Dangers at sea

The sailors of Dread Sea knew well the dangers that lurked in the waters. They avoided them and made a living off the sea never the less. However the travelers that rode on their ships did not, and though they were warned they often were lost at sea.

Edwinn was smart man and he listened, but he did not take to heart the warnings they gave. Before leaving port he was given a warning not to listen to the sea harpies. They would try to lure him out of the ship. This just seemed preposterous to Edwinn, who would jump off a ship at sea? He thought to himself.

As the trip started Edwinn’s primary concern was not the sea harpies, it was sea sickness. Much to his surprise he had little problems. The captain took Edwinn aside with Joseph the other man whom was passing through the Dread Sea for his first time. “Now I’ve warned you once and I’ll warn you now again, and like again still. Keep on the boat now, no matter what you hear from below. It aint true what you’ll be hearing, promises of your deepest desires, gold or love or something else. Keep to the boat.” Edwinn still could not understand what could possibly make him leave the boat at sea.

The next day Edwinn woke up in the middle of the night, or so it seemed. He kept on trying to sleep but could not so he woke up. He found Joseph sitting awake on his bunk reading a book by the light of lamp. “I wondered when you’d be waking up. It’s late enough in the morning it is.” Edwinn stared at him a moment, “Morning? It is not, it’s still dark out.” Joseph looked at him with a smile. “Have you not heard the tales of the Dread Sea?” he asked. “I have.” Edwinn replied promptly. “Then you haven’t believed them, it is always dark in the Dread Sea, it appears that tale was correct.” Edwinn looked at him disbelievingly. Joseph replied to Edwinn’s unspoken question. “If you don’t believe me then look at your watch.” Sure enough his clock showed it was 9:30 in the morning.

Edwinn woke up and walked the deck for a while before he heard voices from below. It wasn’t with his ears but with his heart that he heard the voices. It’s as though everything he had ever wanted lay below the surface of the water and all he had to do was dive in after it. Edwinn leaned on the side of the boat and stared at the water. The captain spotted him and walked towards him. “You see what I mean now do you?” Edwinn woke from the daze he was in. “Yes, I do. But what lies below the water?” The captain stared at him and sighed with a concerned look. “Water son, cold water and lots of it, nothing more.” He patted him on the back and walked away.

Edwinn tried to put it out of his mind. All through the day Edwinn contemplated this, but still in the back of his mind he heard the voices under the water tempting him to come in. It was driving him mad, and finally he had to know what was under the water, for he was sure it was all that he had been promised.

Edwinn dived off the boat into the water. As he hit the water he noticed just how cold it was. He looked underneath the waves but found nothing there. The captain was right, it was a lie. He rose to the surface and yelled for help. As he screamed he saw robes being thrown to him. He was surprised at how quickly it happened. He grabbed a rope and began to climb as he shivered the whole way back.

He looked at the captain expecting a rebuke, but found none. He merely smiled and said “get him some blankets so he can warm up.” Then he turned and walked away shouting orders for the men to get back on course, for they had left it to pick up Edwinn. He saw Joseph on the side of the boat looking over the edge now and again, and he wondered if he was next. An hour passed and Edwinn finally warmed up.

No sooner had the chill left his bones then the voices had began to whisper in his heart again. No, I will not believe your lies. He told the voices, seemingly inside his head. Their temptation could not trick him again, only he wondered if maybe he had not dived far enough to find these treasures. Surely such treasures can not lie right below the surface he thought, and the seed was planted. It did not take long for Edwinn to feel that he was sure he was right, he just need dive deeper. And so it was that he took a 2^nd chance and dove off the boat diving deeper this time until the cold was too much. He sprung back to the surface and found the rope and climbed aboard again.

He looked at the captain again and was sure he’d be locked in his room. The captain merely smiled and said as he had before “get him some blankets so he can warm up.” Then he walked away again shouting orders to the men. Edwinn felt ashamed that he had let it happen again. How could I be so stupid he thought, feeling so ashamed of his mistake. I am never going to do that again, he told himself.

