Abundance

Her fingers stretched and curled as she idly played with the water that surrounded their raft. Fish swam underneath, some grazed the surface but scattered as she reached out to touch them. She giggled and flicked the water from her fingers.

"What are you doing, Rosy?" Margot asked.

"There's fishes in the water!" Rosy said as she turned to look at her sister. "There's a lot of 'em."

"Really?" Margot laughed and watched as Rosy turned back to the water. She could not blame her; the water was mesmerizing and never before had it been in such abundance. The drought had lasted so many years... Her smile faltered. How was she supposed to tell her little sister that their parents were gone? How could she tell her that the waters she loved had claimed their parents' lives?

It would have to wait. They had to focus on surviving first. They had been travelling for days and it would be days still before they reach the refuge. Their supply of food was running scarce; the waters had claimed it all. Margot turned to regard the food they had left, only two energy bars and a packet of dried fruit. She would give it all to Rosy if it came to that, she sighed.

Margot turned back just in time to see Rosy jump back from the water with a yelp. Rosy flung herself into Margot's arms and hid her face.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Margot asked and rubbed circles on the sobbing child's back.

"There is a monster in the water. An ugly monster with big teeth," Rosy whispered.

Margot peered over the edge of the raft and stared into the eyes of a reptile, treading up along the raft. She laughed and set Rosy at the edge of the raft.

"It's not a monster, it's a water monitor."

"Can I touch it?" Rosy reached out towards it but the reptile darted off into the distance. She giggled and splashed water after it.

The reptile disappeared on the horison. Margot sighed but her eyes fell upon a boat coming toward them. She jumped to her feet and waved to get their attention. The boat slowed to a stop beside their float.

"Where are you heading?" the captain asked.

"The refuge," Margot said.

"You're heading in the wrong direction," he said. "The refuge is a day's travel away. You can come along with us, we were heading there ourselves." Margot frowned, had they travelled in circles that whole time?

Margot nodded and grabbed the last of their food as she helped Rosy to her feet. The captain offered his hand and helped them onto the boat while his crew tied the raft to the side of the boat. Margot smiled her thanks and sat at the back of the boat with Rosy in her arms.

The boat cruised steadily as the time passed and the sun started to set. Margot grew anxious, they hadn't seen any sign of the refuge yet and night was coming fast. Travelling at night made Margot even more anxious. Aquatic predators came out at night, always hungry and always desperate.

Margot stood and carefully untangled Rosy's limbs from her. She left Rosy sleeping and headed towards the captain's cabin. Surely he would have known how long of a journey remained. She froze outside his cabin; the captain was arguing with someone.

"...they need not know of our plan, they'll be disposed of soon enough after all."

"Why did you pick them up in the first place?" another man asked.

"We need the food, the refuge would have us killed if we return."

Margot gasped and ran to Rosy. She shook her sister awake and packed their food in a bag. She helped Rosy onto their raft and cut the rope that connected the raft to the boat. The water was cold and she had to force herself into it. Margot grabbed ahold of the raft and started to pedal away from the boat. Whatever predator came for them that night she prayed would leave Rosy unharmed.

XXX

Morning came and Margot found herself curled up on the raft with Rosy in her arms. Her wet clothes still clung to her skin. She quickly sat up and searched around her. There were no signs of the captain or his boat. Margot smiled and hugged Rosy to her chest. The child stirred from her sleep and smiled up at her sister. Rosy rubbed at her eyes and hugged Margot again before she wriggled herself free and ran to the edge of the raft.

"Look!" Rosy cried and pointed into the distance. "There's a tree!"

Margot's head snapped up and she couldn't believe what she saw. They had reached the refuge. Trees grew abundantly along the edge of the island, flowers of various colours decorated the earth and just a few feet in a man and a woman stood waving to get their attention.

Margot slipped back into the water and started to push the raft to shore. Rosy jumped into the water as they came ashore and sped off towards the people. Margot ran to stop her but froze as she found herself staring at her parents.

"Mommy, daddy!" Rosy cried and flung herself into her father's arms.