Chapter 11: Assessing The Damage
They all climbed out of the remaining lonely trees and walked towards the keel of the ship. The ground was moist and soggy and the grandparents’ scooters were nowhere to be found. The group walked in the immense shadow the ferry casted as it showed its green life supporting underside. Timothy walked right up to it, standing on a trampled tree, admiring the height and length of the beached vessel. Towering four stories high above Timothy, with tidal wave had made a remarkable push since fifty feet of the seventy foot vessel was on the land. John and Ben began to walk in awestruck silence towards the surprisingly still intact building which was about two minutes away to view the damage that had been done and eventually everyone else followed. The ship’s bow had stopped just before where the New Castle Island harbor once sat. John took a few steps back to watch as people began jumping out of the sideways doors of the ferry and into the orange life boats had begun deploying again. Ben hopped over to the grizzly remains of the building he once owned. The windows were gone, the tables were flipped and shattered, kitchenware and irreplaceable antiques spotted the floor; only the main frames of the building were spared in the wrath of the storm. Jimmy was helping carry the old people despite having a twisted ankle while viewing the newly formed land that he once knew so well. The grass appeared wilted and less green than usual as it took the weight of the branches and trees that had flown through the skies during the destruction. Suddenly, a glimpse of something shiny caught his eye.
"Wait here." he said as he left the old people to stand in the middle of the field to take in the new scenery.
It was inside the building and even in the overcast of clouds it glistened brightly, as if it were a sunny delightful day. Jimmy crunched through the remains until finally picking up the small object that he had discovered. A diamond ring shaped with clusters of other diamonds to make a master diamond was sitting in his hand like a pearl inside a clam. He examined it closely for a bit, then put it in his pocket and walked away.
Ben and John were looking out toward the water in disbelief. There were no waves, no boats, and no signs of life. In the distance they could see the Nanaimo harbor looking like it took a rampant beating. Some of the larger fishing ships had been pushed over the seawall, very dented and missing the nets they once used to haul tons of fish in. Some of the shops on the boardwalk had small motor boats flung through their windows during the wreckage. People were stumbling out from random shelters unharmed and some were even in good spirits about living through the natural disaster.
"I should have listened to you." Ben said embarrassed by the fact he didn't listen to his good friend.
"You didn't know the consequences of staying, and neither did I." John replied sympathetically.
"Why do you think it happened? Why would nature destroy itself?" Ben asked still in shock over the previous events.
"This wasn't nature fighting nature. This was nature fighting man. This was a threatening display of power. It was supposed to teach some of nature’s the most disrespecting people to a lesson."
"Did it work?" Ben asked, and then he realized something. "Why were we targeted?"
"I don't think we were meant to get stuck in this. I believe we were just trapped in the middle of the battle. That's why I think the deer came and saved us. We weren't supposed to die."
"And we didn't." Ben smiled
"And we didn't." John smirked as they shook hands in triumph.
"Hey! You guys got to come see this!" Jimmy beckoned from under the small cliff that led to the beach across from the also torn apart Protection Island. The group walked over to see Jimmy standing in his sea taxi which was floating closely to the rocky shore, barely damaged.
“And Ben mon, check this out!” Jimmy cheered as he lifted up Ben’s silver peg leg out of the water.
Ben hopped over feebly with a smile on his face and with much accomplishment clasped the leg back onto his body. The group relished in their triumph, standing tall showing no fear. Ben turned to them all and said ironically in his pirate accent.
"Let’s go home matey’s."
Everyone sat in the sea taxi as it glided across the still, grey water towards the main harbor from where they had started exchanging their sides of the story about the adventure that had just happened. As they left the transformed island that they had experienced so much on, they watched it become smaller and smaller. Eventually rain began to fall...
Epilogue:
The door busted open and two lovers tumbled into the dim hotel room with their lips locked together. The man closed the door with his heel since his hands were a little busy. The couple was about to sign the divorce papers when something changed in them. Now they were stronger than ever and more filled with passion than any sappy romance movie anyone had ever seen. The man threw her down on the bed and she landed on the TV remote turning on the Television. They hardly noticed for they were so entranced in each other’s love to hear the news report in progress.
