Fiction by Rachael Ritchey

#BlogBattle “Shenanigans”

by Kassi

A young couple sat on a beach watching the shenanigans of a few teenage boys. The young woman, tall, emerald-eyed, and strawberry blonde, ambled toward the warm ocean water for a quick wade.

Abruptly, the ocean’s water disappeared and she raced back up to her sun-bathing husband. He looked up with a worried glance.

“Mikayla, what’s wrong?”

Mikayla gasped for air and muttered, “Water . . . gone.” She gasped for more air. “Tsunami!”

The couple alerted the beach-goers but all were occupied watching their children and others running to observe the shells and dying sea-creatures left behind. They captured the attention of a few teens and children who hurried to grab their younger siblings, parents, and anyone else they could.

Mikayla’s husband, the six-foot-four, turquoise-eyed, chesnut-haired N.U.M.A. scientist, guided all to the stone staircase etched into the wall of the steep cliff. Mikayla made sure everyone at the top was safely away from the cliff edge.

“Anthony, hurry!” Mikayla yelled. “The wave, it’s coming!”

He soon reached the top of the staircase, his muscles strong from all his years of field work, manning boats.

As the wave was within fifty feet of the doomed beach-goers, screams of children and parents alike were heard.

A man who was at the clifftop stared as a young woman with gray-blue eyes and a head of caramely-brown hair stated, “Alki, alki, ” and then disappeared into the teary-eyed crowd.