Another year, another Janowrimo
Soooo....I'm way behind with janowrimo....it's already day six....
BUT! I do have some stuff written. And hopefully once I get used to the job, there will be more. It's a good thing it's a short story. I'm only going for 30,000 this year.
Enjoy.
The sea rolled underneath the boat and slapped against it's sides. Above, a seagull hovered for a second, complaining that the boat was in his patch of water but continued to fly away as the boat was much bigger than he was.
Mitchell Walker stood at the helm, guiding the small craft through the ocean away from the port and civilization. The sea breeze caught his hair and ruffled it up a bit. He loved being up at this time of day, early in the morning. He took a swig out of his coffee in the silver thermos. "How are we doing?" he called down to his assistant on the lower deck. Sarah Jeffreys was down in the hold with all the equipment. He could picture her with the large headphones held up to that head of wavy blonde hair tied back in a messy bun, a pen stuck between her teeth and she listened. "Nothing yet," she called back. "I'll let you know."
Mitch adjusted his jacket in the warm California sun. He wouldn't need it soon once the sun came up completely. The air was starting to warm up already around him. He watched the instruments as they neared the spot where their prey had been yesterday. They were tracking a dolphin pod and were going to make a few dives today to see how they were doing. Mitch was going to enjoy it while he could, he couldn't stand being cooped up for long. Even his job at the aquarium got boring at times and he found himself having to go out into the field again and get wet doing some real ocean work again.
“Got them! Head four points to starboard!” Sarah called from below deck. She was flipping on the recorders and sonar equipment down there. “Aye aye,” said Mitch, turning the San Diego Aquarium craft towards the dolphin pod. Sara was coming up the ladder, binoculars in hand. “Should have a visual on them soon,” she said. Mitch scanned the water with his eyes, looking for any signs of them.
A fishing boat was looming up out of the water a ways away from them. On board, the fishermen were hauling up on the nets. “Come on boys, the fish people are coming. We better leave before we snag a precious dolphin or something,” said the captain, scowling at the red trimmed white craft coming towards them.
The net hovered over the deck, filled with flopping fish. The men let loose the bottom tie and the fish poured out onto the deck. They started sorting them without being told. None of them liked the environmental people. They were always looking over their shoulder as they fished out in the bay. It was a royal pain for everyone so they worked with a sense of camaraderie.
Suddenly, one of the men started gesturing frantically. “What is it?” said the Captain. “If it’s a dolphin just throw it back before we get into trouble!” He started angrily down the gangplank. “What do I pay you guys for?” He came up next to them and stopped in silence.
Sprawled out in the middle of the fish was a much larger body. A green and blue body that glistened in the sunlight. There was a tangle of dark hair around the head. The men were all stunned into silence and unable to move an inch. Finally, one of the braver ones picked up a spear and carefully turned the large fish over with the blunt end. They all gasped and stepped backwards. It had the body of a fish but the head, shoulders and arms of a woman. An unconscious woman with her eyes closed. Around her arms was a delicate transparent web that hung in wet clumps around her. Her hands were webbed between the fingers.
“Cap’n” one of the men said nervously. “Tell me I ain’t seein things.”
“Nope, we’re all seeing it,” he said, swallowing hard. “It’s a mermaid alright.”
Some of the men crossed themselves, spitting on to the deck for good luck. “What do we do?” some of them were asking, worried that this could be an omen. Everybody started to talk at once. The captain lifted his hands for silence, trying to think it through rationally.
She still hadn’t moved. “We don’t really know if it’s real. What if we toss her over the side?” one of the men said.
“What if she’s dead?” another asked, a stringy guy who was really nervous at this point, his face white as a sheet. The Captain got up close to the body and bent down next to it. She was hauntingly beautiful, even unconscious. He carefully picked up her wrist and felt for a pulse. He nearly dropped it in surprise. “No, she’s alive alright.” The men backed up another step, trying not to go running off aimlessly in a panic.
