The Promise

This is a short story with a pirate theme I created a while back. I edited a few times afterwards, and this is the result~! Enjoy~! --the bottom of my heart

Sixteen years of lies, stealing, betrayal, murder, looting...and here I was asking myself the same question: what was the purpose? As a pirate, one should take pride in those duties, or so Captain Conroy always told us. But every time I tried, I simply couldn't.

I yawned, my eyelids slipping halfway over my eyes.

“Hey Sulley!” a raspy low voice called from below.

Jolting with alert, I peered down to see none other than Captain Conroy, his curly black beard drizzled in what I presumed his “daily dose” of whiskey.

“Don't be day dreaming up there now, ya hear?”

I saluted to him. “Aye, Captain!”

With a huff, the captain scuffed to the opposite side of the ship.

As much as I tried to stay focus, I didn't know if I could stay awake much longer. My eyelids heaved lower now...perhaps closing my eyes for a wink or two should do it.

Waking up, I realized I closed my eyes for much more than a wink or two. A swirl of darkness surrounded the ship as high tides of ominous waters rose to dangerous levels. Thunder clashed and waters thrashed, slamming onto the decks, the pole�"and tore our flag to shreds. Bewildered, I swooped my gaze down below to find my ship mates scrambling about, screaming for their mothers like small children. The waters swallowed her chosen victims whole while few others dove off the port bow voluntarily.

What in the world was going on?

“Sulley! Sulley!” a fellow shipmate called. “Come down here quickly!”

I did as so, sliding down the pole in a swirling fashion. By the time I landed onto the deck, my entire body shivered under soaked clothing. It looked like I blended in with the rest of the crew now.

“What is going on?!” I hollered, the wind nearly whirling my voice away.

“A massive wave hit the side of the ship!” he explain, his eyes wide and petrified. “The ship is going down!”

It took me a brief moment to gather all his information frenzied by his shaky voice. “Then what do we do?”

“We have to keep this ship afloat as long as possible!” he hollered, sputtering the stream of the sea's salty water out of his nostrils. “We are in the eye of a nasty storm!”

“But we will all if we stay�"!”

“Lad, just listen to me! We cannot jump off!”

We will all go down with the ship. Does he not want to live?

“Wait...” I blinked and rubbed my fingers across my eyelids. “Where is the Captain?”

“The sea claimed him, lad! And she is claiming more by the second! Come on, we must keep the ship afloat!”

No, my gut instinct told me...no.

He froze at my stern silence. “Sulley, lad! Come on!”

Shaking my head, I started to back. All the pelting stings of the rain, the crashing thunders of waves claiming more lives, everything became numb except for my gut instinct.

Go!

I gazed into his soft eyes. It was depressing to know I will never see him again, but...

Now!

Taking a deep breath, I saluted him. “Farewell, Tobias.”

Do not look back!

“Sulley!”

Bowing my head, I dashed to the opposite side of the deck. The surviving crew members gathered here to escape the hole on the other side. Did they really think staying on this side of the ship would keep themselves safe from the ocean's fury? I opened my mouth to speak, to suggest my idea of escaping our fated deaths.

But already they all eyed me as if I had gone insane. Gazes like a traitor stood before them.

Quickly closing my mouth, I figured they already made their decision. Well, unlike my fellow mates, I was not willing to go down with the ship.

I continued onward, following my instincts.

“Hey! Where are you going?!” a few shouted at me.

“Come back, lad!”

“What are you doing?!”

All these hollers hailed at me as I climbed back to my post of duty. This, other than the sails themselves, was the highest point of the ship. This way, I could ensure that I would jump far enough to escape the ship's gravitational pull. A shaky breath, perhaps my last, whirled into my body. I stood on the edge of the post and clasped my hands together.

I closed my eyes and leaped.

It felt like a thousand of needles stabbed me when I plunged into the water. My limbs flailed with all their might, yet the water held me hostage in its salty dungeon. Oxygen quickly deflated from my lungs, and I couldn't receive more no matter how hard I pumped my arms and legs. My lungs scorched as my arms and legs stiffened. I panicked, my heart ready to explode out of my chest. I desperately needed that one inhale of air, but it seemed so far from my grasp.

Just one more...

One...

...

