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Board Administrator Username: mjm Post Number: 3443 Registered: 11-1998 |
Honorable Mention M. V. Sta. Lucia Marty Aboard, a creaking sound lulled the children to sleep, the soaked floorboard defied the sea and stayed afloat. The shirtless captain played checkers with his firstmate, a glass of gin is passed around. The diesel engine sputtered with each wave besides this sound, and the sea all was silent. "Been that way since ah wus a child m'self, ne'er been a calm sea, not even in summer but she'll hold." The Captain drank his glass. "Ah lost mah brother just last month, stupid boy insisted on that fishin haul off the El Blanco with his kumpadres, ah told them the storm'll come. But they were sturdy men, all o'them, been catchin marlins and tuna all their lives, storm or summer..." "see that over there?" No one saw, but the captain was sure it was there, "that spot is the darndest part of any sea, 'twas always angry, not even the japs in '43 dared pass through that...but my brother, he survived that in '97, he wus drunk then, and steered the boat the wrong way. I thought he should've died then, so I aint cryin for him now." Hrrmphhhhhhhh the long sound of the bamboo sides ended in a splash of sea. Thirty one years, seven dry docks, twenty two first mates, sixty five years old, one more pass into the strait, after all these years he still prayed. |