The Captain was going to maintain order on his ship. "Everybody stand where you are!" he growled at them, trying to think of what to do next. In all his years of fishing, this was a new one on him.
A familiar bullhorn came from the ship next to them. “Move along, you are not to fish in these waters,” the man on the aquarium boat said. The Captain smiled at a sudden idea. “Ok, we’ll give her to the environmental geeks. Let them figure it out."
"They're hailing us back."
Mitch put his bullhorn down, confused. That was new, they usually just leave in a huff. "They want us to pull up alongside," his second assistant Tony reported from the railing. He was looking up at Mitch with a look that said it was his call to make. "You think they're gonna try something?"
Mitch couldn't really make out any facial expressions from this distance on the other ship. It was possible they were going to try something. It wasn't a secret that the fishing industry hated having to fish way over in tougher fishing territory because of the dolphins that swam here. "We'll chance it," Mitch decided, turning the wheel towards the fishing boat. "Stand by with the rope."
"Right," Tony said, putting down his binoculars and hefting one of the ropes off of the deck. Mitch was always surprised at how much Tony's slight build could lift. He was slim but wiry and absolutely uncatchable in the water. Mitch was pretty sure he was part fish.
The white and red craft came in alongside the large fishing boat. Mitch grabbed the CB radio and contacted dispatch at home base. "They seem to be on the up and up, but we'll be careful just in case," he told the operator. "If you can't reach us in a half hour, contact the Coast Guard. Over and out."
Tony was already tossing a line over to the fishing boat. Two deck hands caught it and pulled them slowly towards the side of the boat. When the two hulls touched, Mitch cut the motor and walked down the gangway to their own deck. He watched all of the men's faces as one of them gave him a hand over. Something wasn't quite right. There was a feeling of uneasiness about them. Some of them almost looked downright pale. There were fish covering the deck, but nobody was sorting or cleaning them. They were all standing around in groups, trying not to look at each other. Tony made it across easily enough without a hand. Sarah was standing on their own deck now with a quizzical look on her face as she watched them.
"Well, here we are," said Mitch as diplomatically as he could. One of the men strode over through the fish and held out a hand. "Captain Martins," he said as if he really didn't want to know who Mitch was. His handshake was equally as warm. He cleared his throat. "We have a....situation...that we are not equipped for and..." he stopped as if not sure how to continue. "Something we found in the nets."
Mitch shrugged, his hands in his pockets. "What is it? A dolphin?"
"We're not going to cover up a dolphin injury, if that's what you're thinking," Tony said with a frown. Mitch stepped in front of Tony slightly, trying to smooth that comment over. "Why don't you show us?" he said carefully. The captain gave Tony a glare before turning to lead them to the other side of the deck. "Friendly, Tony," Mitch whispered to his assistant. "Let's keep it friendly." Tony rolled his eyes as he followed behind Mitch but he agreed to be civil about it.
But before they could take another step, there was a commotion with the men that were standing around something in the fish on the deck. "She's movin!" one of them cried out in terror. It was like lighting a match, the whole deck reacted and the men began to run around as if trying to get away. Mitch was shoved up against the gangplank and couldn't see what they were all so scared of. He pushed off of Tony and the Captain just as something went over the rail. He caught one glimpse of a large body like a person before hearing a splash as it entered the water on the other side of the boat. "Hold your places, men!" the captain was trying to maintain order again. "Get a hold of yourselves!" Mitch was surprised to hear a note of fear in the captain's voice as well. He made his way through the flopping fish and frantic fishermen to the rail. There was a slight disturbance on the surface of the water as if something had been tossed in but nothing else. "Did you see?" Tony asked, joining him at the rail. Mitch shook his head, "Just for a second, I couldn't tell what it was."
