Mysteries of the deep

Korn Kindle was an explorer. He would soar to the highest heights, dive to the deepest depths and crawl in the smallest places known to man kind. And he wasn’t always that way. His father was an apothecary. Korn was grown up in an apothecary world. But he wanted more. Much more than his born-to-be world could give. By the age of 13, he was always transient. He was a little bit here, sometimes there and never in the same place twice. Except the sea of course.

His new adventure wasn’t whimsical at all. He needed to reprieve from air. He was going to search Salty Sam’s sunken vessel. According to the rumors, it had a golden treasure, and the journey down is no walk in the park. But he had the best crew. A motley crew, if you will. They were full of fidelity, albeit they ranged from age, size and gender, they were the best crew a man could ask for. But with every perfect family, there was a nut. This nut wasn’t weird or crazy at all, but quite the opposite. Her name is Jenny May, and she loved to clamor. Day and night, night and day she would shout. She drove everyone off the walls.

Early morning in early December, they set sail on S.S. Dasani. One of the crew members stood side-by-side with Korn Kindle. “Captain, the wind conditions are 38 miles per hour and heading North, North West.” Joey informed.

“Perfect,” Kindle answered, “and don’t call me ‘Captain’, call me.. ‘Kindle’. Call me ‘Kindle’.” His eyes were set on the horizon. The wind blew through his blonde, young hair. How young you ask? About 18 I suppose. Of course that’s not too young for our explorer. He has big, big dreams. The crew scrambled below on deck trying to sail the boat in the right direction. They are a good 20 miles away from the harbor, so there’s no turning back now. Kindle took a deep breath of the salty, sea air, then went in the ‘Kindle’ quarters. Inside there is a comfy cot, a table with a map and a view of the place they just left. He sat on his cot. He had just enough time to take a breath when Jenny May came barging in.

“I have to speak with you!” she yelled in her rich British accent. Kindle buried his face in his hands and waited for the bomb. “Just because I am a girl and two years younger than you does not mean I have to be stuck cleaning the ‘poop’ deck! There are younger people on this ship and they get better jobs than me!” If walls had ears they would plug them with their shelves. “Who? Who is younger than you on this ship?” Kindle calmly asked. When Jenny is in a cantankerous mood, you don’t want to yell at her. She will gut you like a fish.

“Joey?! He is 15! And all day long he gets to play with the ‘spinner’.”

“For the last time, its not ‘spinner’, it’s a wind dial. And he’s doing that because I don’t want him doing anything dangerous.”

“What is so dangerous about cleaning the toilet?! Make him do that?”

“Because that’s your job.”

“Why cant we switch?” Kindle starts to lose his patience. He slowly stands up. He is a good couple inches taller than Jenny.

“That’s because you are a girl. And girls are supposed to clean.” Jenny’s face turned red. If she got any madder steam would come out her ears.

“‘Girls are SUPPOSED to clean?!’ You are degrading woman! Have you ever learned about the woman who raised a million dollars before anyone else? INCLUDING men? Have you ever heard of the woman who changed the world? They fought for their rights and fought against the MEN who THOUGHT they were on top! Just because God made men first, does NOT mean they are rulers of the earth! Ever heard of Mother Nature?!” She yelled so loud the birds outside of the ‘Kindle’ quarters squawked. Kindle walked towards the window and watched the birds fly away. He put his hands behind his back and clenched them into a fist. He clenched his teeth and rocked back and forth on his feet. Heel, toe, heel, toe.

“And another thing!...” Before she could finish, a loud “CLUNK” echoed the ship. Followed a loud “SHH”. Kindle and Jenny eased their tension. Jenny walked to the door and opened it. The crew members fell in the room and sprawled out on the floor. Kindles walked towards the pile.

“It’s alright men, were just having a...” Kindle started.

Jenny looked at Kindle and smiled slightly. “A friendly discussion.” She finished. Kindle smiled back.

“A pretty loud discussion.” Joey said, while standing up and rubbing his head.

“Get back out there and do your jobs. There’s nothing else to see here.” Kindle ordered. The crew slowly walked back out onto the deck. “Did you see how she looked at him?” one asked. “Did you see how he looked back?” another asked. They all buzzed about the passion growing between them. Maybe Jenny and Kindle couldn’t see it, but the crew could. Could opposites attract?

Jenny closed the door while Kindle sat on his cot. Jenny sighed and Kindle rubbed his face with his hands. “Sorry I blew up.” Jenny apologized. She sat next to him.

“No, it’s my fault. I misconstrued what you were trying to tell me. And you are right. Joey should be cleaning the bathroom, not you.” He replied.

There was an odd silence, followed by one of the crew members yelling, “I see her Captain! I see her!”

