“Into The Sky”
By Alaina Duchin
Canobie Lake is where my dad’s taking me today. I’ve never been anywhere alone with him before. When he first told me about it, I thought we were going fishing in Canobie Lake. Then he told me it was an amusement park and I got even more excited. Mom never takes me anywhere fun. “Dad, are we there yet?” I’m getting tired of being in the car. “Dunkin Donuts?” He responds. I’m not mad about having something that isn’t organic for once so I get back into the car with my Boston Creme and a smile on my face.
There are so many rides. I’ve only been to 4-H fairs and the only exciting thing there are baby goats. I want to go on a rollercoaster. My dad is reluctant at first, but we end up going on all the rides I’m tall enough for. I look around and see a ride with people high in the sky. I run over to it. “I’m going to sit this one out and enjoy a hot dog, kiddo.” I get on the swing and up I go. I close my eyes and imagine I’m flying. Then there’s a cool breeze that wakes me, and I don’t feel the swing beneath me anymore. The attendants of the ride never came around to make sure we were strapped in so I must’ve forgotten as I do often. I look around suddenly and there’s no one there anymore. I’m flying. “DAD!” I scream. Silence replies. I keep going higher and soon I reach a cloud. I’ve read about people sitting on clouds but I didn’t think it was real.
For a long while I sit there, just trying to figure out if this was actually real. My stomach growls and I miss my dad. I still don’t know why he left when I was little, but I love him anyways and wish I could see him more often. Now that I know I can fly, I jump off the cloud and explore the sky for a while before I can find land again. I’m sure my dad has called the police by now, and I hope they send helicopters. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to fly. But like life, flying does not come with an instruction manual. You just somehow end up in the air and then you’re a speck the size of a pea in the sky. I hope I can find land again soon.
I lost my son for the second time today. Lost him while I was eating a hot dog. Caroline never let me eat hot dogs because she didn’t want me to get heart disease. But my heart complications are not from a hot dog anymore. I suddenly remember I was supposed to have him home by 8:00 pm sharp and I don’t know what I’ll say to her. I don’t think I can face her unless he is with me, safe and sound. The first time I lost my son he was 3, the same day I lost my wife. It was a long day at work and I had to pick him up from daycare. I was so tired that I forgot to stop at a red light, where another car was coming from the other direction. Being in ICU with my helpless son because I was too tired made it clear that I could never be the father I dreamed of being.
This is all my fault. I begin to think about what would have happened if I had gone on the swing ride with him. Maybe I would have strapped him in better, or grabbed him as he started to fall. If he hadn’t had a concussion so young he wouldn’t have learning problems and would be better off in this situation. It’s 8:05 pm and my phone lights up with Caroline’s name. I take a deep breath and answer it. “Where is he?” She says frantically. I explain the situation and she just starts crying. I know everything has been so hard for her and I can’t believe I managed to screw up the one last chance I had with my son.
“Culebra”
By Alaina Duchin
It was the perfect morning to go sailing on the ocean. Blue, sunlit sky without any clouds. No one knew it was the calm before the storm, except for Fin. She could sense all the storms the day they were going to happen, and watched nervously as naive shipmen took their boats and foreign passengers to the water. This particular day, a couple took their child on a snorkel excursion. It was not going to be a very short trip, as they were traveling from Vieques to Culebra by sail. Once they arrived at Culebra, they explored the island with all its’ culture and saw many stray animals. The child wanted to pet them all, but her mom told her they had to keep their distance because they could carry disease.
The family stayed on the island of Culebra in a rundown motel room on the river that night, while the tour guides slept in their sailboat cabin. In the middle of the night, a storm started to brew and Fin became very concerned about the small child. It rained so hard that the river almost reached the motel, and the winds had taken all the docked boats out to sea. The tour guides woke up in the middle of the ocean, as the boat had started to sink and water filled the cabin. Their bodies filled with water and adrenaline, as they they tried to pry open the cabin door. The loud noise from the wind and rain woke the child, who woke her parents. The motel was shaking a bit, but her mom assured her that everything would be okay.