Tony wasn't waiting. He was strapping on a face mask and made a perfect dive off the side rail. Mitch watched the place he went in for a second and then turned back to the deck. The men seemed to be calmer now, the captain was talking to them about some sort of superstition one of the men was talking about. "We should throw them all back," the nervous man was saying, his hands full of fish from the deck as if to toss them back in the water. "She came to us, it's an omen from the sea." The captain shook the man by his lapels. "Get a hold of yourself, man. You, Charles," he barked at another fisherman. "Take Evans to the hold and get him to lay down." The nervous man was led away into the hold. "Anyone else?" the captain surveyed his crew. The men were reluctant to answer, looking down at their feet but they did not panic or run anymore. "That's better," he said with a nod. "Now start cleaning and sorting. We don't stop for something as ridiculous as a mermaid." The men moved off about their chores, as if glad to be doing something so as not to think about what had just happened.
"Mermaid, you say?" Mitch asked the captain as he came up beside him. The captain seemed reluctant to admit it. "I can't say for sure. But I won't deny that's sure what it looked like." He sighed. "I've been fishing here for years. I never did see anything quite like that."
"If it was a seacow..." Mitch started.
"Oh no, nothing like that," the captain said. "This was a half woman, half fish tail. It doesn't make sense but there it is." He moved off gruffly to call at one of the men for moving slow. Mitch could tell that even the captain didn't believe what he'd seen. He turned back to the rail as he heard Tony call out from the water. "Anything?" he asked.
Tony pulled off his mask as he treaded water. "Nothing but the last of the dolphin pod we were tracking and they've moved off now."
"Alright, get back on our boat. I think we're about done here." Tony nodded and stroked his way around the fishing boat. Mitch said his breif goodbyes to the captain and made his way back to their craft. "What was all the ruckus?" asked Sarah as she gave him a hand over. "Hang on a second," Mitch said, giving her a look that said they would discuss it later when they were out of range. Tony hauled himself up the ladder at the back of the boat and they cast off from the fishing boat. Mitch started up the motor and contacted dispatch again. "All is well here," he said, pausing to think of how to phrase his next sentence. "Unusual fish reported captured by fishing vessel, Betty Grable. Fish escaped before being seen by research crew regretfully. Tony dived after it but could not find any trace of it. That is all, over and out."
Mitch watched the fishing vessel moving off out of the forbidden fishing grounds. He sure wished someone had brought a camera. A new species of fish that large would be a fantastic discovery....that is if it wasn't a hoax.
"Alright, what's the big secret?" Sarah was asking Tony as he cleaned his mask. "Spooked sailors, I tell you Sarah, you should have been there," he said with a smile. "Like something out of a horror film."
"I was here, I saw them running around too. What was it, Mitch?" she called up the ladder to him. "We can't be sure. We didn't even see it," he replied, checking their speed. "What did they tell you?" asked Tony, coming up next to him. Sarah was behind him at the bottom of the ladder, wanting to hear what Mitch would say too.
"A...mermaid," Mitch said regretfully. It was weird but he didn't want to admit it either. Tony gave a laugh, "Overly superstitious, that's what they are. Running around like rabbits over some big mysterious fish."
"Probably a seacow anyway," Sarah said, moving away to go back to her sonar equipment. "No, I asked about that," said Mitch. "I only saw it for a second but it wasn't a seacow. Something big that could get itself over the side..."
"Yeah, a big fish story," said Tony, leaning against the rail with a smirk. "And you swallowed it. One of the men must have tossed it over the side."
"Well, maybe..."
He pointed back at the fishing boat. "They're probably laughing it up at how they tricked the science geeks into thinking they saw a real live mermaid." Tony went back down the gangway to check on his gear again. "That's something I'll only believe if I see it myself."
Mitch was still unconvinced. If it was a big joke, there seemed to be a punch line missing. Those fishermen had seen something that had scared them, he was pretty sure of that. It probably wasn't a real mermaid but it was something. "Ah well, the mysteries of the ocean never end," Mitch said as he turned the wheel. "How's our dolphin pod doing?"
"Gone," Sarah came out with her headphones pulled down to her neck with a sour look. "I don't think we'll catch them again today."
"Ok, time to head for home then." Mitch grabbed the radio again. It was going to be a short day in the field for them today.
