A day at the beach.

Amara, her daughter Sakita, and about fifty other people were all focused on what was lying ahead - ironic because the darkness and the fog were making it almost impossible to see anything at all. 

It was a miracle their boat, way too small for the number of people and almost five weeks at sea was still afloat. And yet, they made it this far. They simply had to make it onto the beach now to be safe.

They all knew, however, that the last part of their journey was also, by far, the most dangerous. 

There were countless stories of what happened to other refugees once they had reached the other side of the sea. Mercenaries coming for boats that were trying to sneak in at night, sinking them. Passengers included. People drowning, sometimes several hundred per day. And the ones that survive the water being either shot on sight or dragged out of the water only to then be slaughtered or enslaved.

And yet, Amara, Sakita, and so many others decided to go anyway, against the odds, potentially facing a horrific fate. Simply because, where they came from, death was even more likely. By now everybody on the boat has become so weak, battered by hunger and dehydration. Nobody took note of how many had already succumbed to the terrible circumstances, but it must have been more than a third. Thrown into the sea to prevent disease and give the survivors a better chance.

The waters were unusually quiet. Nobody spoke a word. Some didn’t even dare to breathe normally.

When the captain finally did speak up, everyone got a fright:

“We are almost there now. Nobody gets out before we set on land, do you understand? We cannot make any noise. Be quiet or they will come for us.”

They had switched from using the old, smelly diesel engine to paddling the same morning, trying to attract as little attention as possible. Many welcomed the physical work as a good way to make time pass at least a little.

Sakita was wedged in under Amara’s arm, shaking. Not only because the nights on the open sea were getting chillier by the day. But also because, despite her young age, Sakita understood everything that was going on around them. And what would potentially happen to them. At least she would then see her father and two siblings again, she thought.

Under normal circumstances, the fog would be too dangerous to navigate in, even in waters that calm. But these weren’t normal circumstances. Low visibility was the only thing that played in their favour. 

Water always fascinated and at the same time terrified Amara. The way all life depended on it so much to thrive, and at the same time being able to swallow entire countries, smothering all life it once gave. She was looking down at the dark blue surface, unable to keep staring into the fog anymore. And for a moment it really worked. Her mind went on a little journey, thinking back to the times when she was Sakita’s age. They didn’t have much and life was tough. But there was hope, there was peace. And a tomorrow. It made her stomach turn to think how much luckier she was than her own daughter, who grew up facing so much hardship every day of her young life. 

She was so deep in her own head, she almost didn’t notice the dark, bloated body that was floating in the water, face down. A shiver ran through her spine and she almost started to scream but managed to keep herself calm. At least on the outside.

Looking up along the surface more bodies appeared, some of them deformed and severely burned. Dozens. Maybe hundreds. And between them countless pieces of wood, plastic and other materials. Another boat, or at least what was left of it and its passengers.

What seemed like minutes happened in only a couple of seconds. Before Amara was able to react the air around her exploded. People in front, behind and next to her were going down, being riddled by the incoming bullets. Blood and brains splattering onto her face.

It seemed like a miracle that Amara reacted the way she did. Grabbing Sakita, pulling her as close to her as she could and rolling overboard into the sea. Underwater she almost lost her grip on Sakita but managed to pull her in again. Above them bodies and parts of the body were hitting the surface, blocking their way up.

Unable to regain her bearings, Amara just started to swim, activating all of the strength she had left in her body. They had to get away as far as possible from the boat. After about thirty seconds they resurfaced, just when a bright light was illuminating the entire scene. 

The boat, still with dozens of people on it, had caught fire. People, many of them burning, tried to jump off it as quickly as they could. But a large explosion tore the boat in half, catapulting them into the sea before they were able to jump.

Sakita had swallowed a good handful of water and was coughing heavily. But Amara knew, if they wanted to live, they needed to rush. Any moment the soldiers would start shooting the survivors. Or worse. So she leaned back, taking Sakita under her arm, and started pushing as hard as she could using her legs and her left arm. Accompanied by the sounds of the horrors that were unfolding only a couple of hundred meters away.

After a couple of minutes, she dared to push her head up and take a look. Two metal boats with uniformed people on board had appeared, navigating right through the crowd, shooting into the water. The onslaught had stirred up the water, causing Sakita to swallow more water and start coughing.

“Shhh, shhh, shhh. Be quiet.”, she whispered to her daughter. “You have to be quiet, sweetie.”

After a while Amara took another look, still able to see the remains of their boat. But the flames had shrunk and both the screams and machine gun sounds were quieting down. Most people must be dead by now.

