The wind howled at my back as I fought against the bucking waves, the boat tilting against the incredible swells.
‘Drop the mizzen!’ I bellowed over the crashing spray. My assistant, a young kid named George who hadn’t been expecting a storm, tensed his body like he was about to leap into action – but had no clue what I was asking him to do.
‘What?’
‘The mizzen, lad!’ I roared, pointing at the second mast. He nodded and ran over to it. By some miracle, he actually got it moving, and we felt an immediate difference in how much our little ship was being buffeted by the wind.
‘Below deck!’ I yelled once he was done, quickly tying off my own job. He dutifully complied, and I slammed the galley door shut behind us.
‘Not much we can do now,’ I murmured, as the storm’s fury was muted somewhat by the ship’s hull.
‘Look on the bright side,’ George said nervously. ‘At least you didn’t get that vinyl boat wrap application.’
‘What?’
‘We were talking about it up there—’
‘I know what we were talking about, lad!’ I growled. ‘But why would I be happy not to have my vinyl boat wrap? My dream of dreams! The vinyl boat wrap that I’ve been fighting for ever since I first laid eyes on this here boat o’ mine!’
He visibly gulped. ‘Uh… I guess you wouldn’t be?’
‘Correct, lad!’ I glared at him. ‘If we’re to be taken to the Locker, I’d have rather she went with all of her accoutrements!’
‘But it might have been wrecked by the storm, is all,’ he stammered a defence.
‘Bah!’ I spat. ‘You’re probably only used to basic fishing boat decals! For my boat, only the best quality vinyl wraps!’
‘I, uh…’ he gulped again. ‘My mistake. How long do you think this storm will last, by the way?’
‘Why?’ I arched an eyebrow at him. ‘You got somewhere to be?’
‘Yeah, I’m actually meeting my girlfriend’s parents for the first—’
‘The storm doesn’t care, laddy!’