Week 6: Betrayal Hidden Within

As a young boy I grew up in a family of wealth. I was never in need of anything. New clothes, new house, fresh food, fresh clean water, I had it all. But an ailment took hold of my parents one day. As they grew more and more sick I became more and more worried. I started to lash out and just buy things of luxurious taste. Soon my parents had passed, and I had blown through all of the money that was left for me. Now in debt and lonely I had no purpose. I began selling my possessions and finally I sold the house that I had grown up in. Just when I thought I couldn't find my way I stumbled upon the beach. As I looked out I felt a need to leave, not just leave, but travel the world. There was a spark, a spark to explore new things, new places. So I hopped on a ship, the captain promised three meals a day and that any treasure found there would be a part of it tossed my way.

Traveling the sea was not the most pleasant thing. Out on the sea for months at a time there would be harsh weather, pirate battles, and even the occasional crew death from illness. But one day there was an island off in the distance. It was not very big but we decided to dock near it and paddle towards it.

"Take a stroll around the island boys, the night is yours, do with it what you please. we set sail at dawn" said captain Gimmer.

"Aye" shouted the crew in unison.

The sun began to set and we gathered firewood to cook our food and drink around. The fire was lit and began to burn hot and bright. The flame got hotter and a rumble shook beneath our feet. The Island was moving. It began to shrink and dive into the water.

"It's a whale that ye be standing on" Yelled the captain from the ship. "Get back the the boat"

The crew scrambled and got to the boat, I was still stumbling from one too many drinks round the fire. The whale was under water now, I grabbed ahold of a piece of driftwood as I sank below the surface. "Help!!" I shouted as I resurfaced but the crew had already left. The ship was gone and I was afloat.

After a day I hit land. A real Island this time, and a sight to behold, I found that my crew had landed there as well to avoid the storm coming in. As I walked closer I was unseen. I overheard a couple of the crew members and they were talking about the whale.

"Ah the newbie was tricked successfully. Now we don't have to worry about sharing the wealth nor stealing his."

I was shocked to hear this, especially from the crew member that I was most close to. I quickly came up with a plan.

I snuck aboard the ship at sunset, Found the captain in his quarters and revealed my plan.

"Aye boy, you're alive! But how, I saw you sink before my eyes?" said the captain.

"I surfaced moments later but the crew made you think I was gone"

In shock the captain listened to my request, "Lets leave this untrustworthy crew here upon this island" I said.

"But boy we couldn't make it with just the two of us you see" replied the captain.

"We will make it, and a new crew that is more trustworthy is bound to appear upon land."

We left and found the new crew, as we sailed we gained more treasure than ever because the crew turned everything in to the captain and waited for him to distribute the wealth evenly. I traveled many years with this crew until one day I could afford a ship of my own. The ship was a small enough ship for a crew of ten. And so that's what it be, A crew of ten and me set sail and traveled the rest of our days.

The sunset that I see every night as I sail the rest of my life

Photo Provided by Flickr

Author's Note: This story's idea came from the Sinbad reading. The First Voyage was a story that stood out to me the most because that is how Sinbad began his long journey. The fact that the whale was the island was a detail in the original story. Sinbad was lost at sea and found an island to land upon. As he wandered the island he found civilization and they took him in as one of their own. Later on in the Second part of The First Voyage Sinbad is reunited with his old crew and his captain is relieved that he is not dead. Sinbad was not Betrayed by the crew in the original story, I just thought that it would be a good way to switch up the story. I thought that it turned out to be a good story in the end because Sinbad still got to travel the sea like he wanted to and got his own boat in my version of the story.

Bibliography: "First Voyage" By Andrew Lang from The Arabian Night's Entertainment: Web source