The storm ballooned into existence in front of the third ship. To most of her crew it looked like hell, but to one of those souls doomed to descend into the chaos it looked like the man she loved. Clouds billowed and undulated and formed the rise and fall of his forehead, eyes, cheeks, the curve of his knowing smile. Lightning flashed and he was gone again. It was another sign she was on the right course.
Waves and wind threw the ship as if it was a child’s toy in a bath, and the men aboard were not worth much more than children in that moment, whimpering and wailing as if their toys were being taken away. She did not have time to waste expressing her disgust at these sorry excuses for sailors. Her husband had been, was, a real sailor, and would never have countenanced such behaviour.
It had been three months since they had married, three months since he had set sail the morning after their wedding, three months since a messenger bird had flown back from the ship to give word on their progress. There had been only silence since, and pain. This was compounded when a month ago flotsam washed up near the port, flotsam that had definitely come from his ship. Everyone was so sincere with their condolences. But that was the risk of marrying a sailor they all said, and anyway wasn’t she still young enough to marry again. They were so quick to forget the past and rewrite her future when she could not even accept the present. No she told them all. No she would not remarry. No she would not mourn. How could you mourn someone who was not dead? No to all of it. She would find him.
Seawater gushed over her as she clung desperately to the ship. She knew it would not be easy to find him. It had not been easy just getting to this point. Easy made for dull minds and dull stories, and sailors like those around her that could not cope with adversity. First of all she had simply asked captains to take her aboard their ships and take her out to sea. The kindest had simply refused. Others had laughed in her face. After this she had tried to stowaway but was found and thrown off each ship rougher every time. In her desperation she had even tried to steal a ship, just a small one. She was not even able to cast off before she was dragged back on land screaming. The harbour master made it very clear this was the last they would tolerate from her. If she was seen anywhere near any ship she would be thrown in jail. Clearly she would need to try harder.
The ship was falling apart literally and figuratively. Masts came crashing down crushing sailors before the waves swept men and mast into the depths. The captain of the ship was caught in the face by a barrel that had come loose. Concussed and barely conscious, the rolling of the ship sent him overboard too. Through it all she remained calm. All she had to do was stay alive. As long as she stayed alive there was still hope she would be reunited with her love. It was as simple as that even in the face of the ruin of the storm. As the ship was split in two and the angry waves eagerly consumed the wreck, it did not seem simple at all.
Finding her way aboard a ship had after all that been incredibly simple. The voyage of the five ships had filled the harbour with sailors, chaos, and possibility. She used the raucous sailors as a cover to get close to the harbour where eyes tried in vain to keep watch. She was just one of the many sailors, merchants, beggars, peddlers, pickpockets, whores, and anyone else who saw a chance for some coin, who converged on the harbour. After that it was just a matter of finding a sailor who was roughly the same size as her. Luckily she found one that was as close a match as she was ever likely to find, and that was deep into his cups. It was not hard to lure him into an alley for what he thought would be quite a fun time. Instead what he got was instead a rather hefty whack with a baker’s rolling pin between the eyes. The clothes were uncomfortable, did not quite fit, and the smell was not worth comment, but now she did at least look the part of a sailor. Looking at the unconscious man she could not help noticing his bushy beard and decided a little more to the disguise would be needed. She sheared him of his facial hair and would glue it to her own face later. Her cover was complete and in the morning she was allowed onto the doomed ship with no question or suspicion.
When she awoke, and she was surprised enough by that, there was no sign of any remnant of the ship, not even a plank of wood. Nor was there any sign of anyone else who had been aboard. It was as if the sea had consumed everything and everyone on that ship except for her.
It was no small miracle she was even alive, but she did not seem to be injured in anyway. There was not a scrape or a bruise anywhere on her that she could see. She had woken up on a beach with waves lapping at her. It was early morning with the sun just starting to rise. She must have spent several hours in the water, yet she had not coughed out any seawater when she awoke, nor felt like she had swallowed even a drop. She did not even feel hungry or thirsty. Her life was being fuelled by her determination to find her husband.
