The Island, the Woman, and the Dragon

This is not the finished product. I will add much more to it, so don't panic when you get to the end.

A crow’s nest is an interesting contraption. On a pleasant evening, it can be the safest place on the ship. If the hull were to be punctured and the craft sent down to unknown depths of the darkest ocean, the crow’s nest would not only be the very last to sink, but, due to an ingenious modification, the round sort of half-barrel could be detached and made to float as a kind of primordial life raft. However, when the ship and its crew found itself plunged into a storm, the Acheron had no other alternative than to maintain its heading in south-easterly direction.

Wilhelm Kuch was powerless in the Acheron’s crow’s nest which, out of the worst luck, was one of the worst places to be when the ship began taking sixty-foot waves. Water battered him from every direction, enormous pellets that struck him like rocks. The ship was rocking so furiously in a useless attempt at staying buoyant that Wilhelm constantly lost his sense of direction, feeling like he was floating in a space not connected to the ship at all. He managed to stumble drunkenly to the edge where he leaned over to witness an enormous commotion down below. Commands were being shouted through the rain to tighten things and let things over the edge. But most words were carried by the wind overboard.

A sailor for three years, Wilhelm had only once succumbed to sea sickness, and that was in his early days, back when something as simple as fixing up the mooring lines was beyond him. Now an able seaman, good looking and charming, he had thought he could withstand anything the ocean threw at him, but he acquired a new revelation as his insides fell victim to the raging storm. Maybe a life at sea wasn’t the best idea after all, he thought, suddenly regretting his decision those three years ago.

Wilhelm had long since collapsed his copper looking glass and stuffed it into the folds of his jacket. Now the cool metal pressed against his skin and chilled him almost as much as the freezing rain.

The first crack of thunder was enough for Wilhelm to crack open his eyes, despite his natural instinct to protect them from rain and wind. The storm had come in the darkness of night, making the sky even blacker and blotting out the stars. The few lanterns still lit down below hardly made it through enough of the darkness to reach Wilhelm in his crow’s nest, so when the next flash of lightning came and caught the world in white brilliance, Wilhelm discovered himself momentarily blind. He clutched onto the mast that poked through the bottom of the crow’s nest and there he waited out the rest of the storm, squeezing his eyes tightly and trying to distract himself from the great turmoil that threatened to tear his existence apart by making out coiling shapes beneath his eyelids. He thought he saw a dragon.

 

Morning came. Wilhelm awoke to find himself on the floor still wrapped around the mast. Had he passed out? Had the storm simply been a dream? He scooped himself up into a kneeling position and had the strangest feeling. Where was the rocking? The sounds of a ship in the daylight? Surely the Captain would be giving out orders with his wild and gruff voice, storm or no storm. He pushed against the mast for support as he stood up and to his horror, the entire thing began to tip over. For a moment, Wilhelm was struck with vertigo as he pictured a hundred foot topple into the sea. However, Wilhelm was met with hot sand instead of air.

Where was the Acheron?

The ship and its crew was nowhere to be seen. The crow’s nest alone sat, a sentinel, on a beach. A few hundred yards of sand ended in a tree line of some strange tropical breed Wilhelm had never seen before. Beyond that, a mountain of sharp, craggy gray rock shot up into the sky. The air was warm and dry, so Wilhelm removed most of his clothes except for his trousers, folded them by the decapitated crow’s nest and set off to explore the island in the hope of finding his fellow crew members, or at least some remain of the Acheron. The looking glass dropped from inside the coat and fell with a muffled thump onto the sand.

He was sure shock would hit him soon. It had too. Wilhelm wandered through the sand wondering when he would break down into tears, collapse to the ground and lay there, boiling, until the heat took him. As it was, his feet trailed through the sand as if they were too large and too heavy for him. His jaw hung slightly open and his hands rubbed his shoulders in an odd attempt at comforting himself.

The Acheron was in such an odd position, at first, Wilhelm thought it might be a mirage and he was, at last, going insane. However, once he walked into the shadow of it and his head cleared somewhat, he was able to decipher reality.

