When Worlds Collide: Book One, Water

I woke up to the sound of buzzing.
I reached over and turned my alarm clock before it really started to blare.
Ugh, five in the morning.
On a Saturday... in the summer .
But, it’ll all be worth it when I get to my grandparents farm in Missouri. They had everything...
Cows, horses, chickens... you name it.
But my personal favorite was the gardens.
They had a vegetable garden, a flower garden, wheat fields... I could go on forever.
Quickly, I took my shower, brushed my teeth and all that stuff. I got dressed, wearing simple black basketball shorts and a red tank top.
I slipped on my tennis shoes, and went downstairs to eat.
Mom and Dad were already up. I looker over at Danny’s chair and saw that he too was... well, kinda awake. He would doze off, and at the last second, he would jerk up right, only to fall asleep again.
I smiled as I passed him, and grabbed an apple. “When are we leaving for the airport?” I asked Dad.
He shrugged. “When does your flight leave again?” he asked.
I opened my mouth to answer, but Mom beat me to it.
“Her flight leaves at ten,” she said, not looking up from the papers she was looking at.
“Ten? Then why did I get up so early?” Dad asked, looking up from the newspaper.
Mom laughed. “How could you forget about the security check thing?”
I watched as my parents bickered. I giggled as they went back and forth, just joking with each other.
Sooner or later, they finally stopped, and realized the time.
It was only six, but if we wanted to beat traffic, we had to leave now. So I ran up the steps to my room, and grabbed my bags.
“Ready?” Mom asked when I came down the stairs.
I smiled. “Ready.”
And we were off.

I sighed as a woman’s voice came on over the intercom.
“Attention passengers, we have ten minutes before take off. Please find your seat, and be ready to take off,” it said.
I sighed again. I’ve been stuck on this plane for half and hour already. Yea Mom, brilliant idea. Show up to the airport three hours early...
I looked out the window, watching the people run all over the place.
I loved planes. I loved to look out the window while we passed all the landscapes. All the beautiful hills and valleys...
Just not rivers.
Or lakes.
Or anything related to water. I hated it. I couldn’t swim, and didn’t plan on learning anytime soon. It was my biggest fear, water. It was too... wet. And it was way to easy to drown...
Danny loved swimming. I always worry when he gets close to the water. Eventually, Mom and Dad just stopped letting me go with them to the pool. And believe me, I was not complaining.
I can my entire life without going near water... except to shower of course.
“Please fasten your seatbelts folks, we are now taking off,” the same female voice said from earlier. “Next stop, Missouri.”

I fell asleep several times on the plane.
In fact, the only thing I really remember about the flight was once, when one of those ladies came by and woke me up, asking if I wanted anything.
Yea, I wanted to say, I want to go back to sleep.
Instead, I shook my head politely and said no.
When the plane landed, and we were free to go, I quickly left.
When I entered the lobby, I looked around for my grandparents. I stood on my tip toes, searching all over the place. Curse my short hight.
Before I could really see anything, I was attacked by two sets of arms squeezing the life out of me. I laughed and hugged back.
Nan was the first to pull back, studying me.
“Young lady, you better stop growing on us,” she said.
I laughed. “Nan, I’ve hardly grown since Christmas,” I said.
“That’s what you always say,” Papa said.
“You’ve gotten so tall...,” Nan said.
“Remind me to saw those legs off some time this summer,” Papa said, laughing.
I rolled my eyes at them. “You guys always overreact,” I told them.
Nan smiled. “Lets go get your luggage dear,” she said, and lead me over to the luggage check in thing.

I rested my head on the window. We had been driving for an hour, and still had an hour and a half to go.
Just one of the few disadvantages of your grandparents living in the middle of no where.
Oh well... it was totally worth it.
“So Sammy, tell us, what’s new?” Nan asked.
I bit my lip. Should I tell them?
“Nothing really... I just barely passed my finals, but you know,” I said shrugging.
Papa sighed, but he was smiling. “Sam, what happened? You used to be a straight A student,” Papa said.
Nan smiled at me through the mirror. “I bet I know what happened,” she said knowingly. “I bet that boyfriend of hers was distracting her, wasn’t it?” she asked.
I winced. “Um... actually Nan, we kinda... broke up,” I said.
Nan gaped. “Cody? Cody Michael?” she asked.
“Yea... I kinda caught him cheating on me yesterday,” I said.
Papa swerved a little bit, causing me to jump.
“He did what now?” he asked.
I smiled softly. “Yea... but I’m ok. I’m totally ok with it,” I said, wondering if I was actually trying to reassure myself, or them.
It was silent for a while, I looked back out at the sky. It was night time, and without all the city lights, I could easily see all of the stars. I started looking at the constellations, trying to remember the names.
There was the big dipper... or was it the little dipper?
And there was the Capricorn sign, my zodiac.
I gazed up at the sky, wishing that I could really fly, without a stupid plane or helicopter.
“So when we get home, I was thinking after we unpack your things, we could-“ Nan started, but Papa cut her off.
“We’re gonna stop and eat soon though, right?” he asked.
I laughed. Leave it to Papa to bring up food every chance he got.
Nan sighed. “Yes, we can stop somewhere and eat,” she said. “But just go to a drive through or something, it’s to late to go in anywhere.”
“Now, I’m not going through some drive through that sells fake food,” he said. “If we stop somewhere, it’ll be a place that actually cooks the food.”
“Well then you can wait until we get home,” Nan said.
I chuckled and shook my head.
They bickered just like Mom and Dad.
Must be where Dad got it from...
I looked out the front windshield and my eyes widened. “Papa, look out!” I shouted right as the huge semi-truck slammed into the front of the car.
I felt the impact of the collision, and my head flew forward, then back. Nan screamed, and then Papa cursed.

Next thing I know, I’m falling.
I felt the coldness of water seep through my clothes before I registered the sound of a splash, and I felt the impact as I fell into water.
...Wait, water?
I panicked. My eyes flew open, and I started thrashing around. It was cold, freezing cold.
How did I get from the car to water?
I screamed as I felt myself slipping under the water. There was a splash off to my right, and a few seconds later I felt two strong, warm arms wrap around me.
I clung to the stranger, terrified of the water that was fighting to take my life away. I shoved my head into the strangers shoulder.
“Please, get me out of here,” I begged.
“Hang on,” the stranger replied.
He sounded like a teenager, with a kind of deep voice.
Next thing I know, we were lifted out of the water, suspended in the air. I looked down at the... sea? And whimpered. I gripped tighter to the stranger who saved me, and felt him wince.
A minute later, I felt like I was tossed onto a metal floor. I rolled over onto my hands and knees and started coughing.
“Your highness, are you ok?” I heard.
“I’m fine,” then stranger who had saved me replied.
I rolled back over onto my back, gasping. I was on a ship. How?
“Who are you?” someone asked.
I looked over to answer, but before I could open my mouth, I blacked out.