Lost at Sea

The water was leaking in faster than Jasper could scoop it out. It gushed through the bars and through a small hole by his shoulder, but he still didn’t have a way out of that cage.

He glanced to the side. What if he could kick the hole and break the boards around to make it bigger? He decided he didn’t have a choice. He was not going to just let himself die.

Jasper braced himself against the wall on the other side of his narrow jail cell and slammed his foot into the hole. A small chunk of the wood chipped off, but it was still no larger than his fist. He grit his teeth and shoved his wet hair out of his face. He tried again and again until his foot was tingling and the hole was large enough for maybe his head.

He growled in frustration as the water level rose to cover the hole. It slowed his kicks until they were barely hitting the wall. It seemed to be rising faster than before then, lifting to cover his chest, then his chin, and then Jasper was struggling to keep his head above the water.

“I will not die like this!” He snarled to himself. He took a deep breath and dove back down, then used both of his feet to slam into the hole yet again. At last, the hole was just barely large to let Jasper out.

Beautiful women swam through the water, snatching up sailors who seemed dazed and confused. Jasper didn’t see a sign of Eleanor, however, and started for the surface. His lungs were already burning, and he was so much deeper than he’d thought.