CHAPTER 4: THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS
Dawn never came.
Only more gray clouds.
More rain.
More endless ocean.
Amelia could barely lift her head.
Every muscle screamed in pain.
She felt herself slipping.
Drifting between consciousness and sleep.
Then—
A flash.
Far away.
So faint she thought she imagined it.
Amelia blinked.
Nothing.
Then another flash.
White.
Bright.
Moving.
Her heart stopped.
She forced herself upright.
The horizon remained hidden behind rain and waves.
But there it was again.
A light.
A real light.
Not a dream.
Not a mirage.
A light moving through the storm.
Amelia stared.
Then she saw the shape behind it.
A boat.
A rescue boat.
For a moment she couldn't breathe.
The tears came instantly.
Not from fear.
From relief.
She clutched Lily tighter.
The baby stirred beneath the blanket.
"We made it," Amelia whispered.
Then she stood.
Barely balancing on the damaged raft.
One arm wrapped around her daughter.
The other waving wildly toward the distant light.
"OVER HERE!"
The storm swallowed her voice.
She screamed again.
"OVER HERE!"
Again.
And again.
And again.
The light suddenly changed direction.
Toward her.
Straight toward her.
Amelia collapsed to her knees.
Sobbing.
Laughing.
Unable to believe it.
After two days alone against the ocean...
Someone had finally found them.
The rescue boat grew larger with every passing second.
And as the storm raged around them, a mother held her newborn daughter close and watched hope return from the darkness.
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For the first time since the sea had taken everything...
They were going home.