An hour later he felt warm and had some food. It settled his stomach and he realized he was tired. He decided to try and take a nap, all this darkness makes me feel as though I should be asleep. He laid down on his bunk but could not get the voices out of his head, though he tried. His deepest desires, love he had not known, money, prestige. All the things he had wanted in his life were there in his head tempting him.

Feeling restless he decided to go back on deck for some fresh air. He knew it was a risk being that close to the water, but he felt he could resist the temptation, after all he knew what was really below the water. He sat on deck watching the deck hands do their work. It seemed odd to work in the dark, but they must have known it was really day time. Sitting and watching them work he thought about how nice it would be to never have to work again. With that thought Edwinn contemplated the perfect life, one where he had all he wanted. He heard the voice again, calling to him, and though he knew it had been a lie in the past it still tempted him. Without warning he dived overboard a third time.

This time the second he hit the water he knew it was a stupid mistake. The rescue was a daze this time. He was surprised they had even bothered with someone as dumb as him. The captain looked at him the same as he had the two times before. “get him some blankets so he can warm up.” He said. As he walked away Edwinn yelled at him. “Please, lock me in my room. I can’t resist, I have tried.” The captain stopped and turned around. “Son, I can’t do that, you’ll just have to learn the same way we have all learned.” Edwinn looked around at the faces of the men around him. They all had pity in their faces, pity and love. He knew then that they had all at one time had their first trip over this Dread Sea, and all knew what it felt like to be fooled in those waters.

The captain leaned in closer to him. “I knew you’d jump, as most do. Why Jim here jumped a dozen or more times, and we never once questioned whether or not we should let him stay. We love him all the more for it Edwinn, just as we love you.” He patted Edwinn on the shoulder. Edwinn felt as though he was with brothers, because he was.

Edwinn looked over and saw Joseph. He wondered why he had not jumped. After a few minutes of reassurance from the men he now called brothers Edwinn went over to Joseph. Joseph turned to him, “you’ve had a rough day haven’t you?” he asked. “Indeed, Joseph” he paused “I have a question. Why haven’t you jumped? Don’t the voices tempt you just as they tempt me?”

“They do my friend, but I have placed my faith in the captain. We should trust the captain, after all he has been through these waters already, probably many times.” Edwinn pondered the wisdom of these words, then continued. “Is that all that keeps you from diving over board?” Joseph looked off at the horizon, “No, it is not. All that they have tempted me with would require a great deal of work to get in life. It seems strange that I could get it by simply diving into the water. I guess I just had a hard time believing such lies.” He turned to Edwinn with the very same love in his eyes of those men who knew the temptation of the sea. “I’m glad you’re safe Edwinn, it seems you have made many friends on the boat. It seems you are one of them now.” Joseph and Edwinn stared at the horizon for what must have been hours.

Chapter 1. Love at first bonk

Tom had given up all hope. His heart had been broken so many times that he wasn’t sure he could ever take a chance again. He remembered when he was 3 and Julia Parker told him he was ugly. She was his first crush, and also his first crushing defeat. When he was 7 Daniella Striegel had Chosen Nathan Alred as a reading partner instead of him. Poor Tom, he had to read alone.

When he was 13 he had finally gotten enough courage up to ask out Becky Stevens. She was the most popular girl in the 7th grade. That was the worst rejection. She simply laughed at him in front of at least half the school. From that moment on Tom had decided that girls were no good. All they did was torment him. Even when he had a crush on Jamie Jensen in high school he did nothing because he knew it would inevitably end up in some kind of humiliating rejection he didn’t think he could handle.


So here he was in his 3rd year of college. His prospects were good here, oh I don’t mean his dating prospects, those were bleak, but he was doing well in school and things were looking good.

The Saturday before the semester started Tom was shopping for his school books at the local book store. It was supposed to be cheaper then the store on campus but Tom could never tell a difference in the prices. Tom always came to this book store purely on principle, he figured it was best not to support the book system on campus. All of that is purely beside the point though because we really don’t care about how much Tom paid for his books, we care about who he met at the store.

