The House 2

It was the most beautiful of summer days. The sky was a pristine shade of blue and the sun shined like a jewel hanging high above the Earth.

The Sanderson family was on their annual summer vacation. This year they had chosen to spend it in Florida. Gary had spent many a summer at the beach as a child but his wife and kids had never been that far from Kansas, so this summer he would show them the wonders of the big, blue ocean.

Gary worked as a salesman for an office supply company. He had worked countless extra hours to earn enough money for the extravagant vacation. The family tended to take mostly modest vacations, never straying too far from home. But this summer's trip would be one that Gary hoped the family would never forget.

Jim and Jill had just turned ten and, despite having never been in a body of water larger than a swimming pool, were more than capable of navigating the great, blue ocean. So superb were their swimming skills that neither twin's parent batted an eye when the two began swimming at a distance from the boat.

"Are you sure we can afford this trip?" asked Carrie. "I mean, I knew we were coming to Florida, but this boat."

"I told you not to worry about money," said Gary. "And it's not like I bought this boat. We're just renting."

Before Carrie could utter another worried word, Jim and Jill began shouting at their parents.

"Mom, dad," exclaimed Jim before taking a deep breath and going under the water.

"Watch this," shouted Jill before doing the same.

"Look at them," said Gary. "They're having the time of their lives. This is why I worked the weekends, why I worked all the extra hours. For them. For Jimmy and Jilly."

Carrie sighed. "As long as the kids are having a good time," she said. "We can worry about all the other stuff later."

"Just go with the flow, I always say," said Gary before popping a handful of peanuts into his mouth.

"You've literally never said that before," said Carrie.

"Well, get used to it," said Gary. " 'Cause it's gonna be my new motto. Go with the flow Gary, that's what they'll call me."

"Right," said a grinning Carrie.

The couple allowed the kids to continue swimming unattended as they relaxed on the boat.

"I hope you can swim faster than me," Jim told Jill.

"Why?" asked Jill.

" 'Cause the ocean's filled with sharks," said Jim. "If one starts chasing us, don't expect me to wait for you. I'm gonna leave you behind. That's why dad brought us out here. So one of them can eat you. That way it'll just be the three of us."

"You're stupid," said Jill. "I'm gonna tell dad you said that when we get back to the boat. He's probably gonna leave you out here. If anyone asks, we'll just say you drowned."

Back on the boat, Mrs. Sanderson was working on her tan. "The sun certainly hits different here in Florida, doesn't it?" she said as she applied a healthy dose of sunscreen to her arms.

"What's that?" asked Gary, squinting to better see something in the distance.

"I was talking about the sun," said Carrie. "We never have to use this much sunscreen back in Kansas. Maybe the ozone's not as good over here, I don't know."

"Hey, you see something out there?" asked Gary, who was ultra focused on something beyond the kids.

Carrie stood beside her husband and was better able than Gary to see what it was that had piqued his interest. A fin was making its way ever closer to the unaware twins. "Shark!" she screamed.

The parents wasted no time in jumping into the water and swimming to their kids.

"Kids!" screamed Gary. "Swim to us!"

"What's going on?" Jim asked Jill.

Noticing something out of the corner of her eye, Jill looked to the right and discovered the oncoming fin in the distance. When she screamed, Jim looked in the same direction as his sister and saw the fin, as well.

"Swim!" screamed Jim.

In unison, the twins began swimming toward their parents.

"Go, go, go!" shouted Gary to his family when the kids reached him and his wife. As Carrie led the kids back to the boat, Gary stayed behind. There was no way the four were going to make it all the way back to the boat before the shark reached them, so it was up to Gary to hold it off and allow the rest of his family to escape.

"What about dad?" asked Jim.

"Don't look back!" shouted Carrie. "Just get to the boat!"

The trio never looked back as they swam for all they were worth back to the boat. Once all three had made it safely aboard, their collective attention turned back to the ocean.

"Gary!" screamed Carrie.

There was a strange tranquility to the scene. There was no sign of Gary, nor was there sign of a shark. Had there been an attack, there surely would have been blood in the water. Instead, there was nothing but a calm, blue ocean.

"Dad!" screamed Jim and Jill in unison.

After a short time, Gary emerged from under the water in the distance. He immediately began swimming as fast as he could toward the boat.

When Carrie looked as if she was about to jump back into the water, Gary stopped her. "Stay in the boat!" he shouted.

In the distance, the shark fin appeared again.

"Swim faster!" shouted Jill.

"Gary, hurry!" shouted Carrie.

Before Gary could make it to the boat, the shark caught up with him. It bit into Gary's leg, severing everything below the knee.

"Gary!" screamed Carrie. She immediately grabbed her kids and held them, making sure they were unable to look upon the grisly sight.

The shark's next attack took Gary completely under the water. He would never emerge after that. All that would remain of Gary was the growing pool of blood in the water. But even that would eventually fade away into nothing.

Jill awoke abruptly. She was breathing heavily and seated in the passenger seat of an older model SUV that was speeding down the road.

Jim noticed his sister wake up. "You have the dream again?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Jill, wiping a tear from her eye.

"From one nightmare to another," remarked Jim. "Man, you just can't catch a break, can you?"

"How long was I asleep?" asked Jill.

"Not long," replied Jim. "Maybe half an hour. But can't really be sure. Time doesn't really matter any more, does it?"

Jill looked out the window at the vast darkness that had taken a firm grip on everything. She then looked up at the ceiling of the house that had since swallowed everything in sight.