The Old Sea-Dog.
(A small English coastal village, 1769.)
Old Noah had been a sailor all his working life, since he was a young boy. He had sailed on many different vessels, on all the seas all around the globe. Now he was seventy years old, and he had been retired for several years now. Now he was an old man.
He sits on the steps of his old run-down cottage, and entertains a group of six small children with his tall tales of the voyages he undertook when he was young. The children sit in a semi-circle around him on the grass, as he sits on his low wooden bench, and relays his amazing stories to them. They sit and listen with rapt attention.
“…And then we rounded the Cape of Storms, with a severe hurricane besetting us, but we braved the tempest, and eventually came to calmer water when we reached the open stretches of the Indian Ocean.
I tell ye, we travelled on seas blistered by sun, rain, snow and storms. The waves shook our bones and our bellies, constantly. Our boat bobbed about like a cork on the vast ocean, and always we were travelling eastward, towards the orient. Out here on the open waters there are many dangers beside the elements; there are huge sea-serpents that can destroy a ship with little effort, and of course, the dreaded Kraken.”
At the mention of the famous sea-monster’s name, the children gasped and the oldest, a girl with red hair, asked him; “Have you ever seen the Kraken, Noah?”
“Yeah girlie, that I have,” said Noah “and a more evil creature no sailor can wish to come across in his life. It is a fearsome monster, with huge webbed claws and vicious fangs three foot long. It has slimy green scales all over its body. The body itself is larger than any ship ever built. Its breath stinks of the very sulphurs of hell, I tell ye, a truly fearsome demon of a monster.”
When he had their full attention, he continued with his tale; “I only saw that dreaded monster but once in all the years that I travelled the seas, but I tell ye children, it is a sight that no sailor can ever forget. We were lucky that day, and with a fair wind behind us, and the good Lord’s blessings upon us, we were able to outrun that evil monster with our ship. But it was a close call, all-in-all, I can assure you all of that…” said old Noah with some relish in telling his tale.
Just then two of the local woman, Mary and Beth, came out of their cottages on their way to do some errands, when they saw old Noah telling the children his sea stories.
“Hey Noah, ye should not be telling those children them awful sea-tales. Tonight they will not get a wink of sleep,” said Mary, and Beth laughed at this.
“Get ye gone, ye wenches!” said old Noah to them, “And go about yer chores, and leave us be.”
The two women laughed as they walked on down the old path to go about their business. Old Noah kept sitting outside his hut, and entertained the children with his tales of days of old…
The End.
Copyright – JP Brown – 27/06/2007.
