βcare to share what youve made with the crew?β
DAY 1
username: honeybunchesofoats
entry:
Okomori scrunches his nose at the bard. Even though he had become much friendlier since the last event, something about their energetic vibe gave him the ick.
"Do I believe in mermaids? What kind of question is that, do I look like a child to you?" He huffed in disbelief.
"Nobody sane would ever believe in people with colorful tails. Who even makes a living off of seashells anyway? They claim they have treasure when really it's just the junk and litter humans throw into the ocean. It's pathetic." He ranted in one breath.
"But..." He trailed off, lost in thought. "If you had asked about sirens..."
The very mention of the word sent a chill down his spine, the shiver visible in the way he jittered his body, assumedly to ward off the evil surrounding his sentence. Now, it wasn't a surprise that Mori knew very little of his past, but what he did know is that the ocean was a wicked place. He didn't have a fear of water per say, but what might lurk in the vast, deep waters...that's what terrified him.
Suddenly he recalls a flashback from his childhood:
"...and as the unforgiving storm raged on, The Captain and his men braced to wreck. Huge whirlpools whipped them round and round. Waves the size of castles crashed upon them, washing away crew members, supplies, and leaving huge gaping holes, quickly overflowing with salty water."
Okomori sat on the edge of his seat. He was in some sort of dimly lit room, it smelled musty and the bed he was sitting on was uncomfortable. He heard gasps and words on encouragement from other kids, but when he looked around, their faces were so blurred they were beyond recognition. This was a common occurrence when remembering his past.
"What happened next?" He asked, surprised that he had spoken up so confidently. It usually took him a lot of convincing to speak nowadays.
"Be patient little Oko...you can't rush a tale of such dire straights. You can cut the tension with a knife, hear a pin drop...keep it that way."
The voice speaking to him sounded slightly older and deeper. He nodded, waiting to listen to the rest of the story.
"Just when the crew thought they were doomed, they heard the sweet sounds of an angel's voice!"
Some of the kids cheered while the others made noises of disgust. "Briar, come on I don't want another romance, love has cooties."
The man chuckled and shook his head. "Head the rest of my story, for this is a tale that might not end the way you would expect! Carrying on, the voice multiplied, soon a chorus of what seemed like hundreds of them called out to the crew. For reasons we have still yet to fully understand, Captain's entire crew jumped overboard. They abandoned their ship without hesitation. Soon, they each saw a beautiful creature, top half of a human, not unlike themselves and the bottom a colorful fish tail with blinding bright scales. Some men wondered if they had died and gone to a better place. However, as the men drew nearer, the unthinkable happened.
The once beautiful creatures brandished rows of razor sharp teeth, bigger than any shark they had studied on land. Their fingernails grew into giant talons, eyes darkening until they were complete blank and void of any emotion. Their hair turned into think tangles of seaweed and they latched onto the crew of the ship. Within mere seconds every man had vanished."
The room hung silent for a minute. Soon, hushed whispers settled into the air as the children began to discuss what happened in the story. Once again, Mori spoke up.
"How do you know all of this, it's not like you were there, it's against rules to go to the ocean."
Briar leaned forward in his chair, Okomori wished more than anything he could remember his face.
"Because, I was there when their empty ship washed ashore here many moons ago. If they hadn't seen those creatures....the ship would have carried them home."
Okomori felt sad, he could feel the pain in Briar's voice. The other children broke out into play, imitating crew members and the awful creatures that took their lives. He had always wanted to sneak away and go out to sea, but for now he would stay in the old and creaking room where it was safe.