“Hey, Lo,” Derrick’s familiar voice rang out from behind Chloe.
Chloe glanced over her shoulder with a faint smile tracing her lips, lifting her green eyes to meet his deep, dark blue ones, which bore a striking resemblance with the depths of the ocean. Chloe had always known she was short, barely reaching five feet tall, but Derrick’s frame, well around six and a half feet, dwarfed her even more than most. “Hey Raggedy Rick,” she said.
He joined her at the side of the ship, gaze also traveling to the water. “Not busy trying to run the whole ship alone for once?”
Chloe snorted and shrugged. “I have to avoid giving people a reason for valid complaints.
“They’re never valid,” Rick responded. “You’re one of the best fighters we have.”
“It’s easy to throw yourself into battle when you have no reason to fear death,” Chloe responded, slender fingers curling around the ship’s railing. At least the breeze was a warm one today, with the sun shining down upon them.
“It’s the gold that always keeps me fighting,” Derrick laughed.
Chloe was glad Derrick was downwind of her. It’d been a while since they’d been at shore and most of them didn’t smell good. “I have probably been standing here long enough, though. I should get back to it.”
“You can take five more minutes,” Rick said, fidgeting with a trinket he’d pulled from his pocket. Chloe saw a flash of yellow from between his fingers, the man truly did love gold.
“Thanks for being my friend,” Chloe said, wanting to express a bit of appreciation for one of the few men that didn’t constantly harass her.
“Eh, you’re a crewmate,” Rick said. He always tried to make her feel like one of the guys, but Chloe knew that was quite impossible.
Chloe didn’t respond, gaze remaining on the water. Then something caught her eye, a shadow in the depths. A whale maybe? It looked quite large. It undulated side to side as it swam beneath the boat, strange movement for a whale. But what else could it be?
Then Chloe noticed heavy breathing beside her and a bit of a rank scent. One got used to their own body odor, but it was more difficult to get used to others. Rick was leaning further against the railing, eyes also pinned on the movement beneath the surface of the water.
“Rick, for real, you need to take a saltwater bath. It’s been too long.”
He glanced up, wearing a grimace. “Did you see that?”
“I smelled you,” Chloe muttered before looking back at the water. “Yes, I saw it.”
The creature was coming back around and this time parts of it slipped above the waves in slender arches.
“Do you think it’s a squid?” Chloe asked, more confused than ever.
“That large?” Rick wondered. “I’ve heard tales of huge squid, but I think there’s only one tendril, and it’s so long.”
The creature was turning back around, it seemed to be moving up the length of the ship. “It has scales like a snake,” Chloe whispered as parts of the body became visible above the surface.
Just then, the creature’s head swung above the surface of the water.
“Definitely like a snake!” Rick hollered as its teeth glistened in the sun. It turned away, as if to swim off suddenly. They watched it’s long, dark form beneath the surface of the water.
To Chloe’s surprise, it was only a few minutes before the dark blob beneath the surface was heading back toward the ship at alarming speed. “Rick, you don’t think…”
“That it would attack us? That doesn’t make any sense, Lo,” his voice didn’t sound reassuring.
Chloe braced herself, just in case. If she alerted the ship and she was wrong, she’d be mocked for years.
Chloe noticed Derrick gripped the railing as well.
Chloe felt frozen in time as the wide, dark creature headed toward the ship. The crashing of the sea’s waves pounded louder than ever in her ears as she squinted toward the water. Then it happened, the large sea animal turned at the last second and crashed its body against the side of the ship.
There were shouts of alarm across the deck.
Chloe turned her head toward Petey, who was climbing into the crow’s nest. “It’s a SEA SERPENT!” she screamed, before even registering what was happening.
Despite the alarm, Chloe heard several laughs of derision. No matter how dire the circumstances, or how many times she proved herself in battle, some men couldn’t get over themselves and see her as a fellow human worth believing. Petey, however, looked toward her and she noticed his eyes widen.
“SEA SERPENT!” he hollered, ringing the bell beside the crow’s nest.
~ G.G. Marshall
Keep Reading!
The Sea (part 1): https://www.ggmarshall.com/post/the-sea-part-1
The Sea (part 3 - Avail 12/19/24): https://www.ggmarshall.com/post/the-sea-part-3
Want to read more about the creature that inspired this story?
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