When Tom went to pull the book off the shelf he was oblivious to everything around him. Tom liked to think he was a very focused person when in fact he really just had a tendency to zone out. Anyways this was one of those times when Tom had zoned out as he was picking up his book, consequentially he didn’t notice the dark haired girl who had not noticed him and was reaching for the very same book. The girl was in her own world as well because she was listening to her favorite song on her ipod and was fighting the urge to sing it to the top of her lungs.

They both leaned over to pick up the book off a lower shelf. Now you might think their hands met on the book and they fell in love at first touch, but that’s not quite true. You see their hands never met because their heads made contact first. Tom’s hand immediately went to his head. “Ouch, damn it!” he cried. “For the love of …” She said leaving mumbling a little. Tom sat down and she crouched on her knees. “Sorry,” Tom began “I didn’t see you there.” She still had a painful look on her face. “My fault I’m sure.” She replied.


They both sat there waiting for the pain to subside. Finally the girl spoke up again. “Sorry again, so you’re taking that class too?” Tom laughed, “Yes I am.” He hesitated. Then she said what he was thinking, “My name is Sarah.” She reached out her hand to shake his. Tom reached out in return “Mine is Tom, sorry again.” He said as he noticed just how nice her face was. They shook hands and he thought to himself ooh she’s got soft hands.

“So who’s your teacher?” She asked. Tom was in a different world thinking of soft hands and staring at Sarah’s pretty face. Seeing he must have missed the question she asked again “Do you know who you’re teacher is Tom?” Tom reacted as though he had been startled awake from a pleasant dream. “Gorgeous face” he said combining one too many thoughts into a very incomplete sentence. “What?” Sarah inquired. Tom woke up, “Oh … I mean” finding no way to recover he hoped she’d just forget “I’m not sure, I can’t remember.”

Sarah smiled, as though she knew something he didn’t. Tom always hated it when girls did that, it’s like they were reading his all to empty brain. “Well maybe we’ll have class together. Are you feeling better? You don’t look so good.” He was staring at her again. Startled again he reacted, “Good, I mean no I’m good.” She gave him a look as though she were reading his brain again. “And you, are you ok?” He asked suddenly. “I’m fine.” She said simply.

Tom stood up before Sarah could and reached down a hand to help her up. She didn’t notice and rose on her own. Tom frowned thinking he’d sure like to hold her hand again. They both leaned in to get the book, this time avoiding each other. Tom couldn’t take his eyes off her, all the rules he had setup to avoid getting hurt again had gone out the window. You’re supposed to be practical Tom. He said to himself, and love isn’t practical! Tom had a tendency to have these kinds of arguments with himself.

“Well maybe I’ll see you in class” she said as she turned to leave. “yeah, well good luck with the next book.” He said. Sarah laughed, “you too.”
Tom walked the opposite direction but tried to keep her in sight. Man she’s cute. He kept on saying to himself. The other side of his head would promptly respond. Shut up Tom!

In the depths

I wandered the hills a long time, though I am not quite sure why. I was drawn to them. As child I looked at them with trepidation and fear. As a man I looked at them with curiosity. And now I wandered them.

I don’t recall what made me leave my home for these hills. Now it seems I’ve been here so long that I can’t remember anything else. Now and again I can picture a face, but I don’t recall who’s face it is.

I see travelers come and go, but I only see them at a distance, never venturing close enough to guide them or talk. They always seem so afraid, and though I wish to comfort them and tell them it is safe I do not. I watch them during the day traveling as though the land is cursed.

At night I wander the forest alone, but alas I am always alone these days. I do not fear the hills any longer. I fear my old home now, it holds a terror I have forgotten, and I fear that some day I will remember it.

One day I wandered close to the road. I could not fight my curiosity this time. I saw travelers moving up the road. I came close enough that they could see me, but none turned their heads, none but a little girl that is. She smiled at me. Her face looked familiar, or the innocence of it did anyways. A child, I remember one like her before. Her mother held her hand as they walked but did not look my way.

They passed quickly as many before them had. But her face stayed with me, what was it I had forgotten? I could not remember, and though I knew I shouldn’t try I did. What was it I left behind so many years ago? Why did I leave? I could not remember. I took to the heart of the forest in search of the king. He was the one to whom I looked for answers, though not for a long time since I had avoided them for so long.


