Thieves Of The Tide

Thieves Of The Tide

Brianne Sanchez

04/23/2026

Living in a world where everything is underwater isn't the most ideal place to live but it is home to me and many others. My name is Grace and I live in Miami or what's left of it at least. It's now 2073 . Most people don't really remember what it used to look like since most of the people who did are either dead or have moved somewhere else. They talk about how roads were something permanent that they didn't just crack and disappear under the pressure of the water. They talk about how beaches didn't always move and stayed in one place and people were able to visit them in days of wanting to go hang out in the water and sand. They talked about how it started slowly, ice melting, oceans rising, and tides getting higher every year until the water just stopped leaving. And even when I look like it does, it doesn't. The water comes up from the ground too, through the stone Miami was built on like, the city is flooding from underneath.My mom told me there used to be traffic so bad that you sat for hours on end just to go a few miles. Now the only traffic there is, we have floats and boats.

Boats drift on by past what used to be intersections for cars . Stop signs are poking out of the water like warnings they used to be but no one follows anymore as it's all taken by water. Sometimes if the tide is low enough you can still see the tops of cars resting on the bottom of the water left there when this all started rusting and forgotten. I’ve never really driven a car, couldn't actually since there was no road . But I can steer a boat better than most adults.

Our house stands higher than most. Not because we are rich but because my grandpa saw that it was coming before everyone else realized it did and for that we are grateful for now. Years before the water reached our streets he had raised our entire house on thick concrete stilts. People back then had laughed at him. They don't laugh anymore. The first floor of the house is gone now. It's completely underwater. If you lean over the side of our balcony and you look down and when the sun hits it just right you can see what's left of it. Kitchen tables, our couch and picture frames that are still hanging crooked on the walls. Sometimes you see fish swimming through our living room but I try to think about it too much.

Life runs on tides here. You don't make plans unless you check the water levels first. School only happens when the currents are calm enough for the smaller boats to get through the water so it's not a danger for children. Supply drops only come twice in twice a week and that's if they make it. And if they don't come people get desperate for some food and supplies. Freshwater is harder to find now the ocean didn't just take the streets. It got into everything, even the fresh water people used to drink.That's where the pirates come in.

I used to think the Pirates were just stories, something that was from old movies or books nobody really reads anymore. Out here they're very real, not with eye patches and treasure maps but with fast boats and empty water tanks they don't steal gold but they steal what matters, freshwater ,medicine, and food things people like us can't survive without and that is what makes them not so different then the stories because that is our treasure.The first time I saw them, I didn't really realize what was happening. It was early in the morning. The sun was barely over the water and everything was quiet and I felt peaceful. I was helping my mom unload crates from my supply boat that had just finally made it after being delayed for many days. Then we heard engines low and fast too fast for our liking.

Inside the house my mom said immediately her voice was sharp, but I stayed. I don't know why maybe curiosity, mostly stupidity. They came out of nowhere three boats cutting through the water like they had owned it like nothing had mattered to them . People started shouting and scrambling to pull the supplies back to protect what we had and then I saw him. He stood at the front of one of the boats studying what was happening like the chaos couldn't touch him. He wasn't yelling like the others, not rushing just watching. Our eyes met for a second and something about that made my chest tighten. Grace, my mom yelled. I turned too late.

A hand had grabbed my arm, not rough, but firm enough that I couldn't pull away from it. Don't move, a voice said to me . It was him up close to me . He didn't look like what I had expected a pirate to look like, no anger,no wildness in his eyes, just focus and something I just couldn't quite name.Let go of me I snapped trying to twist out of his grip to get free. I will, he said calmly, just don't make this harder. Harder for who you're the one stealing from us for a second something flickered in his expression not exactly guilt but not nothing either. We take what we need, he said and so do we. I shot back. The noise around just blurred for a moment people shouting. Water slamming against the dock, and our crates being dragged away, but all I could focus on was him.

