text: The roar of the waves. The salt in the air. The taste of it on my lips. How pure and fresh this air is as I breath it in, In-and-out, In-and-out. I could die at this moment. I’d die completely at bliss on this rejuvenating, cloudless day. But alas, that’s not what she wants, a conclusion drawn only from the fact that she hasn’t taken me yet. It could be in a week, it could be tomorrow. But not right now. So I let myself relax as I soak up the sun. Just a few moment’s longer as I prepare for this day ahead. I open my eyes to draw myself out of this trance. There’s work to be done and I always need more coins in my pocket. I can’t let myself stop working for too long or I’ll get tied to the mast and whipped for my laziness, again. Captain Rothoss, although fair, isn’t a lenient man. You do your job or you get punished. So for the point of not getting whipped, I head below decks to swab the mess decks as part of my daily tasks. Being a chore boy isn't the greatest job, but this is the first ship I’m on. I can hardly expect something when I have no skills to rely on. That’s just how life is sometimes. Now when I say mess decks you might think of some huge area filled with rows upon rows of tables. It’s just two, they ain’t that big. Hell the ceiling’s not even that high. Honestly it’s not too much to swab but it gets dirty all the fuckin time. So here I am for the second time today, swabbing it. “Hey Kylar” I looked up to see Bernard coming to me. He’s another chore boy who’s supposed to be helping me swab, but he’s late. “I heard Marquez ain’t walking the decks. So we can probably take a sit for a bit.” “Who said that?” I asked Bernard doubtfully. It’s Marquez’s job to whip those slacking in their duties. And everyone, especially me (I can still feel it on my back when I move around or bend over), knows how much he loves that whip. “Well I ain’t really heard it as much as seen it. He was up on the bridge with the captain and looked like he was ‘gon be there for a while.” He replied with a little smirk on his face. “Well shit, then we got at least a few minutes. And we can keep swabs next to us in case he actually comes down.” I replied cautiously, feeling those slashes flare up a bit. “Shit alright man, but I really don’t think he’s coming down for a while.” Replied Bernard. Am I being a bit paranoid? I’m wondering in my head. I’m always stacked a bit differently than other people. I’m just not wired like they are so I’m always in my head with things like my paranoia, for example. And then I’ll stack my thoughts to a multitude of people to make sure I’m not being too weird. Am I being too paranoid or is Bernard being too careless? I hadn’t seen what he’s seen but then again he is the kind of person to not fully think things through. Which is why we got caught slacking last time...shit! He’s just kinda looking at me while I’ve been in my head. He’s probably waiting for me to say something so I open my mouth to say a prepared, bland question that I honestly don’t care about. Like ‘How are ya?’ or something else just as boring. But just when I open my mouth to speak I hear this loud clanging. It sounds something like, ‘DING-A-LING, DING-A-LING, DING-A-LING’ over and over. Holy shit that’s the battle bells. But it might just be a drill. The captain likes to test us to make sure we’re ready for anything. Since this is a merchant’s ship we’re big targets for pirates. Because of that, and with more than a little worry, we run to the weather decks and make it topside. Everyone’s running around us. People are bumping into us trying to get to their stations. I know we’re in the way but I’m completely shocked and I’m sure Bernard is too. This is definitely not a drill. We can see the ship aft starboard side flying a black flag. And it’s fucking terrifying. I’ve never seen that many cannons on a ship before. We’re getting robbed, without a doubt. Since the pirate’s want our loot they’re not going to sink us. I know that but I’m still terrified. We can’t even do much since we only have four cannons, two starboard and two portside. Through my quick glance at their ship I saw, at least, three times that. So I start to run to where the cannonballs are stored. It’s my and a few others' jobs to refill the cannons after they’re fired. Not that we’ll get many rounds of volleys out before they put enough holes in us to make us stop. Before they incapacitate us. But a job’s a job. As dangerous as this one is at least it doesn’t take much skill. Just some courage to run around topside while cannonballs are flying. But, Jesus, my legs are trembling, can I even move? I have to grab onto the rope that makes up our lifeline before I fall to the floor. I try to take a few shaky steps. I’m so terrified I can barely move. The Captain is barking orders for the ship to turn so we can point the cannons at them. I haven’t even grabbed a cannonball yet and we’re about to fire at them? I try to take just one, small step. Maybe just a shuffle of my feet. But I can’t! I’m completely locked into place. I hear a deafening roar that shakes me down to my core as someone runs into me and knocks me down. I can’t even look up to see who it is. I hear cannonballs whiz past my head. Did one just nearly hit me? Seriously where are they aiming those cannons? They should be shooting lower so water can fill up the ship. But I guess with the amount of cannons they have they can shoot everywhere. And a deafening crack as they smack into the wood that makes up our hull. I hear a scream of agony somewhere topside. I don’t even know the direction it came from. The realization that could have been me causes a warm trickle down my pants. Seriously that scream was nearly as loud as the cannonballs hitting the hull. Is wood still cracking? People are screaming at me but I can’t make out what they’re saying. They look terrified though. So full of emotion for me to do...something. What’s that they’re pointing towards? Well it’s something to my left, so I look just in time to see the main mast coming down towards me. No one was brave enough to come and move me. Hell I’m not even brave enough to look anywhere else. It just keeps coming, creaking down. Pulling all the connected ropes with it but it won’t stop. Just gaining more and more speed like it’s excited to hit me. Like it wants another blood sacrifice from more than what a whip can give. It smacks my skull with enough force for me to hear a crack. I bet it hit me hard enough to leave a bit of my brain on the wood. My bodies in the water...well, no. I’m in the water. But I don’t feel cold. I don’t feel scared either. That’s a relief. Before I couldn’t take a couple steps and now I feel like I can fly! Gods that such an exhilarating feeling. Actually, I am flying. I’m soaring up in the sky! I can feel the wind. But it’s not cold, just lively. It makes me want to soar faster. So I do! I keep soaring up! I’m going past the sky, the moon, the stars. I can see the stars in a blur around me. They’re so beautiful. Like millions of the purest diamonds to ever shine. Each one as unique as a snowflake. I’d tear up from the beauty but I’m not stopping here. I’m soaring farther, faster and faster the longer I fly. I’m still not cold! Passing these beautiful clouds. These clouds are like rainbows of vibrance and life on top of the canvas of nothingness. I wish I could soar through and around these clouds but I have to keep going. Gods this is so...I can’t describe this feeling of joy and freedom. It’s true freedom, I’m sure of it. What people preach for but no one delivers, what being rich entails but never happens, what everyone dreams for but no one gets. I keep going, past the stars, the clouds, past galaxies, and then I see this light. This is what I’ve been soaring towards. This is why I had to go through that shitty life before. It’s getting closer. Closer and brighter. I can nearly see through it. I’m so close to it! And then...