Not long and the water had gone completely calm again. Amara regularly checked if Sakita was still breathing. It didn’t take much longer for the girl to lose consciousness. She wouldn’t survive for much longer.

The last flames had gone out shortly after and the only source of light were large, powerful flashlights coming off the military boats, scanning the surface for survivors. A couple more shots were fired until everything finally turned dead silent again. And then, without warning, all the lights coming from the boats were turned off, having them return to complete darkness once again.

It felt like the entire sea had started to hold its breath. Amara was now briefly stopping and checking their surroundings every couple of seconds. Her entire body was shaking so hard, she nearly lost grip of Sakita a couple of times. The boats could be anywhere, cruising around in the darkness like ghost ships. 

Staying afloat was also getting more difficult the longer Amara tried to keep them both over water and deliver them to the beach. She could feel the numbness starting to spread from her arms all the way down to her feet. Despite the water being relatively warm, hypothermia would soon become a problem.

Up until this point, Amara was able to utilise the adrenaline in her body to take them as far as they came. But she knew that the chances of her surviving both the soldiers and the water were extremely slim. Her daughter would be dying, right there in her arms, traumatised terrified. And there was nothing Amara could really do about it. 

One of the large flashlights appeared, shining through the mist and almost directly into their direction. Amara stopped breathing, expecting the worst. But the beam had missed them and moved away from them almost instantaneously. Then, a second beam hit the water to their left. And then, a third to their right. They were moving around within close proximity to Amara and Sakita now, going back and forth, left to right. 

The boat was coming closer and closer. That was it, Amara thought. There is no way out. Any movement would immediately attract attention and they would be could. And not moving would mean one of the light beams would definitely find them.

No, they would die now, her beautiful daughter and herself. So she moved her arm from under Sakita’s chin onto her eyes to cover them and closed her own. Dying like this is bad enough, they shouldn’t also have to bear witness.

She could hear the sound of the boat engine inching closer, accompanied by the calm voices of the women and men that were about to slaughter them. Amara didn’t understand their language, but even at that moment she couldn’t help but think that their relaxed demeanour was almost more disturbing than their actions.

The boat was now so close she could feel the impact of the waves, making it even more difficult to stay afloat. Through her closed eyes, Amara could sense one of the light beams hitting the surface right before them. It could only be a couple of seconds now. The voices were now almost directly above them.

And finally one of the beams directly hit Amara and Sakita. At first, it was moving on, but then it quickly returned and stayed on them. It had found its target. Tears were running down Amara's cheeks, merging with the sea. For what it was worth, to Amara, it felt like her own heart had already stopped anyway. The thought of her daughter’s life ending before it even really started was more gut-wrenching than any bullet or death itself could ever be. She apologised to Sakita in her thoughts, hoping she would forgive her.

But then, something strange happened. The light beam that was pointed directly at them moved away. And so did the entire boat. Amara, still holding her breath, waited for a moment before daring to open her eyes. She could spot the boat moving away from them. It felt like the adrenaline came back to Amara.

Without hesitation, she started to swim again, slowly at first, but then a lot faster. Even if it meant attracting too much attention from one of the boats she couldn’t hold back anymore or Sakita would probably not survive. 

Suddenly, Amara hit something hard with her right foot. She stopped swimming and instead moved her legs around, hitting something else with her left foot.

Rocks. She was touching rocks. 

So she kept swimming. More rocks, coming up, higher and higher. And suddenly, no more rocks, but sand. On the ground. They had reached shallow water. 

It took Amara only another couple of seconds before she could finally stand, pulling Sakita up into her arms. How she was able to still carry her eight-year-old daughter and run towards the beach, she didn’t even know herself. But she did it. As fast as she could.

The moment both of them stepped out of the water, hitting dry sand, Amara collapsed onto her knees. Sakita was still unconscious but breathing. And Amara was so overwhelmed, tears began to rush down her face. Even if she was in the middle of nowhere, cold, wet, exhausted, with her daughter being so weak and fragile, a rush of joy overcame her. 

Once she had enough time to regain her bearings it was time for them to leave. Amara turned around one more time, looking out onto the foggy sea. The light beams of several boats were still scouting, almost like oversized predators, ready to swallow their victims as soon as they sniffed them out.

And for a moment Amara thought of all those poor souls that would never leave these waters again, hoping that there were others that made it at least to the beach. And might even survive their ordeal. In her thoughts, she wished them all the best for their journey.

Then, a light beam coming from the beach right behind Amara suddenly illuminated everything around her and a voice started to say something in the same foreign language as the ones she heard on the boat.