What's your name? He asked, suddenly I blinked. Are you serious right now? A small smile pulled out his mouth yeah he answered. I hesitated. I shouldn't have answered him. I knew that but something about the way he looked at me like I was more than just someone in the way made me pause …Grace. He nodded slightly like he was storing my name somewhere I'm…

John, someone said behind him we're done.So that was his name John he looked back at me one last time before letting go of my arm. Stay safe Gracie he said, and then he was gone just like that the boat sped off, leaving waves crashing against the dock and silence settling after all that chaos, half of our supplies were gone people already arguing already trying to figure out how to make what we had left last longer, but I wasn't paying attention to any of that. I was still thinking about him, which made no sense because he was the reason people here were hungry. The reason my mom looks so tired all the time. The reason that this place felt like it barely was holding together. I should've hated him. I shouldn't want to see him again. I told myself I did and I don't .

But that night lying awake with the sound of the water moving beneath our house all I could think about was the way he said my name like I had actually mattered and I had a feeling that this wasn't the last time I was going to see him.

I was right, it wasn't the last time I saw him. A week passed before anything had actually happened again. Seven days of rationing what was left of our supplies. Seven days of my mom, barely sleeping and constantly checking our inventory, talking in slow voices with our neighbors about how long we can stretch our supplies for. Seven days of me, pretending I wasn't thinking about the boy named John who stole from us.

The tide was low that afternoon. Low enough that parts of the old highway broke through the surface, forming narrow strips of land where people gathered to trade. We called it the ridge a temporary market that only existed for a few hours before the water swallowed it again. Stay close, my mom told me, handing me a small bag. Get what you can don't talk to anyone you don't trust, I nodded. I always nodded. The ridge was crowded. When I got there people were moving fast. Voices were overlapping and trades were happening quickly. Water crashed around the edges, reminding everyone that time was limited. I pushed through the crowd scanning for anything useful, filters, dried food, batteries, and then I saw him.

John standing near the edge half in the shadow like he didn't fully belong here like he was waiting for something my stomach tightened. I should've turned around, but I didn't. You're staring he said without looking at me I froze for a half second then crossed my arms you're easy to recognize. He turned then that same almost smile appeared. Good to know, I made an impression. Yeah I said a bad one. He stepped closer, lowering his voice lightly. You shouldn't be here alone. I let out a short laugh and you should.For a second his expression shifted serious again. This place isn't safe. He said it never is. There was a pause. Not awkward, just heavy.

You guys lost a lot that day. He said it wasn't a question. I didn't answer right away because if I did, I knew my voice wouldn't come out steady like I had wanted it to. My mom hasn't stopped stressing since I said finally. People are counting every drop now something in his jaw tightened here he said, reaching into his bag. I tensed immediately dont i said , but he wasn't grabbing a weapon. He pulled out a sealed pack. Water purification tablets more than I've seen in weeks. He held them out to me.

I stared at them, then back at him. You're kidding I said no he answered you stole from us. I know he replied, and now you're just giving this to me, not everything we take stays with us. He says quietly I shook my head that doesn't fix anything. I'm not trying to fix it. He said I'm trying to balance it. I let out a sigh of frustration. You can't just take what people need then act like you're the good guy after. I never said it was a good guy. He said that shut me up because he didn't sound defensive. He sounded honest.

The water was shifting around the ridge rising just a little higher. Time was running out. Why me? I asked John looked at me for a second longer than necessary because you looked at me like I wasn't just another thief. I frowned. I literally argued with you. yeah he said exactly. I didn't know what to do with that so I reached out and took the pack. His fingers brushed against mine again and just like before something lingered. Grace, my name was shouted.

I turned at the sound of my mom's voice cutting through the crowd. She was closer than I thought . Go John said to me, stepping back, I hesitated just for a second. Will I see you again ask before I could stop myself, his expression changed something soft breaking through. Yeah he said then he was gone slipping into the crowd like he was never there. By the time my mom reached me, the ridges were already starting to disappear beneath the rising tide.

Where were you? She asked, grabbing my arm. I told you to stay close. I was said quickly. I got something look. I showed her the tablets, her eyes widened. Grace, where did you get these? I hesitated just long enough for her to notice I traded. I said it wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't the truth either. That night I couldn't sleep again. The water moved quietly beneath the house, soft waves hitting the beams with a rhythm I knew my whole entire life. Usually it had calmed me but tonight it didn't but now there was something else mixed into it expectation and maybe something dangerously close to having hope I don't know what John wanted. I didn't know what I had wanted either. All I knew was that in the world where everything was unstable where nothing stayed the same for long. He felt like he was the start of something new and that scared me more than the water and the change of Miami had ever could.