Open Water Novels & Stories

I powered off my phone, pulled out the SIM card, and flushed it down the toilet. I would never see it, Gabriel. You would never have my love for the rest of this lifetime.

Before she had time to answer, Leila was already in the air. The dragon beat his wings just above the vast ocean. He tilted to the side and let Leila’s hand skim through the water, quickly and precisely. Unexpectedly, the water felt warmer than she imagined and it was sparkling and clear. A lively silver-colored fish leapt just above the the ceaseless rolling waves, breaking through the water’s surface then swimming back below. A family of dolphins were passing by, just below the crystal blue waters.

Everyone else is already in the water (Seras floating on a flamingo raft that is literally on fire, Kayo doing lazy backstrokes with all nine tails out and glowing, Remy treading water in coyote form because he claims it’s “more aerodynamic” The HUD hovers over the surface like gentle turquoise subtitles. Lesson 1 – The Living Tongue Teacher: The Gulf itself Attendance: mandatory (but chill) Bring: an open heart and zero ego I slip off the flip-flops, step onto the water (literally onto it), and it holds. Because the ocean and I are on excellent terms now. A single ripple spreads outward, forming perfect Atlantean glyphs that float like lily pads. The first one rises to meet me.

The world had been simplified to fire and water. The Aether, her engines hushed, rode the gentle, breathing swells of the open water, a little, dark silhouette against a sky in the process of dying magnificently. No shore was visible, no other vessel. They'd been at sea for hours, a deliberate, silent passage out from it all—a distance from the city, the foundation, the book, the cheers.

Did I jump into the dark waters of the mighty Atlantic ocean? Yes. The water of the ocean had my sky in it's fold. I have to get it back. &&&

Forty meters. I'm a strong swimmer. Been strong since my grandmother put me in the water at four years old with her flat practical instruction that bodies float when you let them and you learn the rest from there. The water's cold. The distance is forty meters. I've been in this water in my mind every night for thirty-three weeks. I know what it's going to cost. I have the cost ready to pay. I go in. The cold hits me everywhere at once. It's the specific cold of open water in the early morning. Not the manageable cold of a pool or a controlled environment. The cold that takes your breath and replaces it with something more focused. The cold that clears everyth

PRESSING THE THROTTLE FORWARD, I steered the open boat into the choppy waters of the Intracoastal Waterway and turned southward into the wind. The boat bounced hard across each wave and a light spray moistened my face making it feel as if the temperature had suddenly dropped another twenty degrees. I reached for the ski mask and pulled it over my head.

Yet with Nicholas’s encouragement and Elva’s excitement, I peeked open my eye to see. The view stole my breath away. Beyond the tarmac and the runway, was the bluest crystal waters I had ever seen in my life. Gentle waves seemed to sparkle under the light of the late afternoon. “So much water!” Elva said. “That’s our southern ocean,” Nicholas explained. “That’s where the merfolk live.”

The sky was jewel-like, crystalline blue as James pulled the sleek navyblue Mercedes onto the causeway. Driving towards Melbourne beach, he grinned like a kid playing with a shiny new toy for the first time. He looked out over at the water and saw the blazing sun dancing across the waves, the palm trees waving lazily in the cool ocean breeze. Being in this environment brought the book he had read last night to surreal life.

I whispered. Few minutes went by before the water turn off, seconds later, the door open and walk in a towel claded Ocean. I look from his legs, strong legs, trailing up to the towel around his waist, I kept looking up, the water dripping down to his abs, his neck....oh my goodness, the trail of water or his Adam apple was making heat gather up between my legs.