A white fabric soars into the pale blue sky. The sound of the cloth flapping in the wind mingles with the creak of the wood. Sean stands at the wheel, Josh pulls the rope taut ready for the next tack, and Jacob leans over the edge of the ship. A chill in the wind penetrates the radiating heat.
None of the three of them had ever attempted something so daring in their whole life. Usually their days are spent sitting in front of the T.V. or video game.
Up ahead the pillows of the sea splash on the side of cliffs.
“Way to hold your lunch, Jacob!” Sean mocks.
“Who’da thought it would be Jacob,” Josh laughs.
“It hada happen eventually,” Sean says.
“Yeah, but who’da thought it’d be in the middle of the Sound.”
“Maybe his stomach’ll settle once we get closer to the ocean.”
“Ya know I can hear you gu… hu…” Jacob says as leans further over the side again.
Both Sean and Josh roll with laughter.
“Is this smart of us?” Josh asks.
“We’ve been sailing around the Sound for weeks, we should be fine,” Sean says nonchalantly.
“Yeah, but what if something goes wrong? We’ve never really had to deal with anything going wrong.”
“We went through all the training, we should be good.
“You Tube doesn’t really count as training.”
“We’ll be fine, Josh. Just let it go.”
“Fine.”
Sean finds very little difficulty maneuvering the boat through the wide gap between all the islands.
“Ya almost done there, dude? We could really use your help,” Sean asks Jacob.
“It’s not like I really have a choice here,” Jacob spits the bile into the water. “Trust me, your job looks way more exciting than puking my guts out,” Jacob says as he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
The ship exits the passageway in between land out into an almost open sea and the ship veers to the left.
“Is there even anything left in your stomach?” Josh asks.
“I think I cleaned it out a while back,” Jacob confirms.
“Uh Sean…” Josh says.
“I see it,” Sean says.
“Well, ya might want to move the boat,”
“I’m working on it.”
“We should turn back,” Josh demands.
“I’m all for that,” Jacob chuckles.
“Quit you’re cryin’” Sean says as he cranks the wheel to the left. “There ya happy now?”
“It’s still not enough,” Josh screams.
Jacob leaps up from the floor of the boat with his stomach still turning and grabs the abandoned rope. The ship inches to the left.
The ship begins to sail almost parallel to the land to their right as twilight hovers over the three boys.
A horrid sound groans from beneath the hull.
“What was that?” Jacob voice gives the vague hint of fear.
“We’ll be fine,” Sean says again. His words calmly drip with irritation.
“Can we stop now?” Josh tries.
“We’ve come this far, let’s just keep going,” Sean sighs dismissively.
“Where are we headed anyway?” The words practically vomit out of his mouth.
For a moment there is silence. “We’re headed to see his ex,” Josh blurts out. The boat glides effortlessly through the water now. Jacob and Josh tie off their ropes and climb the stairs to the upper deck to sit next to their red-faced captain.
“What for?” Jacob coughs out as he attempts to stifle his next wave of vomiting.
Josh glances at Sean. “I don’t think even he knows.”
“So, does he even know where he’s going?” Jacob breaths, but his instinct to vomit is slowly subsiding.
“Vaguely,” Josh scoffs.
“So, we are just going to sail around ‘til it gets too dark and then what?” Jacob asks in confusion.
“Then we’ll just keep sailing,” Sean’s words are calm.
“How is that possible?” Jacob says.
“I brought lights.” The boat sails calmly in the middle of the Straight.”
Jacob glances at Josh. “Is this guy serious?”
“I’m afraid so,” Josh says shrugging his shoulders.
Jacob gags and rushes for his new spot at the edge of the boat.
“Someone needs to man-up just a bit,” Sean says.
“Cuz that was totally in reaction to your idiocy,” Jacob shoots back defensively. “And had absolutely nothing to do with the water on every side of us.”
“If that helps you sleep better,” Sean returns.
“Would you two girls stop it?” Josh interjects.
“Fine!” Sean blurts out. His anger breaks through the surface.
Jacob sighs and his pale green-face lacks any sign of anger.
“Well that’s a little better,” Josh says.
“What is that?” Jacob eyes glare the old spot he claimed at the beginning of their voyage.
“What?” Both guys say at the same time.
“That!” Jacob says as he makes his way to the starboard side of the boat.
Josh and Sean’s eyes follow Jacob.
The eerie silence becomes palpable.
Sean engages the auto-pilot and he and Josh join Jacob in his investigation.
“I told you we should have turned back,” Josh says to extinguish the silence.
A mini geyser of water protrudes onto the bottom of the boat. A puddle pools near their feet.
Fear boils in the three of their eyes. They step back from the water as it creeps closer and closer to their shoes.
“What do we do?” Jacob says. All signs of nausea have vanished.
“You can shove one of your precious lights in that hole,” Josh accuses.
“Don’t be stupid, it’s not going to fit,” Sean retorts.
“Well is anything going to fit?” Jacob asks. Accusations are absent from his question.
“We can shove some rope in there. It might help delay it so we can get back to land. Or we can swim for it.”
“Well, we better think of something fast, because I don’t think we have much time,” Josh yells at his too relaxed shipmates.
“Dude, maybe you should calm down,” Jacob says. “That’s not really going to help.”
“It’s not going to be help, maybe Dummy here should’ve listened to me and not left the Sound like I asked. It’s not my fault he can’t let the girl go. She’s probably moved on anyway.”
“Why are you being so selfish, Josh. So he made a mistake, let it go,” Jacob rebukes.
“Selfish? Talk about selfish, Sean decides to put this girl before us and for what? There could be a small chance this ex still thinks about him and he has put all of our lives on the line for that little chance.”
“She’s not just my ex, Josh, Sean says apologetically.”
“What is that supposed to mean,” Josh says not ready to give up the anger just yet.
“She’s the mother of my child,” Is all Sean says. His face is almost blank, but still bursting with emotion. At that moment everything goes completely black.
All four walls, the ceiling and the floor radiate light. All three men remove their head pieces. The same blank, look adorns Sean’s face. The remorse like daggers is visible in Sean’s wide, brown eyes. Josh’s sobering words hover throughout the room.
“We’ll try again tomorrow, Sean,” Josh says as his apology melts into his voice. With enough practice, we can try on your sailboat soon.
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