Salem Express

The scene on the ship’s deck was one of horror. The ferry was sinking rapidly, waves washing over her superstructure. Not a single lifeboat had been launched. Without power, the Salem Express foundered like a wounded animal that is awaiting death. The captain stared out over the doomed vessel. “Insh Allah,” he muttered.

Fahid had been swept from the deck as the boat sank, and fear had driven the problem of seasickness from his mind. Thrashing around, trying to keep his head above water in the enormous waves he thought, surely a lifeboat will be coming from the ship. In a few brief moments, the ferry sank deeper and deeper into the ocean. Clearly, no lifeboat would come. He turned to see the lights of shore and other ships on the inside of this killer reef. Everything that could possibly save his life seemed so far away, too far for a poor swimmer like him.

As he looked back toward the Salem Express, he was horrified to see the ferry was gone. Only twenty minutes had passed since they had collided with the reef, and all that remained of the huge ship was a large group of swimmers splashing about in the water. Cries for help were everywhere. People could be heard screaming for loved ones or entreating Allah for assistance. There seemed to be no one to help them, not man, not God.

An officer from the Salem Express swam near Fahid. The man was attempting to save the life of a small child as well as his own. “Keep swimming toward the shore,” he shouted. “The current is pulling us there. All you have to do is stay afloat.”

Fahid started to swim deliberately toward the distant shore. Everyone around him seemed to be doing the same. Coughing, sputtering and crying, they swam frenziedly in the huge waves. Some sank beneath the surface, too tired or too poor a swimmer to make the distance. Many more would perish before this tragedy was finished.

After swimming for what seemed like forever, the shore only appeared slightly closer than before. Fahid could only see the shore when he rose on the crest of a wave. The group of swimmers became smaller and smaller as the relentless waves culled out the next victims.  Fahid knew it was only a matter of time before he too sank into the depths. Already tired, the shore seemed too far away.

His luck seemed to change when he bumped into another swimmer. A middle-aged woman was using an empty cooler as a float. Grabbing the cooler, he tried to hold himself up too, but the cooler was not buoyant enough to support both of them.

“May Allah forgive me,” Fahid whispered as he came to a decision. He grabbed the cooler and struck the woman in the face, attempting to take away the cooler. Again and again he struck her, yet she maintained her desperate grip on the cooler’s handle. Fahid grabbed the other handle tightly and raised his leg to kick her in the face. His repeated strikes were starting to take effect as the woman tired. Finally, she lost her grip on the cooler, and it was his.