Cast Upon a Restless Sea

"Please," she begged. Karina didn't know what she begged for, maybe for the flare to do its work or, maybe, for the pain to stop. She never saw which way the flare headed. A coughing fit that ended with a strong taste of blood in her mouth delivered her back into the comforting realm of darkness, back to where problems ceased to exit, and back to where pain could not find her. Fifteen-year-old Karina expects hardships and surprises during her five-month school term at sea aboard the Star Fin, a