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Lost at Sea... Kind Of

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Lost at Sea… Kind Of



I laughed even though Louis looked worried.

"Come on, Louis, I already got chicken pox." I said and threw the car up into the air. I caught it skillfully with one hand. "I'm gonna be fine!" Louis watched me toss the blue car up again, nervous.

"Are you sure? I feel really terrible, and I don't want you to get sick, too," he said. I nodded. He played with a clump of his hair, looking at me as I put down the toy car and picked up the joystick remote control that would make it go. But I jammed my finger against the stick, and the car wouldn't budge.

"What's wrong with this thing?" I asked Louis.

"I think it's broken." He said through a yawn. "I accidently stepped on the antenna a few days ago. But it wasn't working well for a couple days before that." He closed his eyes, puzzled and tired. "I don't know what's wrong with it. And I was going to take it to Lydia and Alexander's when I got better."

"Oh." I was feeling sympathetic, so I took a black and white ball from the toy bin to lob it at my best friend, whose eyes flew open.

"Hey!" He said, irritated. I just grinned at him.

"At least this'll never stop working, yeah? You wanna play football?"

"I'm too tired." Louis said. I had to believe him at least halfway 'cause he rolled over and pulled the yellow blanket over his head, making the ball fall and roll back to me. "Mama wants me to sleep, too. And I can't play ball in the house, so we'd have to go outside, and Mama doesn't want me outside, but even if I did go outside-"

"Okay, okay." I said. I practiced some foot-to-foot passes with myself before looking up and saying, "You know, when you're better, we need to get back to football drills. You're good at passes, but your shots are horrible. Plus, if we're gonna shine at our next swim meet, we're gonna need to step up our game, no? I'm going down to the beach later to practice." I kicked the ball up into my hands. "Louis?" I ran over to him and, putting my hands on his bed, craned over and peered at his face where his chicken pox were starting to fade away. He was asleep. I backed up slowly and was turning to leave when my foot touched the toy car that didn't work.

"I can fix this thing," I thought. It and its remote were in my hand, and I was out the door with it before I could stop myself. "Besides, we're friends, allies, comrades-in-arms. We have to look after each other. That's what real sailors do. " I waved to Louis's mama, pocketing the car. "I'll take it, fix it, and surprise him! " It made me so happy to be able to get Louis a get-well present, I decided I'd fix it at the beach right before I practiced swimming.

I had my swimming trunks on, so when I took off my shirt, I was ready to go in the water. You see, I'm not exactly supposed to swim without supervision, but that's silly! Real sailors don't need supervision, and I am a bona fide sailor. My favourite place to swim is in the deepest part where the soft sand slope down to meet the big blue and the rocks go down for dozens of feet. It's more suitable for a navy-worth boy like me, no?

I stood knee-deep with Louis's toy car, turning it and trying to figure out what was wrong with it, but I couldn't find any actual flaws. I left the remote on the sand. Stepping on the antenna wouldn't make it stop working, I'm sure of that.

"What's wrong with this thing?" I muttered. I lost track of time, and nothing I could think of was doing anything, and I was starting to get mad. How am I, Pierre Hutchinson, soon-to-be sailor, Master of Sword and Sea, supposed to give my sick comrade a gift if I can't fix the gift?!

"Come on! Think, you clod! Think! Think! Think! "

"Je pense! (I'm thinking!)" I shot at no one.

"Hey, Pierre!" said a boy's English voice.

I whipped around. Alexander! Louis was going to bring the car over to his and his sister's house! I dropped the car in the water so he wouldn't see. "I thought I'd find you here. I just ran into your mum by Célestin's Pier while I was running some errands for my dad," said Alexander, "and she wants you-."

"-me home for supper, yes?" He nodded. "Yeah. Umm…" My eyes dropped to the water, but the car was nowhere to be found in the deep blue. It's a little silly the car doesn't float. If it was a boat, it wouldn't have had that problem. Suddenly, I remembered Mama and jerked my head up. "Yes, I'm going now. Thanks!"

Alexander followed me off the beach and towards my home where he waved me goodbye for a nervous salute in return. I'd picked up the remote, but I still didn't have the car, which was probably drifting with the plankton to places where it shouldn't be and where I couldn't get it back.

