Deep Waters

Since I was a kid, I always dreamed of being a sailor, I guess this desire was due to the admiration I had of my father, he used to tell me stories about his adventures during the voyages he was part of; I was captivated while listening to him, how could I forget those stories?, the one when he had to take care of some exotic birds they brought from Africa; the time when the crew witnessed a combat between the Royal Navy and some pirate ships; I still remember when he told me that one, when he saw a big pod of orcas following the ship for a while, he said they looked friendly.

I used to wait anxiously for his return every time he left, so I could listen to more stories of his journeys. I feel some nostalgia while thinking of those beautiful moments I shared with my old man… however… not all the times he went out to the sea were that good.

One day, when he came back from an expedition to the north part of Norway, he looked different, I mean, he was always tired after such tedious travels, yet he kept his gentle and charming touch, but… that time was different, his face was all pale, as if he had seen the devil itself, he looked skinny and weak, which was really strange for him, who had always been characterized for his big body and a great physique.

He entered into the house and sit on a chair, his eyesight was static, and said: – I am home – and nothing else. He stayed there for a while; my mother, worried that he might be hungry, cooked a steak and potatoes, cut a piece of bread, and served it to him, but he did not even touch the food. He just drank a glass of water and stayed there, silent, thinking to himself.

Mother and I were concerned, we wondered what could have happened during the journey, Why was he in that estate? Did something go wrong? Were they attacked by pirates? A lot of questions crossed our minds, when all of a sudden, he started to cry. I never saw my father crying before, so this was a strange situation, I got closed and hugged him, and he said, crying: – Thank you God, for bringing me home! Thank you! – and we all started to cry.

After that day, he never went back to the sea, he started to work as a shipbuilder instead and never talked about that subject, but I always wondered about what happened during his last journey.

When I grew up, I decided to continue the path of my predecessors, I mean, being a sailor has been the family business for generations by now; it all started when my grand-grand-father found some treasure buried in his land, located near the shore of the port of Dover, England (where we live), it could have been left by thieves, or some rich man who had nowhere else to hide his fortune, who knows; with that money, the chief of the family bought a small boat and started his business as a fisherman, after a while they got more ships and expanded the business as merchants, founding the Burton Company.

Nowadays, the Company is managed by some distant relatives, so it was easy for me to get a job as a sailor. I was assigned to work at the Eleanor, which was a medium sized ship. The first time I sailed to the ocean, my father told me:

– I know you choose to follow the path of our family, and you are a grown-up man now, so I cannot take any decision upon this matter… I just want you to know, that, out there are some things that we do not understand, so you have to be careful, all the time, beware of anything that could put your life in danger, follow your instincts, and… by all means, if the sea gets calmed and the fog covers the ship, do not listen to the voices. –

– Yes father, do not worry, I will be careful – I replied, while wondering if what he said was related with “that time”.

After that, he and my mother gave me their blessing, and I started my journey as a sailor. It has been three years ever since, and I have learned a lot of things about this job, I have visited many countries, Spain, France, Swidden, Denmark, Ireland, etc., and witness incredible things during those travels.

I must admit that, being a sailor is not as fun as I thought it would be, since my first experience on the ship crossing the ocean, I realized that my father just told me the good stuff when I was a kid. Now I understand the troubles a sailor has to deal with on a daily basis: the harsh weather, getting seasick the first times, an uncomfortable place to rest, and the nasty food we have to eat, but still, I like this job.

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It has been 6 days since we sailed from the port of Dover (England), currently we are heading to the port of Oslo (Norway); the Company had a request to bring a cargo of sheep wool, fine fabrics, and some spices from Greece and Spain, so we are at full capacity. This is my 18^th travel on the Eleanor.

Today I woke up, as usual, with a pain in my back of course, it was caused by the uncomfortable bed we sleep on, well, if you consider the wooden floor with a blanket as a bed. It was difficult for me the first times, but after a while, I got used to it.

This time, we (the crew) could not get to sleep in better accommodations, because we had more people with us. Apparently, a friend of the captain had some businesses with a wealthy family in Norway, so he asked for a ride since we were heading that way. This “distinguished man” came along with eight other people (workers of his), so due to the lack of spaces to rest, some of the less important individuals on the ship (me included) were assigned to sleep in the storage room.

