Chapter one: Donald's travel

" Good morning darling is six thirty AM" 

Donald heard someone whisper in his left ear and fluttered his eyes open, only to see his wife standing beside the bed with a tray of food in her hands.

Immediately, he stood up from the bed and gently collected the tray from her, then kissed her on the lips.

" Good morning babe but you shouldn't have done this".One could hear the happiness in his tone as he imagined how his wife must have woken up early in the morning just to cook for him.

" I know but I don't want your boss to know you as someone that always comes late to work"

His wife explained and kissed him back, then gestured to him towards the bathroom for him to go and brush his teeth.

After he was done brushing his teeth, he came back to the room and found his food already set for him. He looked at his wife who gave him a brightening smile as soon as she saw him and landed another kiss on her 

This woman has meant a lot to him and had stood for him even when they were passing through hell. He remembered when they lost their first daughter who was just fourteen years old, he couldn't forget how life was so painful at that time. He couldn't imagine how they came over the pain and shock. 

Their first child was killed by a truck in front of their compound. The truck failed its brake, drove directly in front of their compound, and killed their daughter who stood in wait for them there.

" Today used to be Clara's special day, you know?" Asked the wife as she remembered their dead daughter. She lowered her head and a single drop of tears came out, which she immediately cleaned off.

Ever since Clara died, the wife never remained the same. She was disheartened, and any time she remembers her daughter, sadness always overshadows her heart.

 When Donald noticed what was happening, he gave a resigned sigh and came closer to his wife. This was not what he wished to happen today. He knows how much he had tried to avoid them remembering those sad moments but his wife always finds ways to bring this topic up.

" I know but it has happened, what we need to focus on now is the future. I don't want to remember those sad moments anymore. " Donald ended the topic as quickly as it came and began to eat his food hurriedly.

 He doesn't want his wife to continue with that conversation.

When done eating, he went to prepare for work while his wife went to prepare the kids. Today is special for him, he is about to attend the job of his dream. He has waited for this job for years and has been very patient. There has been a time he wanted to give up but advised himself that there is always hope.

He was given a contract to work as an assistant manager in one of the biggest companies in the country, owned by the Chinese. 

And the company has hired a boat that will be picking each one of them who has acquired the contract from their location, and his own is the last place the boat will stop to pick them up before heading to the company which is on the opposite side of the country.

He couldn't believe it when he saw the Email, this was a dream come true. After he was done and was now fully dressed up in his white suit, he went downstairs to meet his family who was already waiting for him at the door.

" Hey kids" he greeted his two children, then went forward to ruffle his son's hair while the mother carried the other child who was a girl and also the last baby in the house.

When the little girl looked up and saw her dad already dressed up, she instantly began to shed tears seriously and In shock, Donald rushed towards her.

" Becky why are you crying" he questioned

" I don't want you to go" the baby girl responded with a croaky voice " I have a feeling that you may not come back"

This statement made Donald's heart racing at an incredibly fast rate, he was now slowly getting scared but this is his lifetime dream. How can he miss it?

" Becky, don't wish your father bad luck, you know today is special for him" the woman cautioned the child when she saw how scared her husband looked.

 Donald, after giving a thought to what his kid said, decided to let go of it because it was a mere child's talk, especially when they see that their parents are about to leave for a day or two.

" Don't worry, I will be back before you know it" he said to the little girl before going out of the door to the garage. Immediately he drove out of his car from the garage, the others entered and they drove out of the compound.

When they got to the station where the boat was already waiting for them, he gave his family a goodbye kiss and said to his son

" Kelvin protect your mother for me okay? I will be back by next week"

" Sure, I will," replied the son as he waved his father goodbye.

The little girl sucked when she noticed that her father was only concentrating on her brother forgetting her.

 " I can also protect mum you know?" Added the girl after she had waited impatiently for attention but got none.

Donald laughed when he heard his daughter's comment " I know you can Becky" 

He then gave her the attention she needed by kissing her on her forehead and after that, he smiled at his wife which she immediately responded with a smile.

"Love you" Donald deeply kissed her on the lib not giving her time to breathe.

" Love you too" The wife responded after they broke the kiss and then Donald began to walk towards the boat.

 The family waited until the boat started to move out and they continued waving at the boat goodbye until it was out of sight.

Even though Donald pretended to be less scared, he was still bearing what his daughter said to him this morning in mind before he came out here. He knew that sometimes children do act silly but sometimes they are right.

 Well, he shouldn't be too scared, children do act up immediately when they see their loved one leaving the house, maybe Becky must have been sad about him leaving the house that's why she said that, or maybe, only god knows.

'Fuck, why I am thinking too much? Why I am so worried and too troubled?' Donald thought as he grabbed his thick black hair.

He looked down at the ocean and prayed that they might get to where they are going without any bad news. He wishes that the ocean will be as calm as it is until they get to their location.

After sending his prayers to the heavenly beings, he went inside the boat to join his fellow workers who were less concerned with the situation at hand. 

They were busy jubilating about how they successfully got a contract. 

To be honest, getting a contract from that company is very hard. To get a contract from them, you have to work your ass off first before acquiring one. Indeed this requires celebration.

 Donald was not all himself as he sat in a corner with a bottle of alcohol in his hand, he felt uneasy. As far as he could count, there were about twenty of them on this boat apart from the captain and his assistant. 

Few are outside while some were busy celebrating and drinking away their past sorrows.

He doesn't know why he has this feeling but he has a feeling that something outrageous is going to happen in this calm ocean.

The journey was smooth all through the day, they had a lot of fun on the boat. He couldn't believe that many of the people on that boat were this friendly. 

Well, he met a couple of friends and they helped remove that feeling that has been settling at the back of his mind.

Nothing is gonna happen, the ocean seems so calm and the scientist has even confirmed that there won't be any current running that day, so he has nothing to worry about.

Their boat can't just fall into the bottom of the ocean without any current or something hitting it, so he is free. 

Maybe his daughter's talk was mere childish talk after all.

At midnight, when the moon came to surface itself to the world, brightening the whole area and giving the water a colorful appearance. 

And the weather was so cold and unpleasant to the skin, their boat was unexpectedly hit twice by unknown creatures and the boat instantly stopped moving.

And by this time, they were already in the middle of the sea, so far from any dry lands.