She gasped at she read it, her husband reading over her shoulder.

_ Dear Friend,_ __ This is urgent. We need help. I hope this winds up in the right hands. Otherwise disaster will continue to rage. Currently I hold the sea and he takes the land. We are running low on food. Please send some. My crew is tired and we need your help to finish this war. With victory for us. __ Sincerely, Blade Madlen. __ __ __ __ But that wasn’t even the most concerning part. The date was January 3rd, 3089. It was currently 2024.

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, the sky awash with pinks and oranges and purples and yellows. Josh and I slowed our pace from our morning run along the shore to take it all in. A seagull flew overhead in a noisy arc, then darted towards the foamy waves.

That’s when I saw it, the glint of something flashing on the water. I stopped altogether, shielding my eyes from the rising sun, peering more closely at the object bobbing like a cork.

“What is it?” Josh asked, stopping as well, stretching his long, tanned legs as he scanned the horizon.

I looked again, then said, almost as much to myself as to him, “It’s a bottle!”

Josh grinned at this, “You’re joshing me.” An old joke between us and I gave him a look.

“No, seriously,” I said, keeping my eyes on the object even as I bent to remove my shoes.

Before he could react, I was in the water, charging towards the bottle.

The sand is warm and the water is cool. They balance out each other so when they hit our feet, it’s comforting. The sun is peering down us, i’m pretty sure we will be as red as a lobster.

My boyfriends arm is around my shoulder as we walk along the shore. I’m wearing a dress that flows in the wind and he’s wearing light blue swim trunks. I look down and with each step I take the sand gets on my feet, then washes away.

“Babe, There’s something over there floating in the water.” I look up from my feet and run to look. My curious mind always gets ahead of me.

The closer I get the more I see that it’s a clear beer bottle with something in it.

“There’s something in it.” I say as I grab it out the water. He comes up behind me and waits patiently as I open it.

I try and twist the top off but it’s hard and stuck.

“Let me do it, babe.” He grabs it from my hands and twists off the top easily. Show off. I smile as he takes out the little paper.

“I need help. I’m stuck on this little island. Please send help. SOS.” Reads the little paper.

“We need to call someone.” I say as my smile fades quickly.

“It’s probably some dumb prank.” He laughs.

“But what if it isn’t?”

“There’s no way this is real. I don’t think there are any islands out here.”

“Please. Just in case?” I do a pouty lip which always works.

“Fine. Let’s go.” He says and we run up to our hotel.

“What is it?”

“There’s a note inside. I can’t open it.”

“Here - I’ll hold, you pull. One, two -“

“Got it! Okay.”

“What does it say?”

“…”

“Come on, what? Is it an SOS?”

“…it says ‘we have been trying to contact you about your car’s extended warranty.’”

“To anyone who by some crazy chance happens to find this note. If my premonition is correct two people should be reading this along the beach right now. To whomever is reading this, this is an EMERGENCY ! We desperately need your help. The year is 2088 and our world as we know it is on the brink of extinction. This is our attempt at trying to save not only us but your future generations as well. In order to help us you need to………..”

And that’s where the note left off. 

Bill and I were stunned beyond belief we couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. For one thing we couldn’t believe we had found this note in a bottle hidden among the sand. As far as we knew written notes were no longer a thing after the world went digital. But the fact that this person claimed to be in the year 2088 was even more astounding. How can that be? When the year today is 2088 and we’re still standing, or at least we still are for now. It is only January.

“Babe, are you excited”? “Of course Jamie, why wouldn’t I”?

It was the summer of 2003 when he and my partner decided to walk on the luxurious Llandudno Beach which has beautifully golden sands and blissful winds which is like breaths from heaven; it’s the perfect place, it really is.

Although Jamie and I were super excited to go to the beach, the trip we went on was short lived and made a lump form in my throat.

