Broken

Broken
The night was dark and gray. The moon cast down an eerie glow, and clouds were constantly covering it completely from view for hours at a time. It wasn't the ideal conditions to be sailing the open waters. There were no stars out and if our compass went faulty then there was really no way for us to collect our bearing and guide our way home. But we set out anyways, captains orders.
"We sail at midnight. Be there and be ready for the voyage of a life time."
Those were his exact words. They were short and sweet, and seemed to leave an odd after taste in my mouth. His words seem to leave something out. Why was this going to be the journey of a lifetime? What could happen in the next three weeks that would cause this trip to be so exceptional? Could it be the unknown dangers that lurked from the depth of the sea, and peered at every vessel as it cut through the white caps? Maybe it was the cargo that was hidden down the in belly of the ship; that precious material that our gracious king had bestowed upon this ship before she made her next trip to Cambodia.
What ever it was, the captain's words had gotten me to this pier. It was quarter till the dawn of a new day, and I was seemingly all alone at the marina. All that surrounded me was the gentle caw of seagulls as they searched the dark waters for some hint of a midnight snack. The sound of waves whipped the bow of the boats as they laid patiently in their own little slots, waiting their turn in rotation. A rotation that could prove their last, as each trip is as dangerous as the first. If this occupation is so dangerous, why did I get involved in it, you ask? Well the love of the sea, and feel of salt spray hitting my face as I stand at the front of the ship was something I could never feel stuck at home. Freedom and traveling to exotic places, these things seemed to capture my childhood mind, and I never seemed able to get rid of the grasp, which it held on me. Living in a town, which housed one of Europe's biggest ports, didn't help the matter much in itself.
My mother used to tell me to pull my head out of the sand and let the water drain from my brain. She told me that nothing good would ever come from being a hand on some broken down rowboat. She said I needed to buckle down on my studies and find a job that would support a family. I told her that being a mate on a trading ship would support a wife and kids. She would only come back at me and say that I needed a job where I wouldn't be gone eleven months out of the year and smell like fish the other month.
Now that I stand here on these wooden planks, I realize my mother never really understood me. That was apparent when she died and left me the keys to a bakery she had bought with all the money she had saved up from doing neighbors laundry and ironing. I sold the bakery and took the money I made and sunk it into a ship. It just happened to be this exact one that I happened to be standing in front of now. It wasn't completely all mine, mind you. I had a partner in this financial endeavor of mine. His name was Jacob Mc'Neily, a childhood friend who harbored the same dream as mine. He was more then a friend, now. He was more like a brother. After my mother died, he was the only one I could really talk to. When I asked him to go in fifty-fifty he was all too happy to throw in his allotted bankroll with what I already had. Now that I had accomplished my dream everything seemed to be turning full circle. Everything was riding on my investment, my dreams, my life, my whole world. To lose it would mean losing everything that I held dear.
We rented out our ship, Magellan's Travels, to whom ever needed a transport. Whither that transport is of men or goods, made no difference to us. We had our own crew and we each maintained a spot within that crew. Our captain, Jessup Downum, was pulled from the sea, and belonged behind the wheel of a ship more than anyone I had ever come across before. He knew more about ships, stars, and water than God himself, or so it seemed. Captain Downum had full range over the ship. We controlled the money aspect of this arrangement, and he, in all his wisdom, controlled all the contracts. We had total faith in his judgment on what jobs to take and what jobs to be sent elsewhere.
So that fact that I had no idea what I was getting into, didn't scare me, like it should have. It was a cold night, for it being so early in September. Burying my hands deep in my pockets, shivering at the cold I blew rings of cold breath out of my mouth. Where was everyone? A man walking with a gimp slowly walked down the ramp from the boat. It was the Captain's First Mate, John Mattew. He had taken a harpoon to his thigh on a whaling boat when he first started out 20 years ago.
"Where you been laddy? We've all but set out. Everyone has done boarded the ship and gotten ready to cast off."
I was the last one? "Jacob already here too?"
"Aye son, he is," the man wiped his runny nose, "been waiting for you like I said."
Shrugging my shoulder, and laughing to myself, I walked up the ramp and shook the old man's weathered hand. There was no denying that this man had worked around ships all his life. His hands were dry and ashy, yet hidden strength was felt in his handshake. He laughed and slapped me on the back, pulled me close and spoke close to my face.
His gnarled voice was right at my ear. "Be you ready for the venture of yer life me boy?"
What was with these old men and saying that this routine voyage was bound to be something special? Was it something in the air? "What do you mean old man?'
"Look der, look at dat der moon."
Turning, not expecting to see much of anything, the clouds had parted and let the eerie glow of the moon past down to the water. Seeing it made me shiver. It looked un-natural. Did the moon have something to do with these old men's predictions?
"Dat der moon, be a moon of da devil, laddy. It can mean nuttin but danger and excitement for this voyage. Tis not a good omen to be starting a journey off on one of dem der moons."