8:00 am and everyone is out on the streets, headed towards the ocean. The dad decides to leave his family to find out what damage has happened. Following the crowd, he hears people crying. It’s only then that he remembers their tour guides were sleeping on the sailboat. He starts running now and sees the empty docks and hundreds of boats bobbing out in the sea. He realizes that they are gone, and he doesn’t know how their family will get back home.
Iris is asleep on her mom’s lap when he gets back. He is so grateful that they weren’t on a ship that night and feels awful about what has happened. No one had any idea a storm was coming and no one was prepared. The only way to get to Culebra is by boat, because they had to shut down the airport due to expenses.
“Our only option now is to find a boat, or someone who speaks english.”
Before making a plan, they walk to a bakery. There is a TV inside, and the news is on. Even though it is in Spanish, there are the names of the ships that have sunken.
There is one boat that came from another island taking passengers home, but it costs more money than they had transferred to their currency. Fin has been traveling all morning to find the ship carrying the parent’s and Iris. She finds it on the bottom of the ocean, but notices the dinghy is still floating on the water. She detaches it from the main boat, and takes the rope in her teeth. The hard part would be to find the family on land, while staying in the water.
“Look!” Iris yells
“What?”
“A dolphin!”
Iris loves dolphins so much that they are painted on her bedroom walls. The family goes down to the beach to get a closer view at the jumping dolphin. They notice that she has a rope with their dinghy boat attached to it. The strangest thing happens, and Fin comes close to shore, bringing the boat close to them. It seems like she wants them to get in the boat.
“Culebra” Draft 1
By Alaina Duchin
It was the perfect morning to go sailing on the ocean. Blue, sunlit sky without any clouds. No one knew it was the calm before the storm, except for Fin. She could sense all the storms the day they were going to happen, and watched nervously as naive shipmen took their boats and foreign passengers to the water. This particular day, a couple took their child on a snorkel excursion. It was not going to be a very short trip, as they were traveling from Vieques to Culebra by sail. Once they arrived at Culebra, they explored the island with all its’ culture and saw many stray animals. The child wanted to pet them all, but her mom told her they had to keep their distance because they could carry disease.
The family stayed on the island of Culebra in a rundown motel room on the river that night, while the tour guides slept in their sailboat cabin. In the middle of the night, a storm started to brew and Fin became very concerned about the small child. It rained so hard that the river almost reached the motel, and the winds had taken all the docked boats out to sea. The tour guides woke up in the middle of the ocean, as the boat had started to sink and water filled the cabin. Their bodies filled with water and adrenaline, as they they tried to pry open the cabin door. The noise from the wind and rain woke the child, and she climbed up on her parent’s bed to wake them up as well. The motel was shaking, but her mom assured her that everything was going to be okay.
8:00 am comes and everyone is out on the streets, headed towards the ocean. The girl’s dad decides to leave his family to find out what damage has happened. Following the crowd, he hears people crying. It’s only then that he remembers their tour guides were sleeping on the sailboat. He starts running now and sees the empty docks and hundreds of boats bobbing out on the sea. He realizes that they are gone, and doesn’t know how their family will get back home.
Iris is asleep on her mom’s lap when he gets back. He is so grateful that they weren’t on a ship that night and feels awful about what has happened. No one had any idea a storm was coming and no one was prepared. The only way to get to Culebra is by boat, because the island had to shut down their airport due to expenses. Her dad begins talking breathlessly.
“Our only option now is to find a boat, or someone who speaks english.”
“Daddy I’m hungry” Iris says, whining.
Before making a plan, they walk to a bakery. There is a dusty box TV inside, and the news is on. Even though it is in Spanish, there are the names of the ships that have sunken and passengers who drowned while sleeping or trying to escape. There is now one small boat that came from another island taking passengers home, but it costs much more money than they had transferred to the islands currency, and only the wealthy are fleeting the islands misery.
Fin has been traveling all night in search of the ship carrying the two parents and Iris. She finds it on the bottom of the ocean along with their crewman, but notices the dinghy is still floating on the water behind. She detaches it from the main boat, and takes the rope in her teeth. The hard part would be to find the family on land while staying in the water.