P.S. If anyone sees or reads any spelling errors, lemme know. I won't take it personal :)
BUT! I do have some stuff written. And hopefully once I get used to the job, there will be more. It's a good thing it's a short story. I'm only going for 30,000 this year.
Enjoy.
The sea rolled underneath the boat and slapped against it's sides. Above, a seagull hovered for a second, complaining that the boat was in his patch of water but continued to fly away as the boat was much bigger than he was.
Mitchell Walker stood at the helm, guiding the small craft through the ocean away from the port and civilization. The sea breeze caught his hair and ruffled it up a bit. He loved being up at this time of day, early in the morning. He took a swig out of his coffee in the silver thermos. "How are we doing?" he called down to his assistant on the lower deck. Sarah Jeffreys was down in the hold with all the equipment. He could picture her with the large headphones held up to that head of wavy blonde hair tied back in a messy bun, a pen stuck between her teeth and she listened. "Nothing yet," she called back. "I'll let you know."
Mitch adjusted his jacket in the warm California sun. He wouldn't need it soon once the sun came up completely. The air was starting to warm up already around him. He watched the instruments as they neared the spot where their prey had been yesterday. They were tracking a dolphin pod and were going to make a few dives today to see how they were doing. Mitch was going to enjoy it while he could, he couldn't stand being cooped up for long. Even his job at the aquarium got boring at times and he found himself having to go out into the field again and get wet doing some real ocean work again.
“Got them! Head four points to starboard!” Sarah called from below deck. She was flipping on the recorders and sonar equipment down there. “Aye aye,” said Mitch, turning the San Diego Aquarium craft towards the dolphin pod. Sara was coming up the ladder, binoculars in hand. “Should have a visual on them soon,” she said. Mitch scanned the water with his eyes, looking for any signs of them.
A fishing boat was looming up out of the water a ways away from them. On board, the fishermen were hauling up on the nets. “Come on boys, the fish people are coming. We better leave before we snag a precious dolphin or something,” said the captain, scowling at the red trimmed white craft coming towards them.
The net hovered over the deck, filled with flopping fish. The men let loose the bottom tie and the fish poured out onto the deck. They started sorting them without being told. None of them liked the environmental people. They were always looking over their shoulder as they fished out in the bay. It was a royal pain for everyone so they worked with a sense of camaraderie.
Suddenly, one of the men started gesturing frantically. “What is it?” said the Captain. “If it’s a dolphin just throw it back before we get into trouble!” He started angrily down the gangplank. “What do I pay you guys for?” He came up next to them and stopped in silence.
Sprawled out in the middle of the fish was a much larger body. A green and blue body that glistened in the sunlight. There was a tangle of dark hair around the head. The men were all stunned into silence and unable to move an inch. Finally, one of the braver ones picked up a spear and carefully turned the large fish over with the blunt end. They all gasped and stepped backwards. It had the body of a fish but the head, shoulders and arms of a woman. An unconscious woman with her eyes closed. Around her arms was a delicate transparent web that hung in wet clumps around her. Her hands were webbed between the fingers.
“Cap’n” one of the men said nervously. “Tell me I ain’t seein things.”
“Nope, we’re all seeing it,” he said, swallowing hard. “It’s a mermaid alright.”
Some of the men crossed themselves, spitting on to the deck for good luck. “What do we do?” some of them were asking, worried that this could be an omen. Everybody started to talk at once. The captain lifted his hands for silence, trying to think it through rationally.
She still hadn’t moved. “We don’t really know if it’s real. What if we toss her over the side?” one of the men said.
“What if she’s dead?” another asked, a stringy guy who was really nervous at this point, his face white as a sheet. The Captain got up close to the body and bent down next to it. She was hauntingly beautiful, even unconscious. He carefully picked up her wrist and felt for a pulse. He nearly dropped it in surprise. “No, she’s alive alright.” The men backed up another step, trying not to go running off aimlessly in a panic.
The Captain was going to maintain order on his ship. "Everybody stand where you are!" he growled at them, trying to think of what to do next. In all his years of fishing, this was a new one on him.