When we where running on the beach hand in hand laughing carelessly, Jamie suddenly stopped in his tracks and when I asked him what was wrong, I noticed him looking at a bottle just by the sea. What could the bottle be? I’d this something bad?

When Jamie and I walked slowly to the bottle, we noticed a minute piece of paper inside the bottle that looked soggy abd scruffy. When i picked the bottle up slowly to see what the message read inside m, I couldn’t believe what it says. It read:

“THR AGARO IS COMING, BE READY”!

I glared at the bottle in confusion for five minutes until I looked at Jamie’s worried expression resting flat on his face. When I read the message aloud to Jamie, he started to wriggle ihud gdvds like sizzling sausages in the left pocket of his jeans “What’s up Jamie? Are you-“ “Janice, we have to be prepared; prepared for this thing”.

Suddenly, a deep growling started to slither into my right ear and when I turned my head to see where the growling candy from, I looked at something incredibly large monster with black skin and with gisnt fangs fixed into a clench, this must be the Agaro”.

“Hunans, do you have the privilege of dying first”?!

When The Agaro boomed it’s fearsome threat, he slowly lowered his enormous claw to the sand and when it landed on Jamie’s throat m, a temptation to scream started to build up in my stomach.

“Aghhh! Get off him”! When I screamed ordering the monster to put my love down, he fedtoessly ignored me and raised him up to the sky to hurl him into the vastness of the sea. I couldn’t believe it l, I couldn’t believe that my love was gone, I just couldn’t.

I sprinted as far across the beach as I could to get away from the monster but his hard I tried, The Agaro was still not too far away from me. When I finally reached the end of the beach, with the Agaro still walking towards me, I noticed a small handgun lying there by my feet so I picked it up, shot a bullet at it’s left eye and went straight back to our car with the gun still in my hand. Suddenly, whrh I sat in the car my eyes started to flutter shut and the growling of The Agaro stopped; Just stopped.

Is it over now? Is it really over? “Babe, are you ok”? I found myself lying on the bed with Jamie sitting right beside me. Agent I added Henie what happened, he fact be an answer that made me feel a lot stronger, a lot stronger mentally”.

“You overslept babe, do you need anything”? “Yes, I need you to tell me, is The Agaro real”?

Leah and Jerry stroll through the softly sifting sand, on the lookout for anything out of place. The sacks they carry are nearly full of brightly colored bits of broken toys, sandy plastic bags, and a handful of red SOLO cups. Three more bags lay stacked against each other, full of beer cans to recycle. There were always more of those after a holiday weekend.

“People are trash,” Leah says darkly, grabbing three more cups out of an extinguished fire pit with her gloved hand.

Jerry snickers. “Well, let’s just throw ourselves in then, shall we?” He begins to put one foot in his sack, turns sideways to Leah, and wiggles his eyebrows at her. She rolls her eyes.

“I’m serious,” she continues. “Look at this place.” She sweeps one hand in a slow circle around them, gesturing to the refuse strewn from the water’s edge to the dunes behind. She shakes her head somberly. “Memorial weekenders are the worst.”

“I thought you said Spring Breakers are the worst,” Jerry teases as he prods at a half-buried plastic bag with his tool of choice, a toy grabber in the shape of a shark that he has reinforced with a thick rubber band.

She ignores him. Instead, she turns to the sea and watches the sun peek through wispy curls of purple across the horizon and sparkle across the water. She and Jerry meet here at dawn every Sunday (plus Tuesdays during summer breaks), going on two years now. His lightheartedness rarely serves to offset her pessimism, but she enjoys his company. Most everyone at school thinks of him as a basketball player, the Cool Guy, but he has the heart of an activist. It was Jerry who had organized today’s school sponsored cleanup. Leah is relieved that they met at their usual time, before the crowd.