– Good morning, Henry! – said Tom, a friend of mine.

– Hi Tom, good morning, long time no see you – I replied sarcastically.

– Ha ha ha, yes, it has been a while, how are you feeling today Mr. Burton? –

– Well, you know, I have been better. –

While we were having or early conversation, the main door opened, and a big man with long hair and prominent beard yelled at us:

– Morning fellas! The breakfast is ready, get up! The ship won’t cleaned itself. –

– What are we eating today sir? – replied Tom.

– You should know by now, the specialty of the house: boiled potatoes, dry fish and cookies for dessert – said Mr. Coller (the chef onboard).

– By cookies you mean those bricks, right? – I replied.

– Yes, sure, you can skip breakfast if you want, I don’t care at all. –

– Understood Mr. Coller, we will be there in a moment – I answered.

After we all got up, we went to the kitchen room for our portion of food, it was dark, we could still see the stars up in the sky. After the early meal, the sunlight started to appear, I was focused on making sure the ropes of the rigging were placed and tightened properly, just yesterday, some prick did not pay attention and the whole sail got loose, so it took some time to put it back into place. When the captain noticed what happend, we all were schooled and warned to be fired, of course the captain’s role is to make sure that no one screw something up.

While I was on my duty, a strong and cold wind came from the west, which gave me chills, and then I heard:

– Red sky at night, Sailor's delight; Red sky at morn, Sailor be warned –

It was the captain, Mr. Fynch, and when I looked back, I saw the red sky, which, among sailors, means that the time ahead will be dangerous.

– Do you think there will be trouble? – I asked.

– Well, I have seen that red sky before, and most of times it foresees a storm coming, however, I have only seen them in southern waters, not this far north… – he made a pause and continued: – but fear not, the good ol’ Eleanor will endure any harsh conditions. –

– Yes, it has always taken us back home – I said.

– Sure thing, now get back to work, before I throw you overboard. –

– Yes Captain! – And then I went back at my duties.

Everything was going smoothly, the weather was great, I guess not all the superstitions about the sea are true. I mean, I have heard other sailors telling stories about sea monsters, ghost ships and mermaids, but, since I haven’t seen such things, I am a little skeptical on this matter.

By evening, just a few hours before the sunset, a strong wind (that came from the north this time) brought a dense mist that covered all the horizon, soon it caught up with the ship, and we were all immersed into this fog. We couldn’t see a thing; the sea was a little rough. After a while, the waters calmed down, which created a chilling atmosphere.

Soon after, the wind stopped blowing, so the ship lost speed, the sails just hanged from the mast, no movement at all, and a dead silence fulfilled the scene. All people onboard gathered at the deck, and started to share thoughts. No one had ever seen such a thing; it was a rare situation we were in.

Even though the ship did not move at all, some of the crew members started to feel dizzy, just as if it was their first day at sea. At first, I didn’t feel anything, but, as the time went by, everyone started to get seasick, some people threw up, others just fell unconscious on the floor, I leaned on the mast, I felt that if I fell on the floor, I wouldn’t be able to stand up again.

During this time, I saw two men (Joseph and Leon) that were throwing up near the edge of the ship, when suddenly, they both fell into the water, so I yelled: – Men overboard! –, but no one could do anything, we were all dizzy and wobbly, I could hear the screams of those men asking for help.

Since I was not on the floor yet, I tangled myself with a rope that hanged from the course sail, and slowly, step by step, I walked to the edge of the ship, where the two men fell from, once I got there, I threw a long rope into the water, so they could hold on to it, while we recovered and tried to rescue them, but… when I looked down where they should have been, they weren’t there, nor could I hear their voices pleading for help… I got scared, I never saw anyone died drowned before, so I shouted again:

– Please, someone, there are two men overboard!!! –

The captain got closed, while he walked as if he was drunk, and exclaimed:

– where are those men? We have to bring them up! –

– They fell over there, but I don’t know where they are now! – I replied.

– This bloody fog won’t let us see where they are, and I can’t hear them – said the captain.

– I stopped hearing their screams a moment ago –

– Damn it! They might have drowned by now, they’re gone, who were them? –

– They were Joseph and Leon –

– Joseph and who? – asked the captain a little confused.

