Uncharted Territory

• Sophie Bates, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2014

Jason emerged from below the deck, brushing his over-grown, brown hair from his green eyes. Stretching his tanned, muscular arms he scanned the horizon. The sun warmed his body and he felt a short-lived moment of happiness, before thinking about his parents.
Hauling up the mainsail, Jason recalled their departure to search for the mysterious, monstrous, sea creature known as the Kraken and the treasures it allegedly guards. He feared that his parents had encountered the monster, and had set out to save them.
Suddenly, out of nowhere a jagged, rock appeared.
“What’s our location?” Jason yelled to a crewman.
“We can’t pinpoint it exactly. No one has ever returned from this area, so there is no accurate map,” came the tense reply.
“We must be close then,” Jason said firmly, before shouting, “Hoist the topsails and ready the cannons; full speed ahead!”
The crew sprang to action immediately; cranking on thick ropes and heaving cannon balls into place. Jason raced to the stern and took the wheel. It required immense concentration but he managed well, his father was a pirate.
Soon, an enormous rocky outcrop appeared. Certain that this was their destination Jason instructed the crew to lower the sails. He climbed the crow’s nest to better inspect the formation and his heart throbbed with excitement when he spotted an ornamental treasure chest atop a thick, serrated rock. To Jason’s surprise he saw his parents, tied up above it!
With no visible danger Jason dispatched a safety boat and paddled urgently to his parents. He fastened himself to the pillar and began to climb upwards. He was only an arm’s length away when everything began to rumble. Jason turned to see menacing, thick tentacles protruding from the water and beginning to wrap around the pillars. The Kraken! He untied and they dropped down into the water.
“Save yourselves!” Jason bellowed urgently.
They climbed into his boat and began paddling quickly, but just as they neared the ship, a tentacle suddenly flung their small boat skyward. Jason’s mother fell into the water, but his dad wasn’t so lucky; crashing into rocks and falling into the water, dead. Tears began to well in Jason’s eyes, but there was no time to stop.
Suddenly, the Kraken rose from the water, revealing its mouth filled with hundreds of razor-sharp teeth; a truly hideous sight. The beast began to wrap its slimy tentacles around the rocky pillar supporting Jason. Scared but calm Jason fiercely hurled his sword into the depths of the Kraken’s ulcerating mouth. Unsure if it was dead, he waited terrified until it collapsed the knot in his stomach lifted. He had done it!
Jason lowered himself into the water and swam to his Galleon. As he collapsed on the deck his mother rushed to his side. Jason felt triumphant until he remembered his father, who he hadn’t saved. His father had spent his entire life on the sea, with salt spray on his face. He wasn’t gone forever. He was home.