Journey With Me!

The Wharf

Episode IX

It hardly seemed that a full month had come and gone, without a single word from Ollie. Life on the wharf went on, with ships coming and going, and work about the tavern kept Maiyah busy from dawn til long after dusk. She didn’t mind it, actually. The busier she was with tasks, the less time there was for thinking on Ollie’s absence.

Brugo settled back into his normal adorable antics, and the crying finally subsided…

The baby began to sleep through the entirety of the night, which meant that Maiyah was sleeping like she should, as well. They were both in good spirits when they woke up, so Maiyah now had the energy to juggle baby and food platters, without a second thought.

She found that the tedious and boring ledger work wasn’t nearly so droll with Brugo happily assisting…

While he may not have been able to count, and Maiyah had to watch that he didn’t try to eat the coins, baby Brugo seemed to keep her spirits up with all the giggles, and his nonstop baby babble.

Once morning tasks were completed, Maiyah would take Brugo for walks along the dock, and spent a good deal of playtime before the baby’s naps…

Taking her responsibility for Brugo as a priority, Maiyah left the dining area in the hands of the bar tender, and acting barmaid. She took the time to bathe the baby, read or sing to him, and then always rocked him to sleep, before laying him down for bedtime…

Early on, Maiyah had made the decision to simply trust Ollie, as she had always done. Refusing to believe that the ogre would abandon them, she focused on doing the best she could to honor the commitment she’d made on the day Ollie had left.

Instead of doubting the ogre, Maiyah began pray to for his safety each night, and then carry on each day, until he returned…

Far north from The Ogre’s Rest, and much further out to sea, Ollie sought to forget everything he’d left behind. Working himself to the point of exhaustion during the day certainly aided in the ogre’s ability to sleep, but did nothing to alleviate his bad dreams.

Night after night, he dreamt of his wife, their son, and the life he’d made with Maiyah, back in the small shanty village he’d come to love. No matter how hard he tried, the faces of those he cared for kept flashing through his mind, regardless of whether he was sleeping, or awake.

To make matters worse, the weather had begun to change, bringing cooler temperatures, enormous amounts of rain, and high winds that sought to tear through the sails. Even with Ollie’s immense strength, it was nearly impossible to keep the rigging from breaking loose.

Then, after several days of unusual calm, the ship sailed directly into an incredible storm that suddenly arose without warning. The ship was tossed about as if it were only a child’s play thing. Sails tore, rigging broke free in more places than could be fixed, and a crack began to appear in the main mast.

The ship began to list violently, and she began taking on water from the waves that relentlessly crashed over the bow and onto the deck. In a panic, men began jumping overboard, in a futile attempt to swim for shore. Land could barely be seen through the sheets of rain that seemed to fall sideways, as if the world had tipped onto its side…

With a strength born of desperation, Ollie held fast to what remained of the rigging, in hopes of restoring some sort of balance, but the damage was far to extensive, and there wasn’t anything left on deck to tie anything off. The waves had washed everything over the sides of the ship, to sink below the waves…

Ollie began to hear loud popping noises, as the main mast finally snapped and gave way, from the severe winds. When the mast came crashing down onto the deck, it barely missed the ogre’s head. The torn sails tangled themselves around Ollie, knocking him off his feet.

Just as the ogre freed himself from the tattered sail, the entire mast rolled off the deck and into the sea, dragging everything attached along with it. He’d nearly been doomed by the sail, but now he realized that the ship itself, was quickly being sucked under the waves. There was a large hole in her side, where planks had simply been ripped away by the force of the waves.

With one large jump, Ollie dove into the frigid waters of the churning sea, and frantically made for shore.

Half drowned, and so weary was the ogre by the time he reached land, it was all that he could do just to drag himself out of the waters.

For a time, the ogre simply lay there in the sand, catching his breath and letting the strength return to his arms and legs. When he had the strength to stand, the ogre made his way onto the beach. Hurriedly scooping up any semi-dry driftwood near the forest line, Ollie hastily built a campfire for warmth. If he didn’t get dry soon, he was sure to catch his death from the cold.

The ogre was glad to be alive, but entirely miserable. Now what was he to do? He was alone, soaked to the skin, and every muscle in his body hurt. All this managed to do was make his heart ache even more than before.

If the ogre had only felt twinges of guilt when he’d first set foot aboard that ship, he felt fully cursed, by this point! In his misery, the ogre realized that he deserved to be lost at sea for his cowardliness. What was wrong with him, anyway? Running away to sea had been such a childish act, now that he saw the truth of things.

The question was, what to do about it, now that he recognized his own foolishness?

Will Ollie finally do that which he should have done long before that stormy night?

Will his delay cost him the life of his wife?

Join us next Friday, to learn of Shelor’s fate…