Ayu's Short Stories

Peter and His Teddy-Bear

    All he wanted was to retrieve his teddy bear. Peter had been aboard a cruise ship for a bonding vacation with his father when his prized toy bear fell off the deck and drifted along the vast blue sea. He might be a coward, even for a child his size, but that plush was more than a toy to him – it was a gift given to him by his late mother, a memory of her love – and, so, he dived right after it without a second’s worth of thinking. Peter knew this trip was simply a way to get his mind off his mother’s passing, but there was something about the filthy stench that filled the rooms, the halls, and the common area that itched him. He couldn’t quite place his finger on it, but it somewhat reminded him of a gas station – except much stronger and unpleasant. Now that he floated along the tides, clutching onto a kitchen appliance, it was but a nasty memory. Peter had climbed onto the first object he found drifting beside him, but only now did he find it strange that such an item was lying about. He also found it strange to see a crow flock circling above the cruise – he had never heard of crows in the ocean and he himself had only seen one in a cage. It was as if they were waiting for something – foreboding a fated disaster. Peter watched the scene from an increasing distance, his skin now prickling with a sort of dread at the sight of the black ring the birds formed in their dance. Still with his lost treasure in mind, he couldn’t release his eyes from the scene, for he could sense something horrid was about to happen – something unimaginable even by his most cinematic dreams – for a belch of steaming pipes seemed to emanate from within the ship. It muted the festive cheer of partying tourists and, in seconds, the booming sound grew, deafening Peter as he lay there paralyzed, the glowing spectacle reflecting in his eyes as he watched the cruise explode.