"But of course, I'll get it back," I thought, changing into drier clothes. "I can just go swimming tomorrow and pick it up. Diving's not a problem for me. And the thing's airtight. The batteries won't get wet or anything. I'll be fine, and so will the car. " I came downstairs to supper with a much brighter outlook on the promise of tomorrow's diving expedition.

The next day after school, my chance came. I ducked past Lydia and Alexander, ignoring their waving me over. Running towards the beach, I took my uniform top off, and finally, the beach looked like it was getting closer. The waters were calm. I was there. The remote control for the car was safe at home, so my focus could stay on finding the car and not keeping Lydia and Alexander from finding out about Louis's car.

With a neat splash, I plunged headfirst into the pool I dropped the car in. I'm a good swimmer, so this shouldn't be a big deal. I went down, farther than Mama ever lets me, and kicked to the lowest point I could see in. An overhang blocked out light. Louis's toy car would sink rather than float, so I swam into darker waters to feel around on the rocky bottom. My hand touched something smooth. The car! Relieved, I swam upwards. "Mission accomplished." I thought contentedly. I gave the car a squeeze. "Well done, sailor." My head broke the surface of the big blue, and I took in breaths of fresh air.

But… the "car" was a rock. I stared at it, furious. I felt tricked! I scanned the water and rocks below me, still trying to catch my breath. I went down again and came up with what should've been the car, but it was another rock. I went down for a third time in vain. With each dive, the water seemed to be getting darker and darker. By the tenth dive, it was hard to see ten feet down. "Come on! Where is it?! " I wondered, shivering on the surface of the water. I felt like Sméagol and Gollum running around for the Ring. Lying awake that night, I felt guilty, and the thought of the car at the bottom of that rock pool being pushed around and poked at by curious fish made me shudder.

What if it would be underwater forever? What if I couldn't get it back? I rolled over. What was I gonna tell Louis? I let him down, and he didn't even know it. "I can't just give up. I AM going to find that car. " I buried myself into the blankets, burning that promise into my mind.
But the next day got me nothing. And neither did the next day. I counted four days that I was looking for that car, but I never found it. And inevitably, Louis had to get better. And he did. I tried to avoid him all day in school. After school, I slipped into Rosario's District, my neighborhood populated by mostly people from Italian families, and ducked into the crowded Célestin's Pier to avoid our normal route by the fish mongers. But he found me somehow anyway by the edge of the dock.

"Why are you avoiding me?" he asked, hurt.

"I…" I hesitated, scratching my right arm raw. I didn't wanna be rude, but I was avoiding him. "Nothing really. I-I guess I didn't notice! C' est la vie! (That's life!)" I smiled real big, but he didn't look any happier. My smile disappeared. "Let's move, yeah? We're in the way." Louis and me pushed our way through the pack of workers and walked towards an alley between a few homes. When we left the wood and touched cobblestone, Louis faced me again. "You were after me for some reason, no? So what is it?"

"A few things. I wanted some help with my Greek history," he began, and inside, I breathed a sigh of relief. "I figured your parents taught you about Greece because your papa's Greek, so it's part of your heritage." I nodded vigorously. "And I wanted to take-"

"-that car over to Lydia and Alexander's, but you can't find it!" I blurted out. He was more surprised than I was.

"Yes," said Louis warily. He put one of his hands in his pockets, watching me shift weight from foot to foot. "How did you know?" I didn't say anything. "You know where it is?"

"Well, uh- Yes. I did. But I'll tell you why!" I rushed because Louis's shocked and angry face intensified.

"You stole it?!"

"No, no! Not really! L-Listen." I said, waving my hands. "I took it because I wanted to fix it. We're best friends! I'd never steal from you! I just took it to work on it and to surprise you when you got better. Not in any way underhanded, is it?" Louis looked a little less angry as he jerked his head to one side.

"So where is it?" asked my best friend. My heart dropped. He said again, "Where is it?"

"I l-lost it." I said without thinking.

"What do you mean, you lost it?!" Louis's face wasn't just mad. He looked distressed.