The journey to the heart of the forest was one I avoided when I could. There was darkness here even in the middle of the day, and though I did not fear the darkness I was always happy when the day came nonetheless. It took me more time then normal to get to him, my thoughts distracted me often and I found that I had quite often lost my way off the trail.

When I found the heart, the glade where the king resided he was gone. I could not tell if it was day or night, so I waited. I sat on a nearby log with my thoughts. It seemed not too long before he arrived with his guards. They did not fear me, for they knew I was his friend. I did not press him right away, but waited for him to sit on his throne first and bid me forward. Where had the throne been before? Or maybe it was there all along and my thoughts had distracted me too much.

He bade me come forward. I knelt before him, “Oh great king, my thoughts have troubled me lately.” He leaned his head forward leaning his chin in his hand. “Tell me of your troubles my friend.” I told him about the questions I had, and the little girl. “My friend, you forget so easily. You have been here so many times before, but just as I told you the time before so shall I tell you again. The answers you seek are not in the hills, they are not in the forest, but in the only place you ever called home. Seek it, and the answers you will find.” He leaned back and I knew my time was up.

What did he mean about me forgetting? It seemed he answered my questions with more questions. And yet I knew I could not ask him any more. He had already made time for me and I did not wish to anger him. So I took his advice and left the forest that night, heading down to the place I thought I called home once. It was a long ponderous journey. I had my thoughts as company as I always did.

I journeyed down the hills I knew so well. I found a river, the shimmer of the moonlight seemed familiar, and so I followed it. I found a tree some miles ahead. This too seemed familiar. It sat there alone on the bank of the river, this tree is like me I thought. Then, on the horizon I saw a barn. I made for it, not caring what hour of the night it was, though dawn must be near.

It was a simple farm, one left neglected for some time from the looks of it. I pushed the door open, it creaked so loudly I jumped. The house was full of dust and cobwebs. Nobody could have lived here for a long while. I did not remember any of this. I searched all the rooms and found nothing. I decided to go to the barn. It too had long since been abandoned.

I found nothing of note, only just then I heard a cry from the corner. I followed the sound to a stable. Between a wall and the hay sat a young girl, curled up in a ball crying with her face hidden in her arms. “Why do you cry?” I asked, but she did not answer. “Where are your parents?” I asked her, wanting to help, but still she did not answer. I knelt next to her. “What is your name?” She raised her head looking behind me. That face, that face looked so familiar. She looked terrified and screamed, “Nooo father help me please. Don’t let them hurt me!”

Just then I heard a noise outside the barn and instinctively hid behind the wall with the girl. I heard a raspy voice, “Search the barn.” The girl began to cry, “It’s ok, just keep quiet and we’ll be ok.” I was afraid for the first time in as long as I could remember. I heard the barn doors open, it sounded as though several men were searching through the hay. One finally came around the corner, “Here she is” he said. He reached down and grabbed the girl as she screamed, I tried to hold on to her but I could not do so. They ignored me for some reason, “No, leave her alone” I screamed. They ignored me and dragged her out of the barn by her hair.

I followed them staggering along with fear. “Leave her alone, what has she done to deserve this?” They did not answer again, could no one hear me? A man in a dark cloak, the one with the raspy voice spoke, “good, lets take her to the town quickly and get this done with. If we’re lucky we will be rid of her by tonight.”


I followed, this all seems so familiar I thought to myself. It was like a nightmare of déjà vu. They tied her hands and had her walk along beside their horses. A road ran near the barn, I must have missed it before. They followed this road for some time. I had to run to keep up with them and still fell behind just before they reached a small town.

There were many awake in the town. As the girl was brought in they all seemed to have a look of disgust on their faces, some threw rocks. What has she done to deserve this? I followed the men and the girl to the largest house. “What are you doing with her?” I asked out loud. The raspy man answered, though he did not look at me. “She has done great evil, and now she will pay.” Great evil? “What great evil?” He did not answer, but rather dragged her by her hair into the large house.

