Captains' Island

"He set out on his adventure never to be herd of again", announced captain Ayhab, "His crew's last sight was of him climbing into the white cloud that engulfed the top of the island". Captain Ayhab was an elderly ship captain who set sail many time throughout his life with his crew of 30 men to find treasure and to explore the unknown. After every ship docked at the port, their captains made their way to the story tellers club to tell their adventure while away from the little island they called home The Black Lagoon". After being on countless adventure, the captain had so many stories to tell that he wasn't even up to his recent ones but just finished one of when he was younger. When he was a young cabin boy, his captain made his way up the cliff of an island unknown to the crew and never returned. Since then  the captain has told himself "I vow that one day, i will find out what happen to my captain if its the last thing i do" but he never made true of this vow because he thought his life to precious to risk the journey up the cliff.

After many of years at sail, Captain Ayhab was starting to become elderly. His face was as pail as a cold corpse's, his eyes looked so tired they sagged, his wrinkles were deeper that a trench, hair as white as snow, and his bones were so brittle they cracked when he moved. He was starting to become too elderly to captain his crew and just wouldn't admit it. After he finished his story, the captain's second in charge Mr. Brooks confronted him on the situation.

"Captain you must consider finding a replacement for you"

"Do i hear a mutiny being planned before my eyes Mr. Brooks"

" No captain I just believe that with your growing age you should consider having someone to take over when..."

"When what Mr. Brooks, choose your words wisely"

"When your no longer able to lead us as greatly as you have. You must have wondered about leaving the ship and naming a new captain at some point in time."

This was true and Captain Ayhab knew this oh too well as he started to make his way to the corner of the room. A tear began to drip from is dark black eye and then he began to say "Brooks, tell the crew  get ready to make sail". Without a word, Brooks was out the door on his was the dock to convey the demands the captain had given. The captain remained in the corner for a good five minutes until a young boy pulled at his side. He was no older that 12 but looked as if he had sailed the seas longer than Captain Ayhab. "Captain" the boy started to speak, "May I please have the privilege of being your cabin boy?" From the look of the boys clothes, all dirty and old, you could tell that he was homeless and when he asked this question it brought another tear to the captains eye.

That afternoon, the captain set sail with his loyal crew of 30 men and the young boy who almost cried when the captain said yes. The captain told no one of where they were going but only gave Mr. Brooks the coordinates for the place. It took three days, three long days of sea sickness from the boy and silence from the captain. The crew had thought the captain was taking them on a new treasure hunt but this time it was only the captain's hunt.

The captain had brought his crew to the same island that his former captain never returned from when he was younger. No one had a name for the island but they all knew about the legends behind it. It was said that beyond the white fluffy cloud atop the cliff was the lair of a horrible witch that called the island home and would kill anyone who trespasses and eat them. This story did not look like it would deter the captain from whatever he was planning but the crew looked terrified. As they approached the island it became clear to the crew that the captain had come here to have his last adventure, alone.

 

"Captain, I know I said you should think about finding your heir but this is ludicrous" yelled Mr. Brooks. "The crew needs a captain and if you leave now everything will be against us"

 

"Mr. Brooks, I have lived a great life and have been your captain for many years but its about time you take over the ship"

 

From the corner of his eye the captain saw the young boy crying behind a barrel. He walked over to the boy knelled down and began to whisper "the reason I brought you on this journey is to show you that you decide your future no one else. I know you asked to join my crew because of my tail  which is just like how I was when I was younger but I see something special in you and don't stop trying to be something great." With this said, he tied his boat off and started to climb the cliffs. He knew that no one had lived to tell what was behind the cloud, but still he climbed.

 

The cliff was jagged and sharp rocks protruded from everywhere but the captain continued to climb to the top. After safely reaching the top of the cliff, he still had to make his way to the white cloud on the top of the island. When he looked back, his ship was sailing away from him after being its captain for 40 years. Before reaching the cloud and entering it the captain found a air of old boots with the name John sown into the sole. This was especially scary to the captain because his old captains name was John.

 

Without hesitation the captain walked into the cloud once reaching it and couldn't see a thing. After a few feet the cloud started to clear and the captain couldn't believe what he was seeing. A giant tree was at the center of the cloud and had the remains of a tree house in its branches. The captain decided to climb the tree and investigate what was in the remaining structure above. One the floor in the tree house was a diary which the captain picked up and flipped to the final entry.

 

It read "Dear Ayhab, I know that you will be the one to find this journal and I must say I'm sorry for leaving you like that all those years ago, this island is a captains trade secret for those captains that want to end their days in luxury alone and happy. I know you may not understand my reasoning but I left to make you a better captain one day so that you never get to attached to one person, this tree is now your home and I hope you treat it well and it to you just as it did for me years ago."

 

Ayhab began to tear up again and just said yes my captain to the tree and began to smile. After all these year he finally knew what happened to his captain and why he left and regained a peace of mind. For the rest of his life, Ayhab read all his captains diary entrees and made his own. The day before he passed he wrote and entrée to the boy on his old ship explaining everything he found out and why he believed the boy would make a great captain. He passed during the night one unfortunate day and died at peace on his own little "Captain's Island".