October Flasher winner - The Edge by Vee
THE EDGE
The `Lily of the Sea’ slides through the waves of the Pacific Ocean as beautifully as a Duchess sweeping into a ballroom. She is a classy lady, my Lily.
Now, though, I am terrified for her. For all of us. Because we are approaching The Edge. This means we must heave to at precisely the right moment. A minute too soon, and the ship will be torn apart by savage cross-currants.
A minute too late, and we’re over The Edge.
My Lily will see us through, I tell myself over and over again. Without realizing it, I am speaking out loud.
Johnson, the ship’s doctor, appears at my side.
“Now, Nat, stop worrying. A man with a moniker like “Captain Nathan Harlow” can’t do anything wrong. ”
He always makes me smile. I’ve never seen him lose his temper.
Back when we hit the hurricane, he patched up more green-faced men then I’ve ever seen at one time, and many of them were experienced sailors, too. The storm pummeled the Lily like a dog shaking a rat.
It was the hurricane that blew us towards The Edge.
The thought of something happening to this man chills my blood. His life, like that of the crew, is in my hands.
Johnson’s never seen The Edge, but I have. On my first sailing with the “Maria Louisa.” I looked down into the void.
It’s a black hell, so chilling and horrible that you wish you could see a monster, just to know there is life in that endless space.
I study the maps. My navigator assures me we have every chance to find our way back to port in Jamaica. The wind is NNE, which is what we want.
Johnson mutters, “Remember those old history lessons in the Sixth Grade? How we learned that people used to think the world was round? That must have been comforting……” He stops speaking and turns pale.
The Lily is bucking and heaving, rolling and shaking.
We are near the Edge.
I scream: “NOW!”
But it’s too late.
We clutch each other, Johnson and I. We can hear the prayers and hymns of the crew. No one cries or shrieks.
Like a brittle leaf in a hard wind, we are tossed against our will.
Over The Edge.
The `Lily of the Sea’ slides through the waves of the Pacific Ocean as beautifully as a Duchess sweeping into a ballroom. She is a classy lady, my Lily.
Now, though, I am terrified for her. For all of us. Because we are approaching The Edge. This means we must heave to at precisely the right moment. A minute too soon, and the ship will be torn apart by savage cross-currants.
A minute too late, and we’re over The Edge.
My Lily will see us through, I tell myself over and over again. Without realizing it, I am speaking out loud.
Johnson, the ship’s doctor, appears at my side.
“Now, Nat, stop worrying. A man with a moniker like “Captain Nathan Harlow” can’t do anything wrong. ”
He always makes me smile. I’ve never seen him lose his temper.
Back when we hit the hurricane, he patched up more green-faced men then I’ve ever seen at one time, and many of them were experienced sailors, too. The storm pummeled the Lily like a dog shaking a rat.
It was the hurricane that blew us towards The Edge.
The thought of something happening to this man chills my blood. His life, like that of the crew, is in my hands.
Johnson’s never seen The Edge, but I have. On my first sailing with the “Maria Louisa.” I looked down into the void.
It’s a black hell, so chilling and horrible that you wish you could see a monster, just to know there is life in that endless space.
I study the maps. My navigator assures me we have every chance to find our way back to port in Jamaica. The wind is NNE, which is what we want.
Johnson mutters, “Remember those old history lessons in the Sixth Grade? How we learned that people used to think the world was round? That must have been comforting……” He stops speaking and turns pale.
The Lily is bucking and heaving, rolling and shaking.
We are near the Edge.
I scream: “NOW!”
But it’s too late.
We clutch each other, Johnson and I. We can hear the prayers and hymns of the crew. No one cries or shrieks.
Like a brittle leaf in a hard wind, we are tossed against our will.
Over The Edge.
posted by Grendel at 12:32 PM
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