The old man was speaking gibberish, speaking of old wise tales. Did he really expect me to believe that? Sure it was an unusual moon, something I had actually never seen before, but that didn't mean that this trip was doomed.
"Have you been hitting the bottle to much again John? Is this what this is all about?"
John Mattew's face turned grim and honest, "No laddy, tis not a lie, I swear it on my good leg. Dat moon, it does un-Godly thangs to animals of the sea. It makes dem do thangs dat dey wouldn't normally do. I swear it. I seen it wit me own eyes before. I once saw two giant whales, sperm whales dey were, beach demselves up on da coast of Wales. Dey laid der and fought each oder. Biting into each oder's skin, ripping out der flesh. Da one killed da oder and den fought it's way back into da water. We found it two days later, float'n belly up caught in a fisherman's net."
The look in the man's eye hid no lie, nor did his lip show the faintest smile. He was telling the truth, and it sent chills down my body. I didn't know if I wanted to believe his truth or just hope it was some non-existent liquor that caused the ranting and raving this old man was telling. Nevertheless we began walking back up the ramp to join the rest of the crew who for once was here before they had to be. I had to see the captain before we were off. I had to find out where we were headed so I could make sure that the arrival place would receive word of us leaving and know when to expect us. It was just the usual business arrangements.
"Where could I find the captain?" The simple question seemed to have a hard time getting just as simple an answer. Where was the captain? My bet was that he was galley. He always wanted to make sure that there were plenty of rations to keep the crew happy. He wanted no mutiny aboard his ship. Not that these guys would do it, but he just wanted to make sure that they didn't have a reason to. So walking down the aft stairs I found him just where I thought I would. He was checking to see how many barrels of water we had. He seemed deep in concentration, like he was counting and recounting, double-checking his figures, making sure that the number of barrels would coinside with number of weeks we were going to be gone. That's what I liked about him. That's also why we hired him. He knew his stuff, and he was paid for the job he gave.
"Jessup, where are we headed this fine morning?" Walking up to him, I rested my hand upon his shoulder, and surveyed the rations.
"Don't worry, I have already had one of the men send word to our destination to make them aware of when we are leaving. I have it all taken care of." He went back to counting his barrels.
"Jessup, I guess that's what I pay you for. But why wont you tell me where we are headed?" I stood there, hands on my hips, trying to look mad, but not succeeding at it.
"You leave the contracts and sailing this ship to me. Don't worry, as long as I know where I am going, you don't need to know." His eyes never left the barrels of apples, water, and other rations.
"When does this expedition get on its way?"
"As soon as I feel confident about having enough provisions to carry us through." With that he made a few more methodical calculations, rubbed his head, and felt good enough about what he had calculated and made and his way to the deck. Following up behind him, I heard his voice switch from the soft, conservative one I had just heard, to a loud and ominous voice of a man in charge. Shouting orders to various men, telling them to cast the line, pull the anchor, and ready the sails. And with that, we were off into the night. The moon disappeared behind dark clouds, its eerie glow hidden from view.

The Magellan's Travels cut through the water on its second hour of travel through the ocean. It was now 6 in the morning and the sky was still filled with clouds. There was no sign of the sun rising up from the deep, nor was there any sign of the moon vacating its place in the sky. It was the oddest thing I have ever seen. Standing at the point of the bow, I looked out at the horizon; it was definitely an experience I wouldn't forget. Looking down into the water, creatures were swimming along with the boat. Jumping in and out of the water, they swam as fast as the boat, and surpassed us in no time. Where was that old man? Was John seeing any of this?
"Did you see that?" A voice called out from beside me. Turning around I saw Jacob, staring down in disbelief at those creatures. He was hanging over the side of the ship and his mouth was wide open.

"Jacob, where have you been?" I was standing with my back to the rail now, and was looking at Jacob. I hadn't seen him since I had gotten on the boat.
"Oh I was just stuck listening to John tell some odd stories. But now that I see this, I'm not too sure if they were as far fetched as I thought they were." Rubbing his hands, he looks back down over the rail, a few creatures still playing at the bow of the boat.
"He told me something about some whales that I thought was a lie, but now, I'm starting to re-think the whole thing."
Something rocked the boat, causing it to tip almost completely over. Losing our balance and footing Jacob and myself began sliding across the deck of the ship to the other side. My feet hitting the opposite side, I stopped and lay there, a rush of water hitting me, soaking my entire body. What was going on? Then suddenly, Jacob came flying by, hitting the side of the boat he flew up and over the rail. Hitting the water, he started swimming immediately, the boat righted itself, and regaining my balance, I grabbed a rope and threw it out to him. Swimming to the rope, he reached out and grabbed for it. Grabbing it he started yelling for me to pull him in. I could do nothing but stare out at the water.
