My Sublime Voyage

Another assignment which we selected a list of random words to use in a short story. Those words are highlighted.

My Sublime Voyage

 

            Well into my prolonged and mind-boggling voyage, I found myself dazed and confused, stowed deep in the gut of a leaky galleon with common maritime apparel. The mold, rat droppings, filth, and rot I had grown used to, though my chronic seasickness had worsened with rough brinies that was further exacerbated by the hanging coils of rope, turnbuckles, and pulleys vigorously swinging back and forth in time like a multi-shafted pendulum of some god-awful timepiece. I squeezed my eyes to shut out my surrounds, nonetheless my stomach refused to fall in time with the undulating movement, it going west as the swinging items went east; I retched on innumerable occasions. I was not alone in my dismal circumstance.

            A mandate deep in my heart ordered me to personify a brave man despite my infirmity and dire circumstance. I sensed redemption was near at hand though I bore the scars of an unfortunate handicap and so nourished that need. In a fluster of my fatigued and befuddled state, my mind and way revisited my wasted youth. My consciousness drifted to that faraway place, and I slumbered for the first time in days. My wild dream state withered away as I awakened to a strange yet familiar voice.

            “Thou unnerve me with thy horrid snoring,” said the shrill voice.

            In the muddle of my stupefied mind, I made out a movement approaching me there in the ship’s bilge. The exotic creature paused a couple meters from me as we studied one another through the heavy, murky haze. Poised for what I could not fathom, the creature glowered at me, piercing the gloom with glowing green eyes below a mane seemingly aflame that lit our filthy space. As I struggled to maintain my dwindling wits, my gurgling stomach bile, and my bewildered consciousness, I endeavored to form a rudimentary bond with the dour creature; so in a fit of affability, I acquiesced to share the last bits of my stale sustenance with it. Though outwardly gracious in mannerisms, the finicky creature proved insubordinate by dropping the token offering of meager rations into the bilge water.

            “No more of thou foul offerings I shall partake,” it said.

            With horror I watched the pricey bits sink and disappear into the thick, slimy, grey-green water. A shout from topside interrupted my rising anger.

            “Land ahoy!” The crew cried.

            I stood on shaky legs squawking out an exhalation of glee in the announced promise of solid land though my bilge-mate slunk in fear. I looked upon them with a questioning disquiet. “What’s thou concern? They sighted dry land�"our revelation!”

            “Not so much dry land I fear after this detestable voyage, but after spending so much time here in the dark with thou, I fear the sunlight.”

            “Suit thyself. When they give the go ahead, I will�"go ahead. Thou dost as thou shalt.”

            “I shall dost thus,” was the curt reply.

            Soon, along with the scampering of feet above our heads on deck, I heard thumps, scrapes, and jangling announcing the letting down of sails and anchor. A head appeared in the barred hatch.

            “We make way for the beach for the coast is clear,” said a portly crewman. “Come along or stay behind.”

            “Thou unbar that there hatch, and I’ll come above,” I shouted commandingly with a newfound vigor. “Thou shalt better renounce thou fear or stay behind thyself,” I said over my shoulder as I headed up toward the now open hatch.

            The creature paused but without another impertinent word, followed me up to the sunlit deck. Standing there in the wondrous brilliance, I spread my arms wide to the promise of glorious freedom and in veneration of the blinding illumination I stared up into the sun like a crazed disciple of a sublime sun god. I let the solar deity warm my carnal form and saturate my soul before the sea-going scoundrels prodded me onward. Somewhat recovered from my incarceration , I perceived the creature wandering behind me with tightly squeezed-shut eyes stumbling about the deck before we made our way down to the sea surface and our shuttle to freedom, a dinghy. The crew’s eyes remained affixed on my accompanying creature although no one uttered a word as we rowed ashore.

            Once there, I ascertained our fortuitous location. “We shall make our departure separate from thou scoundrels of the sea,” I said to the first mate. “I appreciate the conveyance though must state at this parting juncture the charge thou stipulated proved double the going rate of comparable carriage.”

            The first mate stared at me in wonder and annoyingly said, “thou actions are thou own choosing.”

             I flipped him off and signaled to the creature of my intention to depart the scoundrels’ presence though it still shielded its glossy green eyes from the sun.

            Initially, on the margin of the beach, a huge entangle in a dormant mound of vegetation slowed our progress for minutes, and as we pressed on I felt a fluster arise on my brow.  Nevertheless venturing onward, I soon found myself fatigued and in need of respite, though the creature seemed rather comfortable and quite content in our solid-ground journey. As I paused to smell the flowers along a rock fence, the blue and red blossoms’ fragrance alternating from a spicy bitterness to a sticky sweetness, the eventual revelation came to me.

            The fresh, scented air cleared my head allowing me to realize my ongoing hoax proved undying, a chronic hobble to this self I call a nerd in certain ways of the world. Uncharacteristically conscionable, I resolved to mend my errant ways. My companion informed me that she felt much better and lifting her chin, she opened her emerald eyes wide to the vivid cerulean sky thereby unleashing her hidden unfeigned beauty. I gazed upon her full and fetching form with a newfound fondness. She feigned a coyness that nearly overpowered my weakened state, yet, we trudged onward.

             We soon rose over a knoll a-topped with tall, verdant grass.  I was briefly tempted, but she frowned and shook her head, so instead of partaking, we set our sights to the quaint village below. Intertwining our fingers and embodying a straight-faced untruth regarding our sublime voyage, we assumed an outwardly natural appearing circumstance.