The Water People

   It was the last glimpse of water she would ever see, in her heart she knew this.  She had grown up on the water, in the water.  It was in her blood, one of the Water People.
   But they were taking everyone, it had started quietly.  First, the elders would slip into the water and never resurface.  The men and women would follow, their feet would step off the boats and onto the dirt in the dead of night, leaving their children to fend for themselves.  The teens became scared when the babes disappeared.  They had posted guards, settled in the deepest portions of the water where no land could be seen anywhere around them.  Still the small ones had vanished.  All that was left of the Water People was a group of 3 boys and 5 girls, all between the ages of 16 and 22 years old.  But eventually, they came for them too.
   Tashia walked quietly next to Wairin.  They were the two oldest and the others looked to them for direction.  There had been some struggle, the Water People were proud people, but in the end there was no use to fight against them.
   She studied their captors as they pushed them into vans that were parked at the top of the docks.  They were dressed as though they were going into combat, shadowed face guards prevented her from making eye contact with any of them.  She braided her long golden brown hair as they began driving, the strands of her hair falling through her fingers calmed her thoughts.
   She made eye contact with each person in the van: Wairin, Nadia, Kyler, Bennigan, Ras, Ribah, and Nakhira. There were glimpses of pride and fear reflected in each of them.