(PUBLISHED IN FICTION MAGAZINE, 2014)
He knew he should not have trusted Philip this time but it
was too late for him to repent his decision. Philip was long consumed in the
waves and now, for the obvious omens of ill fate, he knew it was his turn. The
sails of the mast fluttered with the fierce winds and the high tide waves of
pacific were gigantic enough to swallow a small town. The storm stirred another
gigantic wave and it lifted the ship and pushed it behind to have it slip on
its back like a sudden drop on the roller coaster. While reaching the turbulent
surface, the bowsprit of the ship pierced into the ocean and bounced out like
it was taking a dip in the freezing waters of pacific Novembers. The storm had
no mercy for the lonely sailor, Zack Foster, and the rumblings of the thunders
lit the sky like an ephemeral twilight. A splash of waves has already destroyed
the bridge on the deck and the wheel, that he used to control the ship’s
direction, was struggling to drown in the never ending blue. He was still
holding the stem of the mast with the sails mercilessly torn away, still
thinking of the time when he urged Philip to drop the idea of sailing after he
saw the black clouds lining. Philip, who now lie deep in the womb of the
furious pacific, never believed that the weather forecast of Zack can be an
accurately reliable one.
The rumbling of the thunder snapped him out of his thoughts and it was
so loud that he could not hear his own screams of fear. The screeching rain
fell like a never ending blanket of water from the cloud which managed to cover
the view of everything beyond the stern of his ship. His rug textured overcoat
and the soil brown trousers were swampy in the water and the frequent splashes
of waves from the either sides of the deck were slapping him hard.
The wind was howling with all its might and the diabolic waves hinted
clearly that he was going to drown soon with Isabella, that which he called his
antique ship. Isabella came to him in legacy and the first thing he did after gaining
the ownership of the ship was to change her name from the pirate sounding
Decrotos to Isabella. The pride of his father and of his father before him,
Isabella was the member of his sailor family since 5 decades. Her rusty iron
cables and the anchor were polished and the mast was painted blue before his
father, Granther Foster, handed it over to him for sails and trades.
Her
brown wood body bearing the texture of a cross knitted fabric with the vintage
royal craft bulging out on her upper half of the body ended well in a mannequin
of mermaid on the bowsprit. The sails of ivory color fabric had the rather
disturbing family sign of a fork piercing a fish painted in gold and black. The
deck was a huge plank of rare tree from his grandfather’s time who always boasted
about the grand trees of his era. The wheel to control the ship’s direction was
homed at the back towards the stern. The wheel had similar designs as of her
body and on the façade of the mast’s stem two letters were engraved in depth,
HF, which stood for his grandfather, Hugh Foster. She was an iconic beauty and
when she anchored at the port people would linger around to touch her bulging
engravings of royal vintage designs. She also acted as an inspiration to the
vagabond artists who dwelled there to capture everything they see on canvas.
Another thunder rumbled and he saw the ghastly sky whipped by a great
white lash. His cold lips trembled in fear and his freezing palm could no
longer hold the mast with excellent grip. The deck was flooded with rain and
the constant splash of waves. It was not far before Isabella would give up the
fight and succumb into the depths of the furious blue. A wave of vicious
intentions rose like a dead from sleep and before he could raise his head to
see the height of the devil, it came to swallow him with uncanny powers.
Isabella pierced into the façade of the wave and he saw the waves swiftly
consume every bit of her. He was dragged with the ship and before he could do
anything he saw himself covered in a blanket of cold blue water. His eyes
started slowly shutting down and his body was freezing in the icy waters. He
could not breathe but was released from the pull of Isabella, which before
going unconscious, he saw drowning deep into the beds of the ocean. His eyes
closed and he felt nothing anymore while the storm kept screaming on the
surface of the ocean.
( Thank you for reading.... If you liked it comment your views here.... this is chapter 1 of the series... )
