RE: STACH Short Story Contest #22: 199 words, 5 winners, 15SBD prize pool!
As the sun was setting, casting a red glowing reflection on the sea, Mark decided to head home after playing all day on the beach, but something caught his attention. There was something reflecting the light of the setting sun floating on the sea. He decided to go find out what it was.
It was a bottle, inside was a folded paper. He opened the lid to read the contents of the paper; "Help me! Help me! I'm stuck in a raft, just before the rift", it read. The hand writing was familiar, it was his father's. "dad must be in trouble, I need to save him", he thought. Immediately without thinking he jumped into a boat and rowed as fast as he could heading for the rift, the current carried him straight towards the rift. The turbulence was so strong it capsized before he got to there. He tried swimming but the current was too strong, he wished he had taken the bottled message to his mum, his dad would have been saved by now and he'd definitely not be stuck in the sea.