouring through her. She was quickly losing the will to fight. One singular blurred thought crossed her mind, “Hold on Catherine… coming… drown…can’t.”

Even her thoughts were losing sense. The world around darkened. Catherine felt her body hit the wall at the back of the cave once more. With that, Catherine’s whole world went black and Catherine Shaw was gone.