Next she had to find out where it was she that had washed ashore. It did not look anything like where she had left. It was far greener; with trees she did not recognise. The beach was pure white and traceless, as if hers were the only feet to have ever troubled the sand. Was she the only one who had ever set foot here? She had survived that terrible storm when she was sure none of the others had. More than that she had survived without a scratch on her and found safety in the middle of the ocean here, on an island large enough she was sure that could provide for her. If she could wind up here unscathed after all of that it had to be for a reason, and if there was any reason for her to be here…
Immediately her aimless wandering turned into a wild sprint. Her love was on this island somewhere. She was more certain of it than the air she was breathing. Running as if she could escape from the longing in her heart she forced her way around the entire island. In the hours it took, her desperation did not fade so neither did her speed as at every moment she expected to see her husband emerge from the forest, or from around the next bend, coming to meet her as she called his name. As the sun began to set, and she came upon her own tracks, the only tracks spoiling the pristine sand, she realised it had been in vain. Her mission continued onwards, only now she was stranded on an island, constrained by the sea. It would still not stop her. Cover the world in an ocean, she would swim it all for him. Bury her at the centre of the Earth, she would dig her way through mile after mile up to him. Beat her to the ground she would stand back up every time for him.
Thankfully she would not have to swim to get off this island. The forest was thick and lush, with much to provide. She set off into it. There were streams, fruit, and many small animals and insects. Someone else could have survived and lived a long happy life here. She could not. It lacked the one thing her life truly needed. Still she was able to acquire what she desired right then to get closer to what she needed. Soon she was back on the beach laden with branches and leaves. The sun was setting once more so she did not have any time to waste. With the speed that could only be fuelled by a fire burning in the heart she assembled a crude raft. Its basic nature did not matter. All it had to do was carry her a little further. As the sun went down, and the world went as dark as it felt to her without him she rowed out into the ocean, small, exposed, unaided, and undaunted.
For hours she rowed hard to get away from the island. The starlight did not give her much idea of what direction she was going but it would not matter if there was light to guide her. She had no direction other than the pull of her heart and trusted that she could follow that. Her arms felt as if they were threatening to rip from her body but until they actually did she would force them to keep going.
Exhaustion took her as it had to eventually, and she fell into an uneasy sleep. Even in her dreams she could not rest. Her head was filled with dreams of her chasing someone she could never quite catch up to. She came close enough to place a hand on his back and woke with a start. In her sleep she had begun to slip off the raft. The cold sea water brought her sharply back to reality.
A mist had rolled in. The sea was gently bobbing her and the raft along. The air felt still. It made her uneasy. She turned and was confronted with a strange sight. A rope hung there in the air horizontally, it’s ends hidden in the mist in both directions. Before she had much time to ponder why or how it was there the rope creaked and shook. From the mist where one end of it disappeared into, she heard the water sloshing as something moved through it. A ferry broke through the mist that did not seem much more stable than her raft. Onboard there was one lone figure, hooded and cloaked in black, pulling the ferry gradually along the rope. She watched as he drew the ferry up beside her raft and stopped, waiting. All her searching had brought her to this ferry which had no right to be in the middle of the sea. She understood then why the ferry was there and who the ferryman was. Most importantly she understood it would take her at last to her husband. Without any further thought she stepped off the raft and onto the ferry.
In silence the ferryman pulled them along the rope. She stood there calmly knowing that her search would soon be over. While she waited she wondered how many of those who had made this journey on the ferry had done so as willingly as she. Surely many had looked at the bent, slight, cloaked figure and thought to pull the ferry back the other way. It was unlikely any ever succeeded though.
In what could have been hours, weeks, or minutes the ferry came through the mist to a shore, dazzled in the light of a pure sun rising behind it. The ferryman bowed and gestured for her to disembark. She smiled her thanks at the ferryman and squinted into the sunlight unable to see anything else before her. A moment later a figure emerged from the light that she well remembered, and she ran to it. The light did not fade but her husband grew brighter still in her eyes as they wrapped their arms around each other. His eyes were like all the stars in the sky brought together, and her smile, her first smile since their wedding day was warmer and brighter than the sun had ever dared to be. There were no words between them yet, there did not need to be when two souls such as theirs that had been kept apart were returned to each other, and entwined so that they would never be separated again.
Back on the ferry, the ferryman once again departed that most distant of shores that he would never set foot on. Leaving the light and the lovers he smiled knowing that they were where they were meant to be and were together. So strong was their love that even Death would not come between them.
storiesbyadam 