There was a dark shadow under the water. It was coming directly for Jacob, and he didn't see it. What was I going to do? What could I do? I started pulling on the rope, dragging him through the water I did everything I could do to get him back into the boat. Something broke the turbulent water, it looked like a sail almost, but it went to a point and was more of a triangle. There was a weird marking on it. Suddenly lightening struck in the background and the day was no longer night. The shape under the water was no longer just a dark shadow. It was a giant fish; his mouth wide open, rows of teeth crowded his upper and lower jaw. It was headed directly for Jacob. It was going to eat him. I started pulling the rope more franticly. But it felt like I was pulling a block of cement. I tried to scream out and tell him what was behind him, nothing but air escaped past my lips. The monster broke the water; he was gaining ground. Jumping up, he launched into the air. The creature came down and swallowed Jacob whole. There was a thug on the rope and as I fought to pull Jacob up to the boat, it broke and sent me flying backwards over to the other side of the deck. The monster went back under the boat, its fin scraping and cutting into the belly of the ship.
People scrambled to the lower decks, trying to stop the flooding. They were now putting all their knowledge to the test. They had to keep the ship afloat or all was lost. I didn't think that any of that mattered right then. There was something out there that had just eaten what family I had. And I knew for sure that it would be back for the rest of us. What other terrors swam beneath those waters? I ran down the stairs and tried to see what I could do to help. Water was up to my ankles and there was no light. People were shouting.
"Get to the sides."
"Don't let them bite you!"
"Stand still, they won't find you."
I had no idea what they were talking about. Then all of a sudden something brushed past my leg, someone lit a lamp and I looked down. A snake swam past me. It had to have been over fifth teen feet long. There had to have been at least six or seven of them down here. They were coming in through the hole in the floor. A man moved over near that back of the galley and the snakes rushed to the movement. They covered him. They were hissing and biting at him. They surrounded him and started constricting him. He began screaming and tried to pull them off. It did no good. Every limb that moved, a snake wrapped its body around and sunk its teeth into. Each bite was sending deadly venom into the man, his body going limp, the reptiles consuming his body. All the men ran up the stairs. They dared not try and help him. They didn't want to end up like him.
At the top of the stairs stood our captain and he was shouting orders.
"Get hold of yourselves men! This is no time to lose your wits." Oddly, the men stopped their frantic running and waited for their orders.
"You there, Sam, grab all the oars you can find. Jim, get the boats ready to launch. John, you…" he stopped in mid-sentence. Pain and agony streaked his face. His hand grabbed the doorframe. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the wood. He turned around, and there was another monster stuck to his back. Its weird feet stabbed into his back. It had webbed feet, yet along each toe it had a four-inch claw. Each claw was deep into the captain's back. He fell over and the creature slammed his mouth into his back. This time, all the men ran to his aid. Lightening struck again, and I saw this creature stand up and swat at each man who dare try and save our beloved captain. We stopped trying to save Jessup Downum. The creature grabbed Jessup by his coat and pulled him over the edge of the boat and then there was a splash, the captain was gone.
"Dat's what I said. I said der be weird happenings this trip. Didn't I? I did. I did. Look der. Ders anoder one of dem thangs." John stood beside me. His face was white and he pointed to the main mast on the ship. There was another one of those things, gnawing at the mast. It was almost to the middle of the pole and abruptly, the pole cracked and came crashing down. At the same time thunder shook the whole boat, lightening struck and the mast caught fire.
I was now in charge. I started telling everyone what to do. Go get water, watch your back. Everyone scattered, looking for buckets, getting barrels. The boat was now completely consumed by flames and I had no idea what I was going to do. All I knew was that I had a boat and crew to save. I just had to figure out what to do.
The boat creaked and moaned, it started to rock back and forth. Again it began dipping side to side. Lightening ricocheted in the background and a giant snake arose from the water. Flames flickered in the snake's black eyes. It swiveled left and right. Green and black scales covered its body, it swam around the boat trying to figure out what was going on, trying to make a decision. Slamming its body into the broken ship, he wrapped his body around it and started squeezing. The boat groaned and creaked. Planks shattered, and doors broke off the hinges. The boat broke in half. No one was around, I had to jump from the side or be taken down with the ship. Diving into the water, I was surrounded by darkness. Waves pushing me deeper under, the current catching me, dragging me away from the wreckage, I was lost at sea. My legs kicking, struggling to make to the surface, what was I going to do? Swimming up, I broke the waters surface. Everything was gone. The sea was calm and the sun was out. The sky no longer dark and ominous, the cloud had disappeared, and the eerie moon was no longer hanging in the sky. Seagulls flew in the sunshine, and all that could be heard was the scream of the birds and sound of the sea. The boat was nowhere to be found. A barrel popped up and I swam to it. Holding on to it all I could do was pray for the tide to carry me to shore and wonder if the night's activities would be about with the setting of the sun.