Dark And Deep

• Emma Blacker, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2012

The ship approaches the unseen rocks. They are sitting there just beneath the surface of the pulsing sea. As the water washes over them, white foam forms making them visible even in the dark. However, on board no one looks at the water. The men are too entranced by the beauty sitting on deck.
They have done it thinks Captain Skay. He is young and handsome but marred by a scar that stretches just below his right eye to the corner of his lips. This marring does not mean that the women do not seek him out when he retunes to land. He has no one waiting for him yet, but in the back of his mind, he holds the picture of a laughing dancing red headed woman. That he plans to marry when he returns home. All of that leaks out of his head as he stares at the beauty in front of him.
Her breathing is shallow; her long, wet dark hair the colour of the night sky is plastered over her pale clammy body. The cloth of her dress is saturated and badly torn and is the colour of the ocean under the evening sky clings to her violently shivering body. She is curled in a ball to protect her both from the brutes that surround her and the cold air. She shimmers with a strange bright blue white light, as there is no moon or stars and only a few candles lit casting an orange glow over everything apart from her.
Captain Skay slowly approaches the girl. She hears his soft footsteps and jerks her head towards him that is when he stops dead. He is staring in to her eyes. They are the colour of blood in the slate sea. Their eyes lock and slowly she smiles and it lights up her face naturally. He grins at her and all thoughts of the beautiful red head drain from him replaced with her image. He knows now that this stunning creature cannot be harmed until he brings her home, where she will become his bride.
“What is your name?” Skay asks her gently. Finishing the short trip to crouch down beside her.
“In your tongue I am called Briny I am a Hydrade or spirit of the ocean. My sisters and I live for a millennium unless we live on land where we live a normal human lifespan. Whomever I am destined to love will be my savour and be eternally blessed.” She said with a voice like a river.
Suddenly one of the men cries out. “Ah! Captain rocks dead a head where going to hit there’s no time, to swing her about.”
Skay closes his eyes for a second then starts to bark orders. He turns back to the Hydrade to comfort her but sees a look of triumph written clearly on her face. He remembers that water spirits are notorious for leading sailors to their doom.
Then the CRUNCH of ship against rock.