The ship stuck straight out of the sand, bow first, towering upwards. It created an immense shadow that covered the beach and an indistinguishable distance beyond the trees. Even now, it groaned with the effort of staying upright. Enormous cracks and holes had formed among the hull from the force of impact, giving the whole thing an accordion-like appearance. One of the sails had ripped away and settled on the trees. It rippled feebly, marking the grave of the Acheron.

Wilhelm felt panic coming on. Was the crew dead? He looked around the site and noticed a crate covered in blood. A few patches of crimson were distinguishable from the dim yellow of the sand. It wasn’t exactly a massacre, but to Wilhelm, it might as well have been. He let loose a long and sad moan and fell to his knees.

“What’s with you?”

Wilhelm jumped to his feet, startled by voice. It came from an old man with long white hair and beard. His clothes were in tatters and his face was slightly bruised, but what truly gave him a start was the man had no left arm. His sleeve ended in a bloody knot near the elbow. Wilhelm looked closer and squinted his eyes through the light. “First Mate Dodger. . . .” he whispered, realization dawning on him as he spoke the First Mate’s name.

“Wilhelm? Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes. The rest of the crew figured you’d been carried off . . . by the storm, you see? Nasty one, wasn’t it?” his voice was gruff, and only through three years of acquaintance could Wilhelm distinguish Dodgers words.

“Have you seen the ship?” Wilhelm exclaimed. “Where is the crew? Do we at least know where we are?”

“Not a clue where we are . . . storm tossed us for miles. Could be east, could be west, could be up, could be down. Nobody has two cents worth of an idea where we are, hell, that storm could’ve launched us through time. Ha! We could be in the future! A time not of our own!” Dodger continued to ramble like that for some time, until another being stumbled out of the woods.

“Wilhelm. . . .” Said a hopeful voice. It was a young boy, hair as blonde as the sand and face still pinkish with adolescence. He strode over with an enormous grin and an armful of round yellow fruits.

“Jack, I see you survived as well. Good. Perhaps you can explain what’s going on.” Wilhelm said, shooting a glance at Dodger who was mumbling something about sea monsters.

“Well, we all sort of woke up on the beach, and . . . we didn’t know where we were or anything, so the Captain said we’d better pick up the wounded. We did, Dodger here had piece of metal lodged in his arm there, so the doctor had to remove it. We also think he may have suffered a head injury,” -- Jack looked quickly over at Dodger who had moved on to reciting the ingredients of a low-fat lasagna -- “Anyways, the crew took off for the jungle to get our bearings and see if there’re any materials we can use to rebuild the ship. It’s a fool’s errand, if you ask me, but the Captain was dead set on it. They left me here to look after Dodger. I go to grab some food for the two of us, I come back, and here you are, in the flesh.”

“More or less,” Wilhelm said.

They found a knife among the wreckage and began the arduous and experimental process of peeling through the thick skin of the fruit.

When they were finished, they sat back on one of the unsoiled crates and bit into the fruit, enjoying the feeling of juice running down their chins. Wilhelm realized how long it had been since his last meal. After that, Wilhelm went to gather his belongings before they became starched in the blazing sunlight.

It took quite awhile, but he eventually found his way back to the sad piece of mast that had kept him safe. He gathered his clothes and rifled through them, only to find that the one object in his possession had been misplaced. He searched every pocket, every fold, but the looking glass was nowhere to be seen. He searched the sand around the crow’s nest, but there wasn’t the faintest trace of it, not even a speckle of copper. Wilhelm sighed. Perhaps it had gotten lost in the storm.

Wilhelm returned to the wreckage of the Acheron. It was just as breathtaking and depressing as it had been the first time he had stumbled across it. He found Jack in the same place he had been, Dodger had wandered towards the sea and was preaching religion to the fish. However, there was another there. A man Wilhelm did not recognize. He was certainly not part of the crew. A very elderly man, he carried himself with the wildness of someone who hadn’t seen civilized society in many years. When Wilhelm approached the man who had been having an apparent conversation with Jack, the man looked up at him with a twinkle in his eye and grinned.

“Well, I had thought that the storm would deposit some trinkets on my beach, but I hadn’t expected it to dump an entire ship, and a crew along with it,” the man said. His tone was cheerful, almost youthful.

