Surrounded by Sharks by Michael Northrop Page A

and dropped it back in the water. It floated higher now. Even when he grabbed hold again, it floated higher. Even when he allowed his tired legs to stop kicking, it floated higher. The top third of the thing was above the surface. He leaned down and rested his head along the top and his cheek along the neck. This didn’t solve anything. He knew that. He flicked his eyes forward and still saw nothing but a hazy blur of horizon.
    But right at that moment, he didn’t care. Right at that moment, and for quite a few after it, he rested. He hugged the big plastic bottle tight — his own little island — and rested.

The Tserings were nearing the far tip of the island when they realized someone was chasing them. He wasn’t exactly running after them; it was more of an urgent walk that occasionally broke into an awkward jog. Brando was the first to notice.
    “I think that guy from the hotel is after us,” he said.
    His parents turned and looked. Once they recognized him, they stopped and waited for him to catch up. There was nothing around. Just the ocean on one side of the walkway and the far corner of the hotel grounds on the other. There were no other people, and the only sounds came from the small waves and gentle breeze.
    Once he’d been spotted, Marco slowed down. He tried to act casual as he walked toward them, but the sweat on his forehead gave him away. He gave them a small wave. Then he reached up to wipe his forehead in an exaggerated way, trying to make a joke out of it.
    Word had gotten back to him at the main desk that there was a family out beating the bushes for a lost boy. That was not, in any way, good for business. He was in charge of things today. The owners of the hotel would have his hide if this blew up. Every advertisement they ran, from the brochures at the airports to the header on the website, used the phrase family friendly . He didn’t want to spend the next year answering the phone and saying, “Oh, no, we hardly ever lose children. A very small percentage, really.” And he didn’t want all of the families checking out today going back home saying, “The craziest thing happened at the Aszure Island Inn. A boy just disappeared!” He didn’t want the families checking in to worry about it the whole time, either. He needed to help this family find their kid — and hopefully get them to shut up about it until they did.
    Pamela was looking at him like he was a stray dog. He wished he hadn’t gotten off to such a bad start with her. It was hard to undo a bad first impression. He plastered on a big, toothy smile and gave them another wave. Only Brando waved back.
    “Did you find him?” asked Tam hopefully.
    Pamela perked up a bit. The possibility hadn’t occurred to her.
    Marco just shook his head. Tam and Pamela turned away from him to hide their disappointment, but Brando watched him closely.
    “I should’ve gone the other way around,” said Marco. “Just walked three-quarters of the island trying to catch up.”
    “Well, if you don’t have any news, why did you bother?” asked Pamela.
    Marco looked at her. Big smile , he told himself. “Wanted to help you look!”
    “Wanted to shut us up, probably,” said Pamela.
    A bad attitude and smart, too , thought Marco. How am I going to handle this one? His smile flickered and then fell from his face.
    “We both want the same thing,” he said. “Any idea where he might’ve gone?”
    Brando looked from his mom to Marco and back again. She seemed satisfied with his answer.
    “No,” said Pamela.
    “And you’ve checked …” Marco made a little circle with his left hand.
    “Yes,” said Tam, “we’ve checked everything up to here.”
    “Everything?” said Marco.
    “Every last grain of sand,” said Tam.
    Marco was sure that included asking every last person they came across. He cringed at the thought.
    “Well, might as well keep going,” he said, pointing down the walkway with his chin.
    They continued on in the direction