“Look!” Iris yells.
“What?” Her parents say in unison.
“A dolphin!”
Iris loves dolphins so much that they are painted on her bedroom walls. The family goes down to the beach to get a closer view at the jumping dolphin. They notice that she has a rope with their dinghy boat attached to it. The strangest thing happens, and Fin comes close to shore, bringing the boat close to them. It seems like she wants them to get in the boat.
Iris starts running towards to ocean, her dad chasing closely behind as he’s done many times before. She has never had a fear of the sea. As a baby, she would run to the waves, her dad sweeping her up in his arms each time. Iris begs her parents to join her.
“C’mon mom! The dolphin wants to play!”
There was no way for her parents to get out of this, so they all got into the small boat, unsure where they were going to end up. Fin had been watching Iris ever since she was taken from the beach, trying to get her back. But as long as her parents were with her, there was no chance.
Six Years Earlier
For the third time that night, she looked in on the babies room. Her little closet full of unworn clothes, a years supply of bottles and diapers, and her soft arrival blanket, still ready to be wrapped around new life. It had been three years since they lost her, but it was still a heartache. The woman has made a decision and wakes up her husband.
“You awake?”
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m ready”
“Are you su-”
“I want to adopt”
The next day they got the adoption papers. Iris’s warm smile shone from the adoption pamphlet cover, capturing their hearts instantly. Back at the beach in Hawaii, Iris was going out to play with Fin as she got stopped by one of her supervisors.
“Someone has called for you. You will be leaving tomorrow.”
Iris cries as she toddles back up to her foster home. Even at such a young age she had learned to love this life, and didn’t know what it was like to have parents. Fin had always watched over her, making sure she didn’t go in the water too deep, feeding her if she was still hungry from the small meals she got, and was back in her house by nightfall. Even though Iris tended to wander off a lot, her supervisors did not pay much attention to her. Late that night Iris snuck out through her window, following the moonlight to the sea. She gave Fin a kiss goodbye, thinking this was the end.
It was hard to get a flight to Hawaii on short notice, so the couple had to wake at 2:00 am the next morning for departure. It was all happening so fast. She knew the baby’s clothes were going to be too small, so she shopped online for Iris on the trip. Once they got to Hawaii, Iris was at the airport, holding a cardboard sign that said her name. Paperwork done, the new family travels back to their home, away from the ocean and Fin.
This was the longest plane ride of the couples life. They tried to talk to Iris, but she was scared and didn’t like being in the confined seat of the plane. She stared out the window down at the ocean the whole time, wishing she was still down there. Everyone eventually falls asleep, and by morning they are back in New York.
Six years later, Fin knew she needed a plan to lose the couple so she could just be with Iris. She decides to leave the boat on the shore of Vieques while they are sleeping, and take Iris with her. They begin their long journey back to Hawaii where Iris was born. Even though Iris had come to love her parents, she still felt like she belonged with Fin in the ocean. Now that she was older, she realized how much Fin had done for her, and she didn’t really understand why. They had a connection ever since she was a toddler.
Iris’s parents woke up on the shore of Vieques, very confused. They realize Iris is not with them and start panicking.
“IRIS!” they both scream, running down the wet sand.
Hours go by of them calling her name until they collapse on the beach, holding each other.
“It’s going to be okay” the man says.
“The universe doesn’t want me to be a mother”
The couple ends up spending the rest of their vacation alone, trying to accept the fact that a dolphin took their daughter. They knew Iris lived for the ocean, and would be happy there. Weeks go by and the women is having her annual physical. The nurse performs all her usual tests, but when she comes back into the room she has a serious look on her face.
“What’s wrong?” the woman says.
“Did you know that you’re pregnant?”