Their only companions now are a small flock of sanderlings chasing the ebb and flow of the shore. Leah smiles; the sweet creatures are always a favorite for her. As a child, the way their twiggy little legs flit furiously back and forth delighted her. She once asked why they ran into the water if they’re afraid of it. “They’re hungry,” her mother had answered, and showed her how they scavenged for clams. Leah had beamed at their bravery.

The remembrance of her mother tightens in her chest. She closes her eyes and clenches her fist, breathing, waiting. When she opens them, a glint of green catches her eye near the waves.

“Glass?” she thinks, incredulous. “She stomps toward it. “Of all the lazy, stupid, careless... Who brings glass to a beach?” She steps near and sees it is, thank goodness, unbroken. It is still corked, with a black wax seal, though it contains no liquid. Inside is a single roll of paper. Through the glass, she can see one word printed on it: LEAH.

The Pembrokeshire coast had an aurora of ancient magic about it. Grant and Sandra had been making it their holiday destination since they met at The University of Sussex in the mid 80’s. Little had changed since they started coming, though the costal villages had become more up market and artisan, the coast itself had remained largely untouched by tourism or time. They loved the fact that even in the hight of summer they could find a remote cove to climb down to, where they could spend the day relaxing, writing and playing with their dog Kovu, a long haired German Shepherd.

This day was pretty much like any other late summers day. They had got up to watch the sunrise and drank coffee outside their bay window campervan before they strolled down to the cove adjacent to the campsite.

The accent was steep and tricky and put most casual tourists off, so this morning like many mornings it was just Grant, Sandra, a couple of seals and the hypnotic sound of the sea.

“Grant Grant look!“ shouted Sandra excitedly. About 4 meters away an old looking greenish glass bottle was dancing in and out of the waters edge with the waves.

“Grant! Quickly get it before it gets washed out again“ pleaded Sandra, reluctant to get her brand new walking boots wet retrieving it herself.

“Why,” Grant grunted, “it’s only a bottle, it was probably chucked over board by a fishermen having a few beers in between catches. “

“No, look Grant it’s really old and what if it breaks up and hurts one of the seals.” “Ok ok” he said, knowing if he didn’t get it he would be made to pay for it for the rest of the day.

Grant pushed himself off the rock on which they were both perched and padded down to the shore.

Just as he got there a small wave caught the bottle and tossed it like an offering directly onto Grants right sandal, “arrhhhhh that blood hurt” he screeched.

Sandra started to laugh “see it wants us to find it”. He reach down and picked up the bottle. It looked like one of those old fashioned medicine bottles, smaller than a Coke bottle and made of a thick green glass with a cork wedged in the top.

Sandra stopped laughing as she noticed a strange look come over Grants face. “What is it babe, are you ok? Did the bottle cut you or...“ she trailed off. “Sand you are not gonna believe this “ shaking his head in disbelief. “ There is a piece of paper in here“. Grant lifted the bottle up to his eyes and started squinting inside. ... “and I think it’s got something written on it .“

“ You are kidding. Shit Grant how fucking awesome. Quickly bring it here let’s see if we can get it out”

Grant turned to walk back to the rock on which Sandra was excitedly perched and handed her the bottle .Sandra immediately began work on the aged cork using both fingers “Hmmmm it’s proper wedged. God knows how long this has been there. “ Hey hun come on, let’s take it back to the van we have that old corkscrew hopefully that will get it out “

15 minutes later the out of breath couple were sat back in the campervan, Grant with corkscrew in one hand and bottle in the other

Grant started working on the cork with the rusty corkscrew, which had probably been in the drawer of the camper since it was new 40 odd years ago. At first the cork seemed reluctant to give up its seat. Then suddenly with a hiss and a pop and a Champaign like fizz the cork flew out across the van causing Sandra to let out a high pitch scream. “ shit what the fuck .....” “Must have been some kind of trapped gasses” muttered Grant looking equally shocked ‘ “God yes ...... what’s that smell.. it’s like something died in there .“

Grant grimaced as the pungent smell of something rotting hit his nostrils. Jesus what the .... “ I think it may have been out at sea some time “ Sandra said her voice muffled by her hand covering her face and nose as she leaned over to take a closer look at the bottle an its contents. Grant peered into what now appeared like a gaping cazom left by the cork and gingerly pulled out the scroll of paper ..... “let me see “ a muffled screech came from under Sandras still firmly wedged hand as she nudged closer to Grant to take a closer look.

