75 yards.

He could still hear the shrill noise of the whistle, the start of the pursuit.

He paddled hard, harder than he ever had in his life. His orange padded life vest was chafing under his arms, but he continued on anyways.

65 yards.

He could hear the other boats approaching. The boats lapped the waves in the water and he could hear the others paddles splashing water as they paddled towar...

My muscles screamed at me in protest as I paddled harder than I’ve ever had in my life. I could hear my pursuers not far bring. I had no idea what they wanted with me, all my mother told me was to just keep paddling till you reach the end of the river. I had no idea what she meant, and the end of the river? The river could go on for decades, passing through multiple states.

The locket my mot...

As I threw my boat into the river, I knew they were right behind me. They had been following me on land from at least 30 minutes. We had started our case back at the camp, they started following me while I was starting my fire. Then once they started following me, I just started running. I didn’t have anywhere to run too exactly. I didn’t even know this area well. I was just running.

As I was h...

His muscles burned from digging the wooden oar into the choppy water. Despite throwing his entire weight into rowing, the storm made it impossible to get away. He looked back over his shoulder, the blood from the cut above his eye made it difficult to see. A blood curddling howl echoed from the woods. He could feel the shockwaves across the water. He kept trying to row. Splinters from the old oar ...

Panting, I raced down the river. Neither me or my pursuers make a sound louder than the raging river.

“Get him!” I faintly hear. A man is running on the side of the river trying to catch me. Leaning, I maneuver my boat to glide into the center. Then I see the waterfall. Deadly, but beautiful, I go flying. My boat spins through the air. I crane my neck to see if my attackers have caught up with me...

Jason ran down the slippery wooden boards of the pier, leading down to the wild, roaring river. The rain was pouring down, freezing cold, the kind that made your teeth chatter, drenching him to the skin, washing away the blood oozing from the gash on his cheek and the sweat soaking his clothes. Bang! The sound caused the boy's blood to freeze in his veins. He whipped his head around. They were sti...

It’s been years since I’d sat in a canoe to float down a river. Years since I’d honed the muscle memory that helped propel the boat effortlessly forward.

But here, in the dead of night, I used the stars and what little I could remember of the landscape to paddle myself down this river at breakneck speeds. I couldn’t let them catch me.

Hours ago I was minding my own business tending to the garden...

Over the water my strength gleams,

Paddles drop the water by streams,

Maybe the situation isn’t yet so well,

The condition will be better it seems,

Like a horse you’ve dreamt of saddling,

Better reconcile mate That Hard Paddling,

I recount in my body the soul fought hard,

It’s struggle though didn’t earn any shard,

I lost many artefacts I never wished to sell,

I still need something better to se...

I push and push against the water,

I push the boat forward, trying to hold her at the surface.

Boat and her—myself.

Where has it ever got me?

Monotonously pushing forward,

Well across the sea,

To the land of sun.

Yet I thought I’d reached the end—

The end of this chapter,

The chapter that never wants to be read again.

Yet I still push and push against the water,

I push the boat forward, trying to...

Panting with exertion, Sam plunged an oar into the murky, fast-flowing water below him. Icy droplets sprang up in response and landed on the tattered rucksack by his feet, almost like they were taunting him. _We know what you’ve done, and so do they._

__

__

He stole a glance over his shoulder in an attempt to gauge how long he had. The small fleet of boats on the horizon, which were quickly closin...