“Culebra” Mezzo Draft
By Alaina Duchin
Part One
It was the perfect morning to go sailing on the ocean. Blue, sunlit sky without any clouds. No one knew it was the calm before the storm, except for Fin. She could sense all the storms the day they were going to happen, and watched nervously as naive shipmen took their boats and foreign passengers to the water. This particular day, a couple and their daughter were going out on a snorkel excursion to celebrate her tenth birthday. They were traveling from Vieques to Culebra by sail. The crew stopped in a bay to have lunch and go snorkeling before they got to Culebra, where it was full of life under water. They touched the tops of many jellyfish.
The family stayed on the island of Culebra in a rundown motel on the river that night, while the crew slept in their sailboat. In the middle of the night, a storm started to brew and Fin became very concerned about the girl. It rained so hard that the river almost reached the motel, and the winds had taken all the docked boats out to sea. The tour guides woke up in the middle of the ocean, as the boat had started to sink and water filled the cabin. Their bodies filled with adrenaline as they they tried to pry open the cabin door. The noise from the wind and rain woke the girl, and she climbed up on her parent’s bed to wake them as well. The motel was shaking.
In the morning, everyone is out on the streets headed towards the ocean. The girl’s dad decides to leave his family to find out what damage has happened. Following the crowd, he hears people crying. It’s only then that he remembers their tour guides were sleeping on the sailboat. He starts running now and sees the empty docks and hundreds of boats bobbing out on the sea. He realizes that they are gone, and doesn’t know how their family will get back home. The girl is playing with a stray cat when he gets back. He is so grateful that they weren’t on a ship that night. No one had any idea a storm was coming and no one was prepared. The only way to get to Culebra is by boat, because the island had to shut down their airport due to expenses. Her dad begins talking breathlessly.
“Our only option now is to find a boat.”
“I’m hungry” the girl says.
Before making a plan, they walk to a bakery. There is a dusty box TV inside, and the news is on. Even though it is in Spanish, there are the names of the ships that have sunken and passengers who drowned while sleeping or trying to escape. There is now one small boat that came from another island taking passengers home, but it costs much more money than they had transferred to the islands currency. Only the wealthy are fleeting the island’s misery.
Fin has been traveling all night in search of the ship carrying the two parents and Iris. She finds it on the bottom of the ocean along with their crewman, but notices the dinghy is still floating on the water behind. She detaches it from the main boat, and takes the rope in her teeth. The hard part would be to find the family while staying in the water.
“Look!” Iris yells.
“What?” Her parents say in unison.
“A dolphin!”
Iris loves dolphins so much that they are painted on her bedroom walls. The family goes down to the beach to get a closer view at the jumping dolphin. They notice that she has a rope with their dinghy boat attached to it. Fin comes close to shore, bringing the boat close to them. It seems like she wants them to get in the boat. Iris starts running towards to ocean. She never had a fear of the sea. Even as a toddler, she would run to the waves. Iris begs her parents to join her.
“The dolphin wants to give us a ride!” Iris yells.
There was no way for her parents to get out of this, so they all got into the boat, unsure where they were going to end up. Fin had been watching Iris ever since she was taken from the beach, trying to get her back. But as long as her parents were with her, there was no chance.
Five Years Earlier
For the third time that night, she looked in on the nursery. Her little closet full of unworn clothes, a year supply of bottles and diapers, and her soft arrival blanket, still ready to be wrapped around new life. It had been years since they lost her, but it was still a heartache. The woman wakes up her husband.
“You awake?”
“What’s wrong?” He replies.
“I want to adopt.”
In the morning, they download adoption papers from the internet. Iris’s warm smile shone from the adoption pamphlet cover, capturing their hearts instantly. Back at the beach in Hawaii, Iris is going out to play with Fin as she got stopped by one of her supervisors.
“You will be leaving tomorrow.”
Iris cries as she walks back up to her foster home. Even at five-years-old she had learned to love this life, and didn’t know what it was like to have real parents. Fin had always watched over her, making sure she didn’t go in the water too deep, and was back in her house by nightfall. Even though Iris tended to wander off a lot, her supervisors did not pay much attention to her. Late that night Iris snuck out through her window, following the moonlight to the sea. She gave Fin a kiss goodbye, thinking this was the end.