A sudden gasp of air instantly filled my deficient lungs as I popped my head from the water. I hacked like an old man while and sobbed like child. To breathe again was a miracle. But my energy drained dramatically, and the water's bind on my body became inescapable.

The ship entered my line of vision, a distant, floating object surrounded by the blackened clouds of the sky's fury, and the navy hue of the ocean's rage. It was just like Tobias said: the waters chomped at least a third of the entire ship's deck. It appeared only slightly lopsided, but analyzing it closely, the ship was indeed sinking at a gradual rate. Those who the waters had not yet claimed remained stiff on the deck, waiting for their slow-coming death.

Sixteen years of what I thought was my life was no more. Everyone and everything once a part of my life either was drowning, screaming, or waiting for their watery deaths. The sight of the vast majority of pirates�"my crew mates I looked up to my whole life�"standing there to die a cowardly death sickened me. Did these people have nothing to life for?

No...This was the only thing these people lived for. The only thing I lived for.

A massive, raging movement boomed from behind. I only snatched a glimpse of it before it collapsed over me, drowning me into a world of dark unconsciousness.

As my crew mates told me, when one faces death, your life flashes before your eyes. Yes, my life did flash, but not before my eyes. Each memory came slowly...ever so painstakingly slowly. Most were joyous memories...yet when I reminisced them, a sickening tension balled in my stomach. I had no profound moments in my life, not one instance where I felt I stood at the top of the world. I knew I was young, but could there have been at least one time where I shined in life?

No, all I did was sail the seas, stole from the rich, and slaughtered anyone who stood in my way. Only now did I realize...this was not the life I wanted.

It was pitiful no matter how I viewed it. It was a pain to live only to rob...and nothing more. Could I...possibly start over? To have a second chance to live the life I wanted? I did not want to die when I accomplished nothing! Something in my life had to have meaningful in order to pass peacefully, but that had not come yet! There was no way I could die without prospering!

I wanted a second chance. I would achieve no matter how long it would take me. Whether that would be traveling, education, farming, or simply trading. Just please...I needed a second chance! I would prove the world that I meant something! Please....please...! I promised with all my heart I would do the world good! I did not want to die in vain!

With a deep inhale, I regained consciousness. In a teal-blue tinge, the ocean calmly waved back and forth in front of me and beyond. Waves rinsed my blood-soaked legs every few seconds, its warm sensation soothing my sore limbs. The air felt warm, but the clouds blocked the sun from appearing as such. I rubbed my eyes and glanced behind me to see only trees, but over them I caught a small glimpse of a stone-like structure. As I rose to my feet, my muscles ached and pleaded to not be strained. But nonetheless, I wandered into this vast forest.

Hours went by, but it seemed like forever. I was so close now; it made my entire being shake in excitement, anxiety. Each step made my heart pound harder, curious to what I would see on the other side. Wonder overwhelmed me, and somehow...reminded me of the ocean. It nearly took me down with the ship, a near-death experience that would forever haunt my dreams. But I knew I was gifted a second chance, and what lied behind the trees was something promising. Perhaps this would be where I make my mark.

The clouds passed and the sun glistened the forest in vibrant rays. With a smile, I moved forward to where I would begin anew: a glorious city of opportunity. Who knew what things I would accomplish here, and what things I could do to produce an even more inspiring world?

My promise...

This was it.

A few years passed, and already I accomplished countless goals. I entered and graduated an adventurer institution with an exceptional work ethnic all throughout. After graduation, I bought a ship and sailed the seas with the handful of friends I made along the way. By my mid 20s, I became the first to sail to the northern arctic.

By my late twenties, I ventured on a voyage that all but a handful of men feared of pursuing. Only half of those pursuing men returned. I was not included. Ice trapped me under after a deadly roar of snow fell from the tops of the mountains. I was going to die, but that was all right. I was given a second chance, and I proved worthy of it.

There will always be a new day.

Tobias once recited that to me. Ever since, I repeated it to myself with every circumstance that came my way. In part, I was able to prosper in life because of that quote...and I was happy even with dying at a young age. With a smile, I replayed the accomplishments in my life as many times as I could in my mind before the freezing dungeon of salt water overtook me.

Author's Note

Thank you for reviewing~!