"Today a plethora of very disturbing chaotic events has occurred at the Nanaimo Harbor. Multiple reports were filed into the police stations, ranging in a variety of unusual activities of nature. These pictures behind me show the odd colour of purple in the sky above New Castle Island and the surrounding area. These pictures also show how high the waves were during the intense wind storm that hit only this side of Vancouver Island. The Internet has been filled with videos of boats being pushed onto the shore and some even dropping on the docks. While you’re looking at those videos you will definitely want to check out this amateur video of a BC Ferry being driven out of control by the storm and crashing into New Castle Island causing raging tidal waves to rush across the whole island! There is also an astonishing video taken by satellites of hundreds of sea lions brawling on a beach, just massacring each other! Ethologists and ecologists in the area are speechless at the disturbing sights on the video, and their only statement on the subject leans toward the event being supernatural and paranormal. Ironically a convention of anti-environmentalists was conferencing on the ferry when it crashed into the island. I bet they’ve turned the other cheek now. To make things even crazier there were people trapped on this island at the time of all the chaos. All but two of them survived this anomaly. Thomas Smith and Angela Duferaq are still being searched for at the moment but, police investigators say they most definitely were wiped out by the tidal wave. Channel 3 news would like to send our respects to the families of these two and now we will switch over to our field correspondent, Tabitha Terrance, who is currently with all of the survivors of the incident. Tabitha."
The screen flipped over to a woman in a blue business dress holding a microphone with the channels logo on it. Behind her stood six people who all looked very eager to share their stories.
"Thanks Todd, I'm here with a group of survivors of the most freakiest incident to occur ever in this city’s history. First we'll talk the son and parents of Matthew McBurrows, the owner of the top logging company in the country who just last year I spoke to during a protest happening in front of his head office. Cutie why don't you tell us about your experience."
The woman bent down and put the microphone in front of the boy’s mouth and as he began to talk the couple making out on the bed stopped at the sound of his familiar voice. Their son was on TV.
He began telling this wild story about demon sea lions and being chased by wolves while the wind howled and threw branches the size of trucks at them. The adults were constantly interjecting tidbits of information like the albino rabid racoons to add to his unbelievable story. At the end, the news woman looked at the camera, quite speechless, and croaked with a shocked expression on her face.
"Well then, seems like they've suffered quite the...ordeal. Back to you Todd”
The screen was back on the man now and by that time tires were squealing outside the hotel as the couple rushed to be with their son.
"What an unforgettable story. More news just came in, apparently the government
was about to take the islands reservation rights away and allow houses be built on it but, now that all this happened, they don't want to. They believe that this was a sign sent to stop this take over from happening and it seemed to have worked. This is very good news for lovers of the scenery and hiking especially since the government is also funding a rebuilding program that will be replanting trees and other various plants that were indigenous to the area. Something very good came out of all this. Mallard Lake, a lake on the island that had been naturally polluted for months was flushed out in the major tidal wave and is all clear now. Also, more news on this story, the record breaking torrential rainfall that is now falling on the island is clearing the salt from the sea water off the island so there will be no further damage to the island’s soil. Another addition to the story, many of the cars that had fallen off the out of control ferry are going to stay where they are. They will make unique homes for many of the residential sea life in the area. And for those of you who were curious about the island’s wildlife, hundreds of animals are miraculously washing up alive onto the shores of the island that had been washed away when the wave hit. Ecologists in the area say this terrible once in a millennium occurrence will help many of the previously overpopulated animals grow and live in a less crowded and competition filled environment. If you’re in the logging industry you’re going to love what I’m going to say next. Logs and branches from many of the fallen trees are appearing on beaches all around the island and the Nanaimo council says these logs are first come first serve for whoever wants them. Because of all this, all logging occurring on Vancouver Island right now has ceased production since there is enough logs to be caught in the sea they won’t need to cut down trees for a very long time. We must go to commercial but, I'd just like to leave everyone with a small chunk of words that should be floating around your head next time you do something that could potentially hurt the environment. Think about what you destroy and how much you destroy it. Cause one day that something you began destroying will decide to get revenge and begin destroying you. Have a goodnight everybody! This has been Todd Burnstrum reporting."
The End
About The Author
Tristyn Lippingwell was born in 1996, in British Columbia, Canada. Growing up in Langley he discovered his love for writing by reading works by authors such as C.S Lewis and Lemony Snickett. He didn’t begin writing novels until reaching high school when he realized he may begin forgetting the stories he had created in his head as a child. Throughout his life he has dreamed of entertaining people which he still strives to accomplish each day. Now that he is older and presently (at the time this book is being published, age 16) at the brink of starting his life, he plans to pursue his dream through a network of different styles such as publishing books and song lyrics, preforming comedy acts, acting in various projects and a few other surprises that will become a reality soon enough. You can find this author at:
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TristynLippingwellAuthor/
Twitter: @tristynl
Instagram: @tristynl
Feel free to contact this author at his email:
[email protected] Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends