The sweet salt water sparkled from the glaring hot sun above, which hung around drapes of blue skies. Streaks of scattered clouds disappeared as quickly as they emerged. The breeze was warm and the air was thin as it hovered over the cool waters below. Pockets of rip currents foamed near the shore as seagulls playfully dipped their bodies through the white bubbling surface. Waves crashed onto the white shore as the gentle ebb and flow of water became harmonious with the rhythm and sound of the birds, breeze, and laughter coming from the two children playing in the water. They splashed about while their smiling mother watched from afar. She was scrubbing garments in a wooden bucket while her husband climbed a ladder to collect coconuts from the tall palm trees that surrounded their house.

A dark object flowed towards the boy and girl while masking itself within the water. It spun and tumbled closer until finally reaching the shore where the boy felt it scrape onto his leg. He shrieked and ran out of the water as his sister did the same. They cried as their mother rushed to console them and pointed out that it was only a bark from a tree. She retrieved the piece of wood which danced in the ripples and lifted it to show her children who started to slowly calm down. She then tossed it aside and signaled for the children to continue playing.

As she walked back towards the bucket to resume her task, another yelp came from the children who ran back out of the water again. Their mother strutted towards them with hesitation, and her smile slowly washed away into a concerned look. She stared into the shore and pulled her children back, who whimpered by her side. More pieces of wood were carried through the water that drifted onto the shore in all types of shapes and sizes. The smaller pieces ebbed back while the larger pieces started to wash out on the shore, causing the teal blue water to become blackened with bits of shrapnel. The mother called out to her husband who jumped down from his ladder and ran towards them. He became as confused as they were and proceeded slowly to picking one of the larger pieces of wood up from the shoreline. He felt the engravings of letters and symbols that were illegible due to damage caused to it. He lowered it down and stared far out into the open sea to realize that a river of blackness flowed in from the horizon.

The four watched in complete silence as more seagulls flew overhead to peck away with their beaks at the mysterious floating objects in the water that steered towards them. A tumbling wave washed ashore a blackened box with crusted designs that sat motionless in the sand. The family stared at the peculiar object as it stared widely back at them.