It was hard to get a flight to Hawaii on short notice, so the couple had to wake at 2:00 am for their departure. Once they got to Hawaii, Iris was at the airport with her supervisor, wearing a cardboard sign that said her name. The new family travels back to their home, away from the ocean and Fin. This was the longest plane ride of their life, as the couple tried to talk to Iris, but she was scared and didn’t like being in the confined seat of the plane. She stared out the window down at the ocean the whole time.
Part Two
Fin knew she needed a plan to lose the couple so she could just be with Iris. She decides to leave the boat on the shore of Vieques while they are sleeping, and take Iris with her. They begin their long journey back to Hawaii where Iris was born. Even though Iris had come to love her parents, she still felt like she belonged with Fin in the ocean. Now that she was older, she realized how much Fin had done for her.. Iris’s parents woke up on the shore of Vieques, very confused. They realize Iris is not with them.
“IRIS!” they both scream, running down the wet sand.
Hours go by of them calling her name until they collapse on the beach.
“It’s going to be okay” the man says.
“The universe doesn’t want me to be a mother” she replies.
The couple ends up spending the rest of their vacation alone, trying to accept the fact that a dolphin took their daughter. They knew Iris lived for the ocean, and would be happy there. Time goes by and back in New York, the women is having her annual physical. The nurse performs all her usual tests, but when she comes back into the room she looks serious.
“What’s wrong?” the woman says.
“Did you know you’re pregnant?” the nurse replies.
“Culebra” Revised Draft
By Alaina Duchin
It was the perfect morning to go sailing on the ocean. Blue, sunlit sky without any clouds. No one knew it was the calm before the storm, except for a dolphin named Fin, who could sense all the storms and watched nervously as naive shipmen took their boats and foreign passengers to the water. This particular day, a couple and their daughter were going out on a snorkel excursion to celebrate the daughter’s birthday. They were traveling from the island Vieques to Culebra on a big sailboat. Once they had been sailing for awhile, the crew stopped in a coral bay to have lunch and go snorkeling. It was full of life under water, and they touched the tops of many jellyfish.
This was the first real vacation the family had taken together. The last time they had been on a plane was when they were bringing their daughter home after adopting her in Hawaii. They hadn’t planned on the adoption, but after trying to get pregnant after a miscarriage, they couldn’t wait any longer. They decided to adopt Iris as soon as they saw her sweet face on an adoption pamphlet they received in the mail. They lived a good life in New York, but every birthday Iris had been wishing to go back to the ocean to see the dolphins. Her parents wanted to wait until she was a little older and would be less likely to wander off. This year, her wish came true.
The family stayed on the island of Culebra in a rundown motel on the river that night, while the crew slept in their sailboat. In the middle of the night, a storm started to brew and Fin became very concerned about Iris. It rained so hard that the winds had taken all the docked boats out to sea. The tour guides woke up in the middle of the ocean, as the boat started to sink and water filled the cabin. Their bodies filled with adrenaline as they they tried to pry open the cabin door. The noise from the wind and rain woke Iris up, and she climbed up on her parent’s bed to wake them as well. The motel was shaking now.
In the morning, everyone was out on the streets headed towards the ocean. Iris’s dad decides to go find out what damage the storm had caused. Following the crowd, he hears people crying. It’s only then that he remembers their tour guides were sleeping on the sailboat. He starts running and sees the empty docks and boats bobbing out in the sea. He realizes that they are gone, and doesn’t know how their family will get back home. He is so grateful that they weren’t on a ship that night, as people on the island didn’t have any idea a storm was coming. The only way to get to Culebra is by boat, because the island had to shut down their airport due to expenses. He begins talking breathlessly.
“Our only option now is to find a boat.”
Before making a plan, they walk to a bakery. There is a dusty box TV inside, and the news is on. Even though it is in Spanish, there are the names of ships that have sunken and passengers who drowned while sleeping or trying to escape. There is one small boat that came from another island taking passengers home, but it costs much more money than they had transferred to the island’s currency. Only the wealthy are fleeing the misery.
