Phan Oneshots (a collection of short stories)

A Message in a Bottle

A Message in a Bottle (October 12 2015)

Summary: Phil has this belief that every sunrise and sunset, a bottle will float across the shoreline and in it will be a message. Soon, Phil embarks on a boating trip and Dan contacts his best friend through the use of the message in the bottle.

A/N: I wrote this during my final exam for creative writing and I want to share it with you. Some parts are edited/changed from what I originally wrote since I was under pressured that I left out things and the original had parts that didn't make sense to the actual plot.

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Dan's P.O.V:

I once had this best friend named Phil and he would always be so innocent and so happy in life while for me... I'm somewhat the opposite. Like whenever I'm upset or thing something very deep, Phil would help me snap out of it and bring back that smile in both of our faces.

Phil and I would do everything together. Whether that is going to school, hanging out at home or even just playing in the local park (which sadly its now a show ground), he would always be by my side. But the thing we do the most together is sitting by the beach or the wooden docks, looking at the sea together.

You see, Phil has this belief that every sunrise and sunset, a message in a bottle would appear, just floating along our shoreline. Our oceans is where most of the boats passed by, either for fishing, shipping or other purposes.

So one day, Phil eventually found a bottle floating around. He picked it up and saw it was just one empty beer bottle. So he got out his notebook, tore a paper and we wrote a message on it. Afterwards, we put it back in and Phil threw the bottle to a far distance.

"Are you sure anyone would find it?" I asked.

"Of course Dan" Phil said in a positive tone.

A month later, I was at Phil's house as we were both doing homework till his parents watched the news. It turns out that a fisherman in the coast of Japan found our message in the same beer bottle we threw (except they thought it was from some old guy in the 19th or 20th century). When Phil and I heard the news, Phil tackled me and cheering, discovering that a simple message in a bottle can be received by anyone across the world.

Ever since that moment from the news, Phil and I would run towards the beach and find empty beer bottles our dad's finished. There, we write a letter and throw it to the ocean every sunrise and return every sunset to see if someone wrote back. And every time we do this, Phil would stare at me and see a huge smile on my face and it doesn't matter if it rains or storms, we still do this (unless our parents deemed the weather conditions dangerous).

2 years later, Phil and I parted ways. Phil went on a boating trip while I've decided to continue with my studies. We all greeted him goodbye and off he went. When we are apart, we talked together on the phone while at the same time, I'm at the beach, finding and waiting if Phil sent a message in a bottle that he wrote weeks or months ago. Even if they're out dated, most of our messages have been seen and it doesn't matter if it's not in chronological order, as long as we keep contact with each other.

But 2 months later since he left, there were reports of a storm and it was bad. From my house, I can see huge waves on the beach, knowing it's unsafe to get out. However, I ran out to see if Phil knows that it's dangerous and he either needs to get back home or find a safe route. I yelled his name as I threw a bottle with a short message into the ocean. But  then my parents brought me back home. During the remaining hours of that day, all I can think of was Phil and how much I wanted him to be safe and go home. I tried to call him via the phone but he didn't pick up. I'm guessing communications were cut off.

A week after the storm, a rescue team was dispatched since there were reports of sunken ships and such. They looked around the surrounding areas and saw broken debris floating around. It was soon broadcast in the news and they saw that the boat was destroyed in the storm. The team couldn't find any body except a floating hat with a small lion in the center.

It was Phil's sailor hat... 

Ever since the news broke, everyone assumed he was dead, that he didn't survived the storm and drowned like Jack in Titanic. Out of everyone, I was the one most affected about this. I cried every night because I didn't want to believe that he's dead. So every sunrise and sunset, I waited at the docks and the beach to see if Phil wrote a message in a bottle for me, if he wrote to tell me that everything's going to be ok for one last time. So like what Phil told me, just wait every sunrise and sunset to see if a bottle will float in our shoreline.

2 months later... no message.

2 year later... still no message but my girlfriend waits with me. She knew how close Phil and I were back in high school and she sometimes felt like the third wheel at times.

6 years later... still no message and it's a family thing now. Every sunrise and sunset, my wife and daughter waits with me at the beach to see if Phil sent that message. There were times I felt like giving up but friends and family encouraged me to not give up. Some even wait with us in certain points in time.

1 month later and it was the end of the sunset. The ocean has reached low tied and it's time to go home. As we were about to leave, my daughter tugged my shirt and pointing me to the water. There, in a distance, a floating bottle emerged. I removed my shirt and jumped into the ocean and swam to that bottle like it was a drowning child. I grabbed hold of it and saw there was a message. It was the same paper Phil write with so it has to be his.

So I arrived home and all of our family and friends gathered around my living room. I also invited Phil's mum who was the remaining family member alive. I removed the piece of paper from the bottle and opened it. As I opened it, from the handwriting, it was Phil's letter.

Hi Dan,

Sailor Phil here and the clouds are becoming violent in the distance. I don't know if I could make it home to see you again but I just want to say, don't worry about me. Focus on your life as I know it's going to be filled with amazing adventures!

- Phil

The last line made me cry, tears started to smudge the paper and it's confirmed... Phil is still missing... or at least we think he's dead. But if it wasn't for that bottle, we wouldn't even knew that Phil survived or is missing. So from there, me, the family and our friends threw messages in the bottle into the ocean every sunrise and sunset, hoping people around the world would receive them and hopefully reach Phil's missing body in the ocean... somewhere.

Many years later and I'm now old. I was about to leave the beach till I saw a bottle just sitting on the sand near the waves. I picked it up and brought out a piece of paper with a message saying.

Dear Dan

I'm Alive and I'm coming home!