“I’m sorry to intrude,” Wilhelm said.

“Oh, it’s no trouble. I haven’t had much company in years.” -- He turned to look up at the ship. -- “it’s quite a sight, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is indeed.” Wilhelm faced the ship as well. Who in the name of god is this man? He thought. And what is to come of us now? Now, more than ever, Wilhelm Kuch wished he had never left home for a life at sea.

Author's Note

Point out what you see. Like I said, this is not the finished product, not by a longshot. It's just not long enough to be a book. I'll add more to the same story, so comment if you want to be kept up to date with it.

Reviews

[JelliFyshKissUs]

Okay, finally finished reading this story and I must say I'm quite impressed. The odd wording I had met with millenniums before are corrected to perfection. And as far as Wilhelm goes--his character is very easy to grasp. You describe what he sees, what he feels--even give us background information on him. There is no way we don't join ourselves to his character. I'm very proud.

[Miss Coral]

So, generally, I have a difficult time reading longer pieces on the internet, which is probably the reason I started on poetry in the first place, haha.
This held my attention to the very end. A feat.
The description and character development were fantastic... I could vividly picture everything in my mind, as if it were a tv show or movie (but with an actually interesting plot, and no bad actors). You seem to float from time to time, whenever you pass over long periods of time, you do it smoothly, when it is generally jarring.
Each time I read one of your stories, I'm in awe. It seems that after reading enough of them, I'll be used to it.
But, as of now, my jealousy for your writing abilities has been renewed. :)
100/100 from me, as usual. Sorry I can't offer anything constructive.
-Coral-

[dissidia]

I'm so in awe, Its rediculous. I fee like I know wilhelm. You definatly got characterization down with this one, and I died for the descriptiveness of it. My favorite part was when wlhelm told his story, it made the plot so deep. Grahg! I'm jealous. I wish I could write like ths.

[Hello, Elle]

This was amazing. Oh my God, you have talent, man. I loved this. Loved it. Beautifully written.

[Myrcei]

Oooh you're good. You're talent just makes me smile. I'm short on time right now so I didn't get far, but I'll be back with a better review than "I liked it."....but you really are so frickin' good. I'm kind of awestruck. :D

[JelliFyshKissUs]

Oh, and did you know a sailor who is stationed at the crow's nest is called a Barrelman? I thought you might appreciate that bit of information, but you probably use it later on in this story. Still Reading. Can't stop.

[JelliFyshKissUs]

I only read several paragraphs, but, my God, I am so jealous. Your vivid imagery is to die for. I hate you and love you at the same time.

I do have a few suggestions(If I may):
Italicize 'Maybe a life at sea wasn't the best idea after all' since it is an internal thought of the character.
Change to '...regretting the decision he made on his twenty-first birthday.' and leave out 'three years ago' since you mentioned that at the beginning of the paragraph.
Maybe 'flounder' instead of 'stumble drunkenly'
'...words were carried overboard by the wind'
'...able-bodied seaman(--)good-looking...thin physique(--)he believed..' Just my preference. Thought you might like it.
'brass telescope' instead of 'looking glass'
'chilled him as much' instead of 'almost as much' (if you like it)
'The lanterns still lit below him, could not stretch through the darkness to reach the nest...'
'...squeezing his (lids) tightly...'

This is not criticism, this is tweaking. Your story is amazing. You can do without the things I said if you want to. Some other reviewers come to the writer's defense when I make these suggestions, but I feel that's what we're here for--to enhance each other.
I'll be reading more. I can't help it. It's oh so good.

[Aggie Skeleton]

OMG!!! That was totally awsome... just, wow. If I end up on a ship I shall stay in the crow's nest. That was great man, just... wow.

[Skelasoldier]

I read the whole twenty pages and I have to say you have a real talent for this genre, I saw no errors to report, Awsome work

[Katie Louise Hughes]

Well, I read to the part of Wilhelm blinked lol. (I'll for sure come back for the rest!!) And it's so far extremely intriguing and fun to read!! I do think you have talent, as mentioned in a previous review. I like your attention to detail, and how you use humor throughout the story! Thanks!! :D