CHAPTER 2: THE LONGEST HOURS
Hour after hour, the sea showed no mercy.
Rain soaked them.
Wind cut through their clothes.
Every wave threatened to throw them back into the ocean.
Amelia wrapped herself around Lily like a shield.
Her own body absorbed the cold so her daughter wouldn't have to.
She hadn't eaten.
Hadn't slept.
Hadn't stopped shaking.
Yet every time Lily whimpered, Amelia found the strength to keep going.
"You're okay," she whispered.
Though she wasn't sure either of them were.
The sky remained gray.
No ships.
No helicopters.
No rescue teams.
Nothing.
As the hours passed, fear slowly became exhaustion.
And exhaustion slowly became despair.
Several times Amelia thought she saw lights in the distance.
But they vanished.
Mirages.
False hope.
The ocean played cruel tricks on desperate people.
Still, she refused to stop talking to Lily.
She told her stories.
About birthday parties.
School dances.
First bicycles.
College graduations.
Dreams her daughter might never see.
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Because as long as she kept talking, she could pretend there would still be a future.
And for a little while, pretending was enough.