– Joseph and Leon, you know, those Irish drunkards –

– I don’t know who you are talking about! –

– You know them! the ones who… –

I made a pause then… I forgot who those people were, I tried my best to remember, but… I couldn’t. What’s happening? I don’t understand, just a moment ago I knew who fell into the water, but now, it’s just as if they were completely strangers. The only thing I know for sure is that two men are missing.

I looked back at the sea, there weren’t any signs of where they could have gone. Then a small portion of the fog dismissed, so I was able to focus my sight into the water, but it was useless, they just disappeared.

I was still feeling dizzy, so I threw up a bit more, then, all of a sudden, I saw something in the water. I thought it was one of the men who were missing, but, that thing was not a man.

I saw a black being, shaped like an octopus or a jellyfish, I don’t know, it had several extremities like tentacles, and its eyes…those disturbing yellow eyes were staring at me, I can’t describe this but, that stare provoked a shuddering feeling that ran through my body and… then… I heard it, a soft voice, it was whispering something I couldn’t understand, it was like another language, it said something like “thunk-ha-tom” and I could hear it directly inside my head, after a while, I came to understand that this voice encouraged me to jump into the water. I couldn’t thing anything else than, jumping into the sea, so I tried but, since I was tangled with the rope of the sail, I did not fall.

Suddenly I felt a hand over my shoulder, it was the captain, Mr. Fynch, who said:

– For God’s sake, what is wrong with you? Are you out of your mind? –

– What do you mean sir? – I asked.

– Why would you try to jump? Have you gone mad? And what in the world is that voice? –

– I don’t know sir, it’s just that… wait, what did I just try to do? –

Then I realized that the whispering was dangerous, it just made us think in jumping overboard, without hesitation. Then I said:

– Mr. Fynch, something is wrong! That voice… –

And, while I was speaking, we heard the noise of splashing water, which meant that something had fell into the water, so we looked back at the other side of the ship, and we saw what we feared could have been the cause. Eight men stood up over the board and started to jump into the sea, one after another, they disappeared from our sight.

The rest of the people could hear the voice too, and it started to increase the volume, now it felt as if the voice was shouting loudly inside our heads, we couldn’t shut it up, not even by tapping our ears. Almost immediately, we all started to bleed from our eyes, nose and ears. Some desperate people could not resist any longer and jumped off the ship, in the hope that this suffering would end.

The rest of the people remaining onboard were all laying on the floor, we knew that if we dare to look out of the ship, we would certainly encounter the same fate as the other ones who jump. We were hoping for the best, that all of this situation just passed, some people were praying, others just crying, I just had a single thought, to endure this hardship so I could see my parents, at least one more time.

After a while, the voice stopped, we had horrible headaches and were covered with our own blood, but still alive, which was the best part, we had survived!

We stood up and gather at the center of the ship, we hugged each other, cheering and praising the Lord for saving us, the fog dismissed completely, letting us observe the night sky, with the beautiful stars and the moon… that moon… it was a blood moon.

Suddenly the whole ship trembled, we all fell to the floor, all confused and scared, the ship started to sink, we saw our hopes running out of our hands. Then, my worst fear, some giant tentacles started to catch us; one by one, we were taken into the water, this creature will not let us leave, we were doomed.

While I was sinking into the depths of the sea, my body got numb due to the cold of this icy waters, and then I saw a lot of those evil yellow eyes in the dark… this is the end, I guess some myths of the sea are true indeed. Mi vision got blurry, and while closing my eyes, I heard a voice… it was different… it was calling me by name, it said: – Henry, Henry, wake up man! –

Then I woke up, all covered in sweat, my body was cold and my skin blue, it was as if I had hypothermia, Tom then said:

– Hey buddy, you really scared me mate, I thought you were dead! –

– What… what happened? What’s going on? –

– Look at you mate, you have hypothermia, you look like you've been thrown into the sea –

Then the door of the storage room we were in, was opened, it was Mr. Coller, and said:

– Morning fellas! The breakfast is ready, get up! The ship won’t cleaned itself. –

– What are we eating today sir? – replied Tom.

– You should know by now, the specialty of the house: boiled potatoes, dry fish and cookies for dessert – said Mr. Coller.

I guess, there are fates that we cannot avoid, especially when sailing in deep waters.