Fin had been swimming all night in search of the ship carrying the family to make sure Iris was okay. Once she got to the bay of Culebra, she finds the ship had sunk to the bottom of the ocean along with the crewman, but notices the dinghy is still floating on the water behind. She detaches it from the main boat and takes the rope in her teeth, swimming towards the shore. The hard part would be to find the family while staying in the water.
“Look!” Iris yells.
“What?” Her parents say in unison.
“A dolphin!”
Iris loves dolphins so much that they are painted on her bedroom walls, and seeing them was the main reason she wanted to go on this trip. The family goes down to the beach to get a closer view at the jumping dolphin, when they notice that she has a rope with their dinghy boat attached to it. Fin comes close to shore, and it seems like she wants them to get in the boat. Iris starts running towards to ocean. She never had a fear of it. Even as a toddler, she would run to the waves. Iris begs her parents to join her.
“The dolphin wants to give us a ride!” Iris yells.
There was no way for her parents to get out of this, so they all got into the boat, unsure where they were going to end up. Fin had been trying to find Iris ever since she left the adoption center in Hawaii, where they used to play in the waves together, despite their differences.
Iris’s mom is so tired she falls asleep on the boat and begins to dream about the time they decided to adopt Iris. She remembers looking in on her unborn baby’s closet full of unworn clothes, a year supply of bottles and diapers, and her soft arrival blanket, still ready to be wrapped around new life. It had been years since they lost their baby, but it was still a heartache. That next morning, they downloaded adoption papers from the internet. Iris’s warm smile shone from the adoption pamphlet cover, capturing their hearts instantly.
It was hard to get a flight to Hawaii on short notice, so the couple had to wake at 2:00 am for their departure. Once they got to Hawaii, Iris was waiting at the airport with her supervisor, wearing a cardboard sign that said her name. This was the longest plane ride of their life, as the couple tried to talk to Iris, but she was scared and didn’t like being in the confined seat of the plane. She stared down at the ocean the whole time. Before Iris was adopted, she was at the ocean everyday. She could watch the dolphins whenever she wanted to, and even became friends with one of them, which was Fin. Fin had always watched over her, making sure she didn’t go in the water too deep, bringing her back to shore if she did. Her supervisors did not pay much attention to her.
Fin knew she needed a plan because she wanted to bring Iris back to Hawaii, so that she could take care of her like she used to when she was not yet adopted. She decides to leave the boat on the shore of Vieques while Iris’s parents are sleeping, and take Iris with her on her back. They begin their long journey back to Hawaii where Iris was born. Even though Iris loved her parents, she still felt like she belonged at the ocean. Now that she was older, she realized how much Fin had done for her. Meanwhile, Iris’s parents woke up on the shore of Vieques, very confused as they realize Iris is not with them.
“IRIS!” they both scream, running down the wet sand.
Hours go by of them calling her name until they collapse on the beach.
“It’s going to be okay” Iris’s dad says.
“The universe doesn’t want me to be a mother” she replies.
The couple spends the rest of their vacation alone, trying to accept the fact that a dolphin took their daughter. They knew Iris lived for the ocean and would be happy there. Time goes by and back in New York, Iris’s mom is having her annual physical. The nurse performs all her usual tests, but when she comes back into the room with the results she looks serious.
“What’s wrong?” the woman says.
“Did you know that you’re pregnant?” the nurse replies.
I TRIED, I LOST
This gravestone was chosen before Arthur went to war to fight for his country, as many young men were doing at this time. People knew that there was a high chance of dying when they went off to war, and chose their stones ahead of time. He had decided to go for something more unusual, and have it say if he won the rest of his life while fighting for his country. He tried, and by not making it out alive, lost his life in the battle. He did die doing something above himself, which is why he lost and did not fail. No one knows what day Arthur really died. He just stopped replying to letters from his family then never came home for Christmas. His mother outlived him, and had the gravestone say that he lost, as he had wanted it to say. She wanted to add “loving son” as well, but did not have any more money to do so after holding a very small funeral. Years later, people walk around this grave and linger there, wondering about the story of Arthur S. Dorion.
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