"I-I mean- Like I said," I stuttered, "it was supposed to be a surprise, and that Alexander snuck up on me, and I had to do away with it quick, you know? So… I dropped it… in the… water…" I trailed off at the stunned look on Louis's face. Someone came out of their house, and we moved deeper into the alley. "Sorry. I thought it would be a nice surprise."

"No, that's not a nice surprise!" he snapped. "That car you stole was my eighth birthday present!" I stopped moving.

"It-It was?"

"Yes, it was! My birthday was two months ago! And I don't remember you remembering my birthday either."

"It was?" I said again. I couldn't have felt guiltier. I totally forgot his birthday, even though he never forgot mine. In my defense, I said, "You know, I was going diving every day to find it, and I don't plan on stopping." He just stared at me.

"It was my favourite and I was going to take it to the toy shop to get it fixed. I decided that a couple days ago."

"W-Well," I stuttered, "the tide's probably going to wash it ashore any day now."

"No, it would have floated too far down," said my friend hopelessly. "It couldn't wash up. It's too heavy." I thought hard, teetering on the balls of my feet.

"Alright, maybe it's jammed between some rocks or something."

"If you have really been diving for it every day, you would have found it by now if that were true." He said. His quivering mouth was turned down like he was going to cry, but his eyes were glaring. "Face it. You lost my birth-"

"You know," I said, losing my temper, "if that car were a boat, it would be floating! And if it were a boat, you would've had proper pride about it and would not have left it lying around."

"You don't even care that you lost my birthday present!"

"I do, but you're being so hopeless!" I said, waving my arms, so annoyed. But my annoyance turned to alarm when Louis burst into tears and ran away, screaming "I don't wanna talk to you! Just leave me alone!" Frozen, I watched him disappear, in tears, around a house. I was mad at myself. A real friend would never have said that. But Louis was gone, and there was nothing I could do about it, so I went to the beach. It was the original plan before we, Louis and I, ran into each other. I went dragging my feet, and there were deep sand trails following me to the water. I had to find it now, no matter the cost, if I was going to save our friendship.

I plunged in with a gasp and instantly started shaking. The water was freezing, and there wasn't any light to see by, but I had no choice. I had to find it. I took a huge breath and dived. I swam down, trying not to hyperventilate. My hand started running along the rocky walls under the overhanging stone. I couldn't find anything. I was starting to run out of air, but I couldn't think about that. I was sure by now, I'd searched the whole right side of this underwater rock bank.

"Gauche (Left)," I thought and paddled to my port side. I was losing energy because my air was running out. The left side was bumpier than the right, and there were more crevasses to slide my hand into. Louis's car wasn't in any of the ones I searched in, and it was difficult to search around the sea life. I was already under for over 30 seconds. I was shivering horribly as I ran both hands over the rocks on the bottom of the cavern. To my horror, I felt my hands going numb. My lungs screamed for air, but I had to keep going! What was left of my sight was going fuzzy, but I've heard of real, live mermaids holding their breath for several minutes, so if I can't measure up to the standards of a sailor, I'll measure up to the  powers of the legendary mermaid.

My lungs were screaming for air, but I knew in my heart that I was close to finding that car. I had to. But in the end, I gave in. My head reached the surface, and I floated, coughing and spluttering, relieved I got to air in time but disappointed in myself. I let my friend down. Any real sailor wouldn't have gotten into this mess, and if they did, they would have been able to get out of it. I felt a sob in my throat, but I fought it down. I said it before, I'll say it again: real sailors don't cry. Paddling back through the water was painful, because the water was so cold. Plus, Mama and Papa must be worried sick, it's gotten that dark. I pulled myself up onto the sand. I had to admit it. Louis's car was gone, and it wasn't coming back.

That was the last time I went looking for Louis's birthday present. For the next two days, I was the one avoiding Louis this time. Our paths didn't cross unless they had to, and when they did, we ignored each other. Those 48 hours were filled with unease, ignorance, and avoidance. Our eyes didn't even meet. I'd had enough rancor. I wanted my best friend back.

It rained during those two days, and the cobblestone streets were sleek with wetness. My neighborhood, especially, had rainwater pooling in the roads. Certain fish come to the surface during and after rain, so the local fishing business was doing very well. Papa didn't want me to be ill; he wouldn't let me outside while it was raining heavily. But when just a light drizzle fell over Port par l'Océan (Port by the Ocean), I walked towards the Henri Francois home. I took a detour towards Célestin's Pier to stay away from the ankle deep puddles in my neighborhood's streets. Near the dock, I weaved through the fishermen and boaters to get to the other, less crowded side. Everyone here knows me, and they gave me their greetings, a few in languages I didn't know.

A small figure caught my eye. My belly flipped. It was Louis, fishing by himself. We didn't fish together a lot, but seeing him alone and hunched over by an empty bucket made me sad. Louis turned when he heard my shoes on the dock. He didn't say anything when I sat down next to him. Neither did I. We didn't look at each other either. The memory of our argument still hurt. The bobber of his fishing rod floated on the surface of the grey water. The busy pier wasn't on my mind now, but I didn't know how to start a conversation with my best friend. I hadn't talked to him in days, after all, yes? Luckily, I didn't have to.

"The fish aren't biting very well," said Louis flatly.

"Yeah," I said in the same tone.

"It might be the bait I'm using."

"Maybe." I said. "You are using shrimp, no?"

"Worms."

"Oh." Louis sat still, but my legs kicked restlessly. But then I supposed kicking would scare away fish, so I stopped to take up grinding my knuckles together instead. A few minutes into watching him, I saw Louis's bobble go down and in a moment, he pulled up a trout. I wanted to jump up and cheer, but I thought that would be too much for now. "That looks like it's 11 inches."

"It is, isn't it?" he said, examining the fish. He sounded a wee bit happier.

"You um," I started, "still have Greek history you need help with?" I'd like to think I saw him smile for a teeny second.

"Yeah." Louis sat back down. "I'm going to be here for a while longer, though."

"I can wait." I risked a small grin, and I was relieved to get one back, even if it was smaller. We sat on the dock for about an hour and a half, mostly not saying anything, and we had to move when a bigger company came and nudged us along. With two fish, Louis and me went to his house, where I gave him some advice on his history of Greece. And we actually had a little fun. I went home only when he reminded me that Mama would be waiting for me.

Before school, I found the now useless remote control for the car broke my piggy bank and took all the money to the toy shop. I bought the most expensive toy car I could: a little wooden automobile. It wasn't much, but at least it was something. I only had a few coins left in my pocket when I'd paid and ran to Louis's neighborhood. If I'd been a few minutes late, I would have missed him.

"Oh, hi!" he called when he saw me coming. He was dressed and walking to school. "What's that?" He was pointing at the toy car under my arm.

"This? Well…" I took it from under my arm. "I just bought this." I held the joystick and car out to him, but he didn't take it. He just looked confused. "You know, I know it's kind of late and the joystick doesn't work for anything anymore, but… happy birthday?" Louis took both slowly. "I'm not trying to buy back any friendship or anything!" I said quickly. "And this isn't nearly as cool as the one I… lost, but I just thought I'd try and make up for missing your birthday." I smiled, feeling awkward. Louis nodded, still looking at the car. Then he raised his head.

"I know. I really do like it! Merci (Thank you)." He said, smiling. "We should probably hurry up so we get to school on time." He started walking again, and I followed him.

"Friendship renewed." I thought. "Mission accomplished."

"You know, Pierre," said Louis, "you're kind of supposed to take the price tag off the gift before you give it away." I looked at the car. €7.73 stared back at me.

"Oh, yeah…"
Yeah, this is my contest entry for :iconzephyramotou:'s contest. Yeah, I know it's too long, but I couldn't edit it anymore without messing up the story or eliminating Pierre's persona traits, and I'm supposed to submit this as one thing. :| When whoever's gonna win wins, I'll break this up into more readable chunks.

But, my GOD, I am glad I'm finally done with this. I actually started with another story that was several pages long until I realized that it was terrible, and I decided to write a completely different story. :hmm: So... yeah.
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StarsOfCASSiOPEiA's avatar
It may have been a bit long, but I really enjoyed this piece. Great job! :)

The tying in of all the sailor-style elements is just great, love your similes and the little bits of nautical knowledge here and there. Helps you get into the mindset of the characters. And awwww, that price tag thing at the end was a clever and very cute way to end it, great job!