seesaw, row, aroma

Aurora had always thought the ocean would be still. But she had never been on a rowboat in the middle of the ocean before, so it was hard to say for sure.

Of course maybe that was because of the shipwreck that had just happened.

She had always been alone, but there had always been other people around. Now she was alone, in a rowboat, without oars, in the middle of the ocean. And it WAS still. And she WAS alone.

She smiled.

"Finally." She said, to the ocean.

She laid back in the boat and took a nap.

---

"Help!" Came a voice, waking Aurora. She rolled her eyes, and begrudgingly sat up.

"Help!"

The voice was coming from a small boy, even smaller than herself, clutching the side of a plank with all his strength, since he wanted to continue living for some reason. The boy was dressed in a tiny black suit that someone else had picked out, and he had somehow managed to balance a large black chest on the plank of wood that was currently serving as his lifeline.

"What do you want?" said Aurora.

The boy was not expecting that question. He panted, "I had hoped that would be obvious."

"Well it's not. What do you want?" Aurora repeated.

"I'd like to continue living, for one. As such, if I may request asylum on your vessel and storage for my belongings, I would be most appreciative."

Aurora sulked. She was looking forward to some peace and quiet, and finally some alone time. She never got to be alone. If it wasn't her parents, it was her baby sister it seemed like. Someone was always talking to her about something she didn't care. Whenever she did listen, she was sorry she had, since now she had to do something. She hated responsibility, and hated owing someone for no reason other than the fact that they had asked you.

And now that they were all dead and at the bottom of the ocean, she thought she had absolutely nothing to worry about.

Her stomach grumbled.

"Do you have food?" She asked

"What?"

"In that large black chest, is there food?"

"I...there might be some trail mix or something,"

She sighed. It's not like she'd be able to shake him. It's hard to shake a tail in the middle of the ocean without oars.

"Fine. You can come on. But only if you promise not to say anything."

He stopped, taken aback.

He looked like he wanted to say something.

"Well?"

"I wanted to agree, but I wasn't sure when we were starting."

"Let's start after you get onboard." And she extended her arm out towards him.

---

She wished that she had noticed his aroma before she had let him on the boat. The mix of boy-musk and the smell of a new suit that had been sitting in ocean water for most of the day wasn't a great combination, but a promise is a promise, and she would hold up her end.

And as it turned out, the boy would hold up his end as well. It had been a week since he'd climbed onboard the boat, and she hadn't heard a peep out of him in that entire time. He wasn't like most boys. Most boys would have lasted 5 minutes without opening their mouths.

But as it turned out, he didn't just have some trail mix, he also had some books. And that was enough to keep the two of them occupied. It was good that neither of them got seasick, or the trail mix wouldn't have stayed in their stomach for long.

They ate about half of the trail mix before Aurora realized they should start looking for more food. She fashioned a fish hook out of a hairpin and pulled a thread from the boys suit, and they were able to catch some small fish using some of the dried fruit as bait.

"You don't have a grill in there, do you?"

He shook his head.

She smiled, "What about a Sushi roller?"

He smiled, knowing it was a joke.

"I probably should have thought ahead on this one a little more, huh?"

He nodded with a smile and returned to his book.

Suddenly, Aurora felt like she was being ignored, and that upset her more than the idea of a lack of quiet.

"Okay, you can talk now if you want."

The boy looked unsure.

"I'm Aurora."

The boy squeaked. "Braden."

And then for the first time in their lives, both Aurora and Braden had a friend.