Kindle opened up the door for Jenny. She nodded her head and walked out. She didn’t get very far because the sight stopped her in her tracks. Kindle closed the door and ran into Jenny. He looked up, and there it was. Almost oblique away from the boat it sat there floating. A giant piece of Salty Sam’s sunken vessel. It just sat there, floating like a buoy. Not moving an inch away from its spot in the water. No one knows exactly why it does that, but it does. Many people think it’s because of the ice, the piece got frozen below the water on an ice burg near it. Around the piece, the water was covered in ice. As far as you could see, but S.S. Dasani could take it.

“Alright men! This is the moment you’ve all been waiting for! Take your positions! We’re diving in an hour!” Kindle ordered he headed back towards his quarters. Joey and Jenny followed him.

“You’re not actually diving down there are you?” Joey asked. Kindle stared at him.

“Why do you think we came out here? Just to look at it? Kind of hard when it’s down there and we’re up here.” Kindle bent down over the map and picked up a pencil. He rested his elbows on the table.

“What about the Kraken?” Joey had a frightful look on his face. Kindle chuckled a bit.

“Joey, which crew member told you that? Mike? There is no such thing as the ‘Kraken’”.

“Yes there is! I read it in a book back home. It said the Kraken guards the golden treasure down in the sunken vessel!”

“Books are for squares! I know for a fact there is no such thing as a Kraken. I behoove knowing every creature in the sea, and Kraken doesn’t fall in the category.”

“But my conscience is telling me it’s real!”

“Joey, what happened to your blithe side?” Just then, something big hit the ship and it rocked violently back and forth. It sent all three of them to the floor. The pencil flew out of Kindle’s hand and under his cot. The shaking stopped.

“Just an ice burg sir! We’ll buff out those scratches.” someone yelled. Kindle crawled under the cot to grab the pencil. Jenny and Joey slowly got up. They all were conscious of what would come next. The ship got hit again. This time, instead of side to side, it was up and down. Kindle hit his head on the metal part of the bed. “Ow!” he cried. When the ship settled down, Jenny ran to his side. He sat on the cot. She moved part of his hair, which used to be sandy blonde, but now sandy red. He got cut, deep. She went to touch it, but Kindle flinched and pulled away.

“Joey go get the First Aid kit.” Jenny ordered.

“That was no ice burg.” Kindle stated. Joey brought over the kit. Jenny mended his wound.

“You are not diving with this cut on your head. You could attract sharks.”

“Or the Kraken!” Joey added. Jenny and Kindle looked at him in disbelief.

“Joey for the last time, the ‘Kraken’ isn’t real.” Kindle corrected.

“Sir! You better come look at this!” someone on deck yelled.

The three walked out on deck. Out there in front of the ship was a silhouette of 3 large tentacles, each much longer than the ship. “Told you it was real!” Joey said.

“It must be guarding the golden treasure.” Jenny added.

“I need to get down there. I have to have that treasure.” Kindle said. He ran to the diving suits. Jenny ran after him. “No! You can’t! You could die down there!”

“We didn’t just come out here for nothing! Why do you care? You never did.” Kindle shot back.

“Of course I do! I care so much about you that you’ll never know!”

“Well you better tell me before I dive down there.” Before Jenny could say a word, the ship was hit once again, sending the ship sideways deep into the ice. Open water wasn’t visible until a few yards away from the ship across the ice. Kindle finished putting on his diving gear.

“Take me with you!” Jenny ordered, grabbing his arm.

“No, there isn’t enough gear for both of us and I don’t want you to get hurt.” He shook his arm free, a tear rolled down Jenny’s cheek. Kindle jumped over the edge of the boat onto the ice and ran towards the open water. The crew leaned over the edge of the ship and watched Kindle get closer to the waters’ edge. The Kraken kept hitting the boat until it saw Kindle and started hitting below the ice where Kindle was running.

“Kindle!” Jenny cried. A crew member held her back from jumping off the boat. Kindle got to the waters edge, put his mask on and disappeared into the water. The Kraken stopped hitting the ice and disappeared along with Kindle. A loud, deep roar came from below the ice. Jenny started sobbing and hid her face in a crew members arms. The rest of them stood there in silence waiting for something to happen, when suddenly...

Sorry! I must have left this as a cliff hanger when I wrote it a long time ago.. I don't remember what I was going to do for the ending!

VOCAB:

apothecary- a druggist; a pharmacist.

transient- not lasting, enduring, or permanent; transitory

whimsical- erratic; unpredictable

reprieve- a respite from impending punishment

motley- exhibiting great diversity of elements; heterogeneous

fidelity- loyalty

albeit- although; even if

clamor- a loud uproar, as from a crowd of people

cantankerous- disagreeable to deal with; contentious; peevish

misconstrued- to misunderstand the meaning of; take in a wrong sense; misinterpret

oblique- not straight or direct, as a course

behoove- to be necessary or proper for, as for moral or ethical considerations; be incumbent on

conscience- the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action:

silhouette- the outline or general shape of something