Chapter 1 - Journey In A Glass Bottom Boat

Journey In A Glass Bottom Boat

A novel

By Paul McCann

Chapter 1 

Harry And His Glass Bottom Boat

Harry woke up and got out of bed and looked around the house for the last time . Since his father’s death his mother found it difficult to pay weekly rent and to buy food . Being an only child Harry decided it was up to him now to try and help his mother and so he got a job on the boats . It was his last day on land and he had to make final arrangements with the shipping company to send his weekly wages directly to his mother.  It was hard saying to goodbye to his mother but the thought of making her life more comfortable made the parting easier for him .

So, Harry went to sea and they both kept in touch with the letters he wrote to her and with the letters the shipping company was able to send to him from his mother .

Harry found his sea legs quickly and was soon at home upon the open sea .

He learnt how to cook and clean and even how to navigate and use a compass  .Harry always had a vivid imagination and, in the letters, he wrote to his mother he often made up these imaginative tales which she always loved to read .

Hello Mammy. Hope you’re keeping well . At this time of writing we are making our way through a purple mist that has suddenly fallen around us as we were approaching Mangrove Island . When the mist disappeared, there were all these trees growing out of the water and a wooden walkway . We anchored the ship and took a walk around the island .  Some funny looking natives came and welcomed us and gave us a tour of the island . We could hardly believe our eyes at the things we saw there Mammy . They took us around on these jetty boats    Some of the . basking whales came right over to us and started to make these squealing sounds then they squirted us with some water that drenched us to the skin . Ther natives then brought us to their little village and gave us their tribal clothes to wear and made us join in singing and dancing with them  . We all became tribesmen for the day and when the morning came, they took us back to our ship . The captain of our ship was  presented with a necklace made out of pearly shells . None of them could speak English yet we all got along well . Some of the older sailors gave the natives rum and cigarettes and everyone were happy as we left .

Our next destination is Frangipanni Island where we have to deliver a cargo of food and clothing as well as bicycles, ladders and equipment for building . I’ll write to you when we arrive there and let you know all about the people there . Lots of love from Harry your little sailor boy .

.She put away his letter and wrote a reply .

Dear son ,  .

I loved your story all about the natives on Mangrove Island . It left me thinking about all the wonders of this world we  live in . I don’t know how I can repay you for everything you’re doing for me . Please keep your letters coming with all the stories of what you’re doing .

Love from Mammy .

The next day she brought her letter to the shipping company who would forward them to the next large port that was on their schedule where he would get her letter ,

As the months passed his mother kept receiving letters from Harry and she started to keep them like a journal of Harrys experiences at sea . She loved to hear all about some of the places where he had been in the world like the Island of Dreams in some place in the Pacific Ocean where people could ride on hot air balloons  In his letter he wrote ,

Hello again Mammy , Thank you for your letter . I’m glad to hear you’re painting again . I can remember you always loved to do that before  . I  just thought I would drop you a few lines about where I am and what’s going on here in this place  .

Today we all went to visit all of the little island . The captain organised a hot air balloon island hopping trips for all the crew to see the sights of all the islands here.  We are all amazed at the talking birds that they keep inside hanging cages suspended on ropes around Wishing Well Island that can only be accessed by these rope bridges from the Main island because of the coral reef that won’t allow any ship a passage through to the shore . Some of the local people on Wishing Well Island  told us all that anyone who arrives for the very first time will have their wish granted but we are not permitted to tell anyone what we wished for . So, if my secret wish comes true, you’ll be the first to know . There are so many wishing wells here on the island to see it would take more time that we have to see them all . .

Then on Butterfly Island there is an underground tunnel walk that brought us to a  waterfall where we could swing from a rope and drop into this pool at the bottom where the water was crystal clear and freezing cold . There’s a jungle on the main island where the natives live in treehouses because of the large saltwater crocodiles who are lying all over the place on the ground . The tribe live on bananas and coconuts and they drink some kind of potion that sends them into a deep sleep for most of the day . We were told that’s the reason why they call the island the Island of dreams .

Our next port of call is to a place they call the ships graveyard somewhere in the Indian Ocean where lots of ships have been mysteriously abandoned by their captain and crew . Hope it doesn’t happen to us where we get there , will write again soon Mammy . In my thoughts always .

Lots of love from Harry your little sailor boy .