A familiar bullhorn came from the ship next to them. “Move along, you are not to fish in these waters,” the man on the aquarium boat said. The Captain smiled at a sudden idea. “Ok, we’ll give her to the environmental geeks. Let them figure it out."
"They're hailing us back."
Mitch put his bullhorn down, confused. That was new, they usually just leave in a huff. "They want us to pull up alongside," his second assistant Tony reported from the railing. He was looking up at Mitch with a look that said it was his call to make. "You think they're gonna try something?"
Mitch couldn't really make out any facial expressions from this distance on the other ship. It was possible they were going to try something. It wasn't a secret that the fishing industry hated having to fish way over in tougher fishing territory because of the dolphins that swam here. "We'll chance it," Mitch decided, turning the wheel towards the fishing boat. "Stand by with the rope."
"Right," Tony said, putting down his binoculars and hefting one of the ropes off of the deck. Mitch was always surprised at how much Tony's slight build could lift. He was slim but wiry and absolutely uncatchable in the water. Mitch was pretty sure he was part fish.
The white and red craft came in alongside the large fishing boat. Mitch grabbed the CB radio and contacted dispatch at home base. "They seem to be on the up and up, but we'll be careful just in case," he told the operator. "If you can't reach us in a half hour, contact the Coast Guard. Over and out."
Tony was already tossing a line over to the fishing boat. Two deck hands caught it and pulled them slowly towards the side of the boat. When the two hulls touched, Mitch cut the motor and walked down the gangway to their own deck. He watched all of the men's faces as one of them gave him a hand over. Something wasn't quite right. There was a feeling of uneasiness about them. Some of them almost looked downright pale. There were fish covering the deck, but nobody was sorting or cleaning them. They were all standing around in groups, trying not to look at each other. Tony made it across easily enough without a hand. Sarah was standing on their own deck now with a quizzical look on her face as she watched them.
"Well, here we are," said Mitch as diplomatically as he could. One of the men strode over through the fish and held out a hand. "Captain Martins," he said as if he really didn't want to know who Mitch was. His handshake was equally as warm. He cleared his throat. "We have a....situation...that we are not equipped for and..." he stopped as if not sure how to continue. "Something we found in the nets."
Mitch shrugged, his hands in his pockets. "What is it? A dolphin?"
"We're not going to cover up a dolphin injury, if that's what you're thinking," Tony said with a frown. Mitch stepped in front of Tony slightly, trying to smooth that comment over. "Why don't you show us?" he said carefully. The captain gave Tony a glare before turning to lead them to the other side of the deck. "Friendly, Tony," Mitch whispered to his assistant. "Let's keep it friendly." Tony rolled his eyes as he followed behind Mitch but he agreed to be civil about it.
But before they could take another step, there was a commotion with the men that were standing around something in the fish on the deck. "She's movin!" one of them cried out in terror. It was like lighting a match, the whole deck reacted and the men began to run around as if trying to get away. Mitch was shoved up against the gangplank and couldn't see what they were all so scared of. He pushed off of Tony and the Captain just as something went over the rail. He caught one glimpse of a large body like a person before hearing a splash as it entered the water on the other side of the boat. "Hold your places, men!" the captain was trying to maintain order again. "Get a hold of yourselves!" Mitch was surprised to hear a note of fear in the captain's voice as well. He made his way through the flopping fish and frantic fishermen to the rail. There was a slight disturbance on the surface of the water as if something had been tossed in but nothing else. "Did you see?" Tony asked, joining him at the rail. Mitch shook his head, "Just for a second, I couldn't tell what it was."
