Thank you to all 131 entries in the Lifeboat winter flash fiction competition. We were delighted so many of you were inspired to put pen to paper. There was a clear winner – a favourite in the office and with flash fiction writer Eleanor Hooker, who says: ‘It stands out and is the story that stayed with me long after I’d finished reading it.’ Congratulations to Jo Spencely, who received the prize, Flash Fiction: 72 Very Short Stories.

HOLDING ON

I grab her as soon as she falls overboard. I hold her tightly but she struggles against me. Her arms flail and her legs kick and it takes
all my strength to keep her. She’s not as weak as I thought. I tumble over her as a current carries us towards a rock that juts out nearby. A swell builds behind us. There’s a lull, then the force races from the depths to the crests and lifts her onto the rock.
She hangs, half in, half out, unable to haul the whole of her waterlogged body out of the waves. She mewls like an abandoned seal.
I slap her back to remind her I’m here. And then – we both hear it – the sound of a boat. A growling engine. A crew’s shouts. A hull smashing against waves as sharp as sharks’ teeth. Hope sends her into a panic. She yells and waves frantically but the exertion loosens her grip and she slips back into the water, thrashing and choking as if she’s forgotten how to breathe. The boat looms towards us then dances back, bucking in the wind that whips up spray and spume, stinging eyes and blistering lips. Ropes. Lifebelts. Faces filled with determination and trepidation. Yellow-clad arms reaching out for her. She’s almost theirs – but I’m still holding on. One final pull away will be enough. I pause, gathering my strength. But they know me too well – in my moment of hesitation they seize their chance and with a heave they have her. She’s over the side. They wrap her in silver, shout in her ear, pivot their boat and full throttle away. I’m on their tail, chasing them, snapping at their stern. I’m the greedy, dangerous, unstoppable sea. But I don’t always win.