Carefully unfurling the scroll the couple peered eagerly to see the message it contained.

It’s a poem .... I think ? “Read it Grant. I cant see”

“Inside this glass upon the sea The spell that binds has taken me Until the time Another comes For then by grace They shall take my place”

“Inside this glass upon the sea The spell that binds has taken me Until the time Another comes For then by grace They shall take my place” What does that me..... but before he could finished his sentence there was another loud hiss and the note started to evaporate turning into dust spilling onto the van floor

Sandra had not had a chance to take in what had just happened when Grant fell backwards arms stretched wide crucifix style onto the campervan rock n roll bed which they had not yet push up into its bench seat position.

“Grant” screamed Sandra, diving to the bed terrified by the sight of her lover who was staring straight back at her ...except they were no longer his eyes. She sat up not quite understanding what she was seeing. It was Grant. His hair, his face, his clothes .... but the eyes .... they were not Grants beautiful blue eyes .They were black like horrible deep needy pools of darkness.

“Grant ..... Grant are you ok “ she edged back of the bed .... The man on the bed slowly sat up flexing his hands then looking down at them as if he had never seen them before.

“Grant” shouted Sandra ... now shaking The man now perched on the edge of the bed tilted his head, quizzically looking at Sandra through the dark pools that were intermittently scouring the interior of the van.

Who is this grant you speak of .... The voice like the eyes where not Grants

Edging slowly backwards to the van door Sandra caught her foot on something . It was the bottle .... a corked green bottle ... inside was a scroll of paper. Slowly she bent down still keeping one eye on the man sat on the bed and grasped the bottle .There was a smokey mist glowing around the note lighting the bottle as she stared in disbelief she saw something else. Grants face tears pouring from his beautiful blue eyes

A hand grabbed the bottle from hers ... ill take that said the man ....

You have no idea how long I’ve waited for someone to find me and now the bottle which has imprisoned me must go back to the sea

Brushing past Sandra the man walked out of the van taking a long deep breath pulling in the fresh sea air and the views of the coast. “Arhhhh its been a long long time’’ he grinned

20 years later.

No one really knew how long the woman had been staying on the campsite. She was pretty much just part of the scenery.

Her battered ancient Camper had served as her home first long as anyone could remember. She liked to befriend young men who came to holiday in this most beautiful part of wales, especially those especially those who came to the campsite on their own. Not in any creepy way of course, she was perfectly friendly and loved to take them down to the Cove, where she would to tell them about a glass bottle she once found that had drifted upon the shore and had had a strange message inside.

The woman said she had a small fortune stashed away, money she had saved by living in her campervan and that anyone who could find a bottle similar to the one she had found all those years ago would be given all her fortune. Of course none believe she had a penny to her name or her story about the bottle and the strange message, but Sandra had become a bit of a local legend her long salt and pepper hair and her unusual dress sense had given her the nick name of the Celtic Witch even though it was rumours she wasn't even Welsh.

Then one day everything changed. A young man had turned up at the campsite. A beautiful man with amazing blue eyes. She taken a particular liking to this man and took him daily down to the Cove presumably to look for her mythical bottle. On the Friday just before the young man was due to leave they returned from the Cove together holding hands and laughing like long lost lovers , something shed never done with any of the men should befriended before. Then she got into the campervan started the engine and they drove off. Sandra never returned. A week or so later the man's family turned up at the campsite looking for him. It was like he disappeared off the face of the planet. Despite several news conferences, A social media campaign and national media coverage no trace was ever seen of either of them again.