Tony wasn't waiting. He was strapping on a face mask and made a perfect dive off the side rail. Mitch watched the place he went in for a second and then turned back to the deck. The men seemed to be calmer now, the captain was talking to them about some sort of superstition one of the men was talking about. "We should throw them all back," the nervous man was saying, his hands full of fish from the deck as if to toss them back in the water. "She came to us, it's an omen from the sea." The captain shook the man by his lapels. "Get a hold of yourself, man. You, Charles," he barked at another fisherman. "Take Evans to the hold and get him to lay down." The nervous man was led away into the hold. "Anyone else?" the captain surveyed his crew. The men were reluctant to answer, looking down at their feet but they did not panic or run anymore. "That's better," he said with a nod. "Now start cleaning and sorting. We don't stop for something as ridiculous as a mermaid." The men moved off about their chores, as if glad to be doing something so as not to think about what had just happened.
"Mermaid, you say?" Mitch asked the captain as he came up beside him. The captain seemed reluctant to admit it. "I can't say for sure. But I won't deny that's sure what it looked like." He sighed. "I've been fishing here for years. I never did see anything quite like that."
"If it was a seacow..." Mitch started.
"Oh no, nothing like that," the captain said. "This was a half woman, half fish tail. It doesn't make sense but there it is." He moved off gruffly to call at one of the men for moving slow. Mitch could tell that even the captain didn't believe what he'd seen. He turned back to the rail as he heard Tony call out from the water. "Anything?" he asked.
Tony pulled off his mask as he treaded water. "Nothing but the last of the dolphin pod we were tracking and they've moved off now."
"Alright, get back on our boat. I think we're about done here." Tony nodded and stroked his way around the fishing boat. Mitch said his breif goodbyes to the captain and made his way back to their craft. "What was all the ruckus?" asked Sarah as she gave him a hand over. "Hang on a second," Mitch said, giving her a look that said they would discuss it later when they were out of range. Tony hauled himself up the ladder at the back of the boat and they cast off from the fishing boat. Mitch started up the motor and contacted dispatch again. "All is well here," he said, pausing to think of how to phrase his next sentence. "Unusual fish reported captured by fishing vessel, Betty Grable. Fish escaped before being seen by research crew regretfully. Tony dived after it but could not find any trace of it. That is all, over and out."
Mitch watched the fishing vessel moving off out of the forbidden fishing grounds. He sure wished someone had brought a camera. A new species of fish that large would be a fantastic discovery....that is if it wasn't a hoax.
"Alright, what's the big secret?" Sarah was asking Tony as he cleaned his mask. "Spooked sailors, I tell you Sarah, you should have been there," he said with a smile. "Like something out of a horror film."
"I was here, I saw them running around too. What was it, Mitch?" she called up the ladder to him. "We can't be sure. We didn't even see it," he replied, checking their speed. "What did they tell you?" asked Tony, coming up next to him. Sarah was behind him at the bottom of the ladder, wanting to hear what Mitch would say too.
"A...mermaid," Mitch said regretfully. It was weird but he didn't want to admit it either. Tony gave a laugh, "Overly superstitious, that's what they are. Running around like rabbits over some big mysterious fish."
"Probably a seacow anyway," Sarah said, moving away to go back to her sonar equipment. "No, I asked about that," said Mitch. "I only saw it for a second but it wasn't a seacow. Something big that could get itself over the side..."
"Yeah, a big fish story," said Tony, leaning against the rail with a smirk. "And you swallowed it. One of the men must have tossed it over the side."
"Well, maybe..."
He pointed back at the fishing boat. "They're probably laughing it up at how they tricked the science geeks into thinking they saw a real live mermaid." Tony went back down the gangway to check on his gear again. "That's something I'll only believe if I see it myself."
Mitch was still unconvinced. If it was a big joke, there seemed to be a punch line missing. Those fishermen had seen something that had scared them, he was pretty sure of that. It probably wasn't a real mermaid but it was something. "Ah well, the mysteries of the ocean never end," Mitch said as he turned the wheel. "How's our dolphin pod doing?"
"Gone," Sarah came out with her headphones pulled down to her neck with a sour look. "I don't think we'll catch them again today."
"Ok, time to head for home then." Mitch grabbed the radio again. It was going to be a short day in the field for them today.
P.S. If anyone sees or reads any spelling errors, lemme know. I won't take it personal :)