She wrote her reply that night ,

Dear Son , it was great to hear from you .and I loved the story about the Island of Dreams  and the Wishing Well Island . Hope you get what you wished for .

I think that your Captain is really kind organizing places for you all to see . It makes me want to apply for a job on that ship . Probably at my age I’d never get a start but seriously it makes me think how wonderful this world is . Your adventures are smashing . Keep them coming . I’ve been busy doing new artworks and hope soon you might be returning home so you can see some of them ‘ Thanks to all your letters I’ve inspired again to be creative . That’s all for now son as I’m getting tired and need a cuppa . I look forward to hearing again from you soon about everything . Lots of Love from Mammy She brought her letter to the shipping office the next day who in turn sent them to the next port where Harry would be arriving . 

Time passed  without a word from Harry . It seemed like months and then finally a letter came .

Hello again Mammy . It’s me your little sailor boy ,

Sorry I haven’t written for a while , but things are much better now after all the troubles we had been through . The captain and the crew didn’t know what to do after we lost communication on board . We got lost after the navigation system  failed due to ship getting hit by lightning . We drifted beyond our course on the Indian ocean to an unknown part of the sea when suddenly we were being drawn by some  strange magnetic force and the ship was now heading towards a whirlpool that sucked the ship inside a vortex where walls of water surrounded the ship  .We heard voices calling out and laughing at us as our ship went deeper into the ocean until we hit rock bottom and to our surprise , our ship had been encased inside a glass bottle and we were washed up on the shore of this weird underwater world where all the  inhabitants who lived there were strange looking fluorescent creatures that walked on the land as well as being able to live underwater . They had silken scales all over their bodies with oval shaped heads and big bulging eyes that could pop out from their sockets and stretch up and down and around and round like cameras connected to  cables and there were .devices on their wrists that sent out messages and sounds that almost hypnotised us  until a welcome party came to greet us to Aqualand . I remember some of the old sailors had once spoke about this place and I know I had to share this story with you Mammy because I know how much you love my stories .so to be really honest Mammy , the thing is I had a fever and was sick for a few weeks in bed . That’s why I haven’t been writing to you but things are back to normal again and I’ll be coming home for Christmas Day / Can’t wait to see you again .

Lots of love from Harry , your little sailor boy .

His Mother was so glad to know her son was ok but she really did love the story he told her about Aqualand and soon desired illustrated that into book form . She had been putting away some of the money he had sent to her to publish an illustrated storybook and hopefully she might be able to find a publisher willing to take a chance on promoting the book .She had been wanting to find a way to thank Harry for all the hard work he had been doing  .’ 

In her younger years she had been a good artist and her idea was to illustrate some of his stories into book form  and now that was about to happen , just in time for him returning home for Christmas .She called the book Harry and His Glass Bottom Boat and went to work . She   started to read back through some of the stories he had sent and chose a few scenes and added a few new ideas . She liked the Aqualand story and soon created some characters and developed a plot and storyline around what Harry had written and when the draft copy was finished she sent the work to have a final edit before printing  ,

During the process of printing and publishing  Harry And The Glass Bottom Boat  a copy of the book was sent a large book publisher who had read a  copy of the book submitted as a work of interest from the printer and editor of the book . The content was the right  product for the book publisher who had a contract made for Harry and Maisey  to sign .They had been commissioned  to write and illustrate a series of seven  books called  “Voyages On Board A Glass Bottom Boat “

Already the first release had become the fastest selling book of its time and had topped the bestseller’s list before Christmas . When Harry returned home , he was so surprised to have been given a contract to sign by the book publisher who wanted to get Harry’s signature as quickly  as possible because now a leading  movie producer wanted to start making  a movie from the book . There was an upfront payment with the balance to be finalised when the series was completed .

Harry and Maisie were now living the dream with money to burn . Harry told his mother that the wish he had made on Wishing  Well Island  was that he could buy his mother a new house .

That Christmas they moved in to a beautiful new home and  the best thing was that Harry would never have to go to sea again . He had a new job as a writer working with his mother on a series of new stories from the voyages on board a glass bottom boat .

End Of Chapter  1 -

Link to Chapter 2

https://www.abctales.com/story/mcscraic/chapter-2-journey-glass-bottom-boat

Journey In A Glass Bottom Boat

A novel

By Paul McCann