The only evidence the police could find was a note left a the rock by the shore of the cove

It read

“Inside this glass upon the sea The spell that binds has taken me Until the time Another comes For then by grace They shall take my place”

“If you are reading this, you have set me free.”

The message was written in an ancient rune, but Jordan understood it perfectly well. Coming from a lineage of witch hunters, his father and uncles all told stories to him and his brothers, warning them of these creatures- especially the sea witch. He never thought this day would come, and he never thought he would fall in its trap the first time he had been in a beach for ages.

“What does it say?” Janet, his fiancée asked.

Panic rose up his throat. He didn’t know what to do. And even if he did, it’s all too late now.

“Run.”

“What?”

“Run. Go as far from the sea as possible,” he almost begged Janet.

“You’re not making any sense,” Janet tried to protest as Jordan ran into the shallow waters.

He tried shoving the piece of parchment back into the bottle, hoping that he can undo how they unleashed the sea witch trapped in the bottle. He knew this wouldn’t work, but he stubbornly did so anyway.

“Jordan, what’s happening?” Turning back, he realized that Janet had followed him into the waters, and the waves that splashed her ankles were starting to glow ominously.

“No! No!” Tears fell from his eyes in desperation. He rushed to Janet and hugged her, whispering to the sea witch spirit slowly taking hold of her body. “Please, take me instead. Leave her be.”

An icy tentacle punctured his stomach. He stepped back. It wasn’t Janet anymore.

“Your father cried the same thing, and he trapped me in this bottle for 30 years. I won’t fall for that again.”

"Stop teasing me you meanie!" I let out with a soft chuckle, nudging the man on my right. A smile spreads across my lips as he gives me a mischievous grin, before returning a push back causing me to stumble slightly along the soft grains of sand under my bare feet.

"Your reactions are too entertaining for me to not tease you, lovely." Daniel retorts, amusement and humour dancing in his eyes as I glare up at him with flushed cheeks from the nickname. "See! You are too cute!" He chuckles, intertwining our fingers as we stroll further along the shores. The sun is reaching its end as it drifts down the skyline, heading toward its nightly slumber. The sky painted in gradients of pinks and oranges indicating the sun's farewell; purples and blues drifting from above preparing for the moon's greeting.

I shake my head, chuckling under my breath. "Hey, would ya look at that?" I turn my head to Daniel. "What is it?" I ask, straining my eyes over the area in front of us, only seeing the ocean pulling in and out and just sand amongst sand. We pause to a halt in our walking, Daniel lifts his arm to point at something in the shore. I narrow my eyes, my already not so brilliant eye sight impairing my attention to detail. "I don't see anything."

Daniel scoffs with a laugh, dragging me closer to the water's edge. "Just in the water," he pulls us closer till our bare feet are blanketed in a thin layer of the salty ocean, "See?!"

And I see it, a wine bottle still in tact bobbing up and down in the shallows of the water, dragging back forth along with the tide. It's caught in some seaweed or maybe some sand, as it stays mostly in place not drifting too far back to the ocean. I gasp, letting go of Daniel's warm hand as I run to the bottle however running in water is proven difficult as I more than once stumble, wetting my bare knees and hands.

"It is a bottle! Daniel! I think there is a note! Oh my God Daniel, there is a note!" I yell out in childish glee, hurrying to grab the bottle out of the water's cage. I hear his laugh from a few meters behind me while he casually catches up to my happy strides. I look at the bottle, trying to read the label but the ink has been washed away with the rub of the salty water, it's glass structure still somewhat new and shined green against the setting sun.

"Can you please open it Daniel? I'm too weak." I ask with humour, handing him the bottle as I eye the slightly faded note inside. He nods, smiling before unscrewing the bottle's lid, turning the bottle upside down as the note drops out. He reads it.

" ' Return to Rose Jackson 64 Price Street, VIC ' "

A letter is attached.