wave burst around her chest and broke on the shore behind her, its white foam glistening in the fight of the moon.
Leonard walked to the edge of the sand and looked out across the water. They were on the south side of the island fronting the Gulf, and wave after wave rolled in. Wave after wave for as far as he could see. He listened to the wind whistling, felt it blowing against his high forehead, and whipping his tousled hair at the very top of his head. A wave breaking offshore made a particularly loud crashing sound.
“Leonard.”
Stella was up to her shoulders now, standing part of the time, floating when a swell passed by, lifting her and then lowering her again.
“Come on, Leonard!”
He didn’t think so. In fact, it was starting to make him a little nervous that Stella was out there.
“Stella.”
* * *
Stella smiled and threw back her wet hair as she rose high on a wave, higher than the beach, its brilliant white sand glistening like snow.
She went down and came up with the next wave—and the beach began to dim. She looked toward the sky and saw a thick cloud beginning to pass across the moon. The water around her began to pull gently at her legs. She looked over her shoulder into the night turning into a black void behind her. An unnerving feeling passed over her.
“Leonard.”
He shouted something back, but his words were lost in the crashing of the waves along the beach. She leaned forward and began to paddle slowly in its direction, purposely not stroking too fast, afraid too quick a pace might jolt her nervous feeling into something even stronger. But with her body flat in the water now, she no longer felt the pull at her legs and she began to relax as she stroked.
It came up behind her. If it had been daylight, the clear water would have shown its fifty-foot length, its wide pectoral fins set straight out toward the side as if for balance, and its towering dorsal fin fully three feet out of the water.
Its head remained under the surface, directly behind her and a few feet under her body.
* * *
Leonard relaxed when he caught a glimpse of Stella coming closer toward shore. He smiled and took a long drink from the vodka bottle. The moonlight began to penetrate the trailing edge of the cloud now and Stella’s blond hair, even her white shoulders, began to reflect the illumination.
Behind her, something black began to rise out of the water.
Leonard’s eyes widened in shock.
The bottle fell from his hand.
The shape made a sudden lunge forward. Stella was swallowed whole from the rear to the front. No sound. A last glimpse of her blond hair. The great mouth closed.
The creature, dark and glistening, lay unmoving as the waves crashed around it and against it, its black, round eyes staring directly at Leonard.
Too paralyzed to move, Leonard nearly passed out. With a superhuman effort, he took a step backward. Another step. His body trembling as if he were standing naked in a hundred-degree-below-zero wind, he finally managed to turn—and ran.
“Aaaarrrgh!”
Sprinting through the night, still screaming though he didn’t realize he was, he crossed the sand. His boat was pulled up on the beach on the island’s Sound side. He jerked the small anchor out of the sand and threw it wildly toward the rear of the craft. He hit the bow so hard with his shoulder he nearly dislocated it. His feet digging into the sand, he pushed the boat backward out into the Sound.
He felt a chill as he sunk to his knees in the water, and he vaulted into the boat. Fumbling for the ignition, he finally found it, turned the key, and slammed the gear into reverse and jammed the throttle full forward.
The prop pulled so hard it momentarily lifted the bottom of the motor away from the boat. Then the craft leveled and shot backward, waves building behind it, slamming hard against its blunt shape and pouring water over the stern.
Leonard yanked the throttle back, jammed the gear forward, slammed the
Leonard walked to the edge of the sand and looked out across the water. They were on the south side of the island fronting the Gulf, and wave after wave rolled in. Wave after wave for as far as he could see. He listened to the wind whistling, felt it blowing against his high forehead, and whipping his tousled hair at the very top of his head. A wave breaking offshore made a particularly loud crashing sound.
“Leonard.”
Stella was up to her shoulders now, standing part of the time, floating when a swell passed by, lifting her and then lowering her again.
“Come on, Leonard!”
He didn’t think so. In fact, it was starting to make him a little nervous that Stella was out there.
“Stella.”
* * *
Stella smiled and threw back her wet hair as she rose high on a wave, higher than the beach, its brilliant white sand glistening like snow.
She went down and came up with the next wave—and the beach began to dim. She looked toward the sky and saw a thick cloud beginning to pass across the moon. The water around her began to pull gently at her legs. She looked over her shoulder into the night turning into a black void behind her. An unnerving feeling passed over her.
“Leonard.”
He shouted something back, but his words were lost in the crashing of the waves along the beach. She leaned forward and began to paddle slowly in its direction, purposely not stroking too fast, afraid too quick a pace might jolt her nervous feeling into something even stronger. But with her body flat in the water now, she no longer felt the pull at her legs and she began to relax as she stroked.
It came up behind her. If it had been daylight, the clear water would have shown its fifty-foot length, its wide pectoral fins set straight out toward the side as if for balance, and its towering dorsal fin fully three feet out of the water.
Its head remained under the surface, directly behind her and a few feet under her body.
* * *
Leonard relaxed when he caught a glimpse of Stella coming closer toward shore. He smiled and took a long drink from the vodka bottle. The moonlight began to penetrate the trailing edge of the cloud now and Stella’s blond hair, even her white shoulders, began to reflect the illumination.
Behind her, something black began to rise out of the water.
Leonard’s eyes widened in shock.
The bottle fell from his hand.
The shape made a sudden lunge forward. Stella was swallowed whole from the rear to the front. No sound. A last glimpse of her blond hair. The great mouth closed.
The creature, dark and glistening, lay unmoving as the waves crashed around it and against it, its black, round eyes staring directly at Leonard.
Too paralyzed to move, Leonard nearly passed out. With a superhuman effort, he took a step backward. Another step. His body trembling as if he were standing naked in a hundred-degree-below-zero wind, he finally managed to turn—and ran.
“Aaaarrrgh!”
Sprinting through the night, still screaming though he didn’t realize he was, he crossed the sand. His boat was pulled up on the beach on the island’s Sound side. He jerked the small anchor out of the sand and threw it wildly toward the rear of the craft. He hit the bow so hard with his shoulder he nearly dislocated it. His feet digging into the sand, he pushed the boat backward out into the Sound.
He felt a chill as he sunk to his knees in the water, and he vaulted into the boat. Fumbling for the ignition, he finally found it, turned the key, and slammed the gear into reverse and jammed the throttle full forward.
The prop pulled so hard it momentarily lifted the bottom of the motor away from the boat. Then the craft leveled and shot backward, waves building behind it, slamming hard against its blunt shape and pouring water over the stern.
Leonard yanked the throttle back, jammed the gear forward, slammed the
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