I followed in. This house was not really a house at all, but more like a church. It was one large room with lots of seats where sat many people with solemn looks on their faces. The seat highest among them sat empty. Many people murmured. One conversation caught my attention. A large man leaned towards another man with not so quiet whispers. “I don’t know if he’ll go through with it, but I hear the king has given him the authority to do as he sees fit” The second man stared forward. “I know what I would do if it was me.” They both seemed ready to condemn this girl.

I could not help myself, “What evil has she done?” I asked again, but could not be heard over the whispers. “What evil has she..” but I caught off guard. All those present were at once quiet and rose from their seats. I could not see why until a man passed me heading towards the highest chair. The girl was in the corner facing the men in the congregation. The man stared at her, unable to see his face I could not make out his face, but knew it was serious. The little girl cried without any control. She began to speak but was immediately cut off by the man “let the proceeding begin” he said.

He turned and sat in the chair. I knew this man. The horror I knew hit me all at once. A man on the front row rose “We have evidence against the accused, such that she has done witchcraft. We have already presented evidence on this matter but had yet to apprehend the girl. Will the witnesses point at the witch.” Several people rose and pointed at the girl. “We rest our case on this evidence, it is now up to you my liege to do justice as you see fit.” The last few words rang with bitterness. All the faces looked upon him, on me.

My hand rested in my hand, I knew what I must do, but did I? The kind had given me power in this matter. “Don’t do it! Don’t do it” I said from the back of the room, “DON’T DO IT!” I yelled as though I could be heard. I rose from the chair, hesitated a second, “Having such weighty evidence, and with this despicable crime having been committed, this girl is sentenced to .. to” I paused. There’s still a chance, don’t do it. I screamed inside my head. I breathed a deep breath and finished, “death.”
There were many cheers from the crowd. The once quiet group now turned into a mob. I sobbed from the back of the room, and from the front as well. They disregarded us both and dragged the girl out. of the house. We both followed. They followed the river to the tree I had seen before. I now remembered why it was familiar. They tied a rope around the tree and hung the girl. I watched as she breathed her last breath.

We both ran for all our might. I understood now the horror that was once my home. He followed me to the hills as I ran, screaming and crying the whole way. I would not stop running until I forgot, until I knew nothing but the hills. I returned to the lonely existence. There I looked upon the man one last time, I knew the pain that awaited him, awaited me. I remembered it well now.

I left him there, having no pity on myself. I returned to the heart of the forest again, seeking answers. There I sat on the log again waiting for the king. He returned as he always did. Once he was ready he bade me forward, “Why did you send me there? There to see the sin I once committed” The king paused, “My friend, that is your eternal destiny. It is the curse you received that day. You did not have to condemn your daughter to death that day, I gave you the power to let her go.” That knowledge pained me more then anything before had. “You intended me to let her go? But how could I have, I surely would have died at the hands of the mob as well had I done so.” He looked directly into my eyes, “Yes you would have, but you would not be here in the hills had you done so. You would be somewhere much better.” I sobbed.

He sat there looking at me for a few minutes. “Now, I must return to my business. I will see you again soon.” I rose and began to walk away. “See you again? Why will you see me again?” He looked at me and said it again, “How easily you forget my friend. You will wander these hills until you forget your sin, but something will remind you of it and then you will come to me for answers, and you will relive your memory in all it’s horror again, until you forget and relive it again. I have sent you to your home many many times over the years, and always you forget and come back to me for answers once you do. It is the punishment for your sin.”

I stared in disbelief, I knew what he was saying was true. It sank into my heart like a heavy weight. I began to walk away and he spoke again, “My only hope is that you will forget quickly and remember slowly.” He turned back towards his guards.

I ran from the heart of the forest, and ran and ran. I did not know where I was going, only that I must run until all the pain was gone, and eventually it was. It had been so long since I had spoke to the king, I didn’t even remember what it was we spoke of. Then one day I saw a traveler on the road, he was wearing a dark cloak and had a raspy voice. This seemed familiar to me for some reason, though I could not remember why. I decided to find the king and see if he might be able to help me remember.