Generally, I don't like to beg for reviews, but this is due to be turned in 4th Hours, about 11:15 tomorrow afternoon. But I could really use some advice and a review or two so I can make sure I get it all cleaned up before I turn it in. I'll make sure to review in return, all you have to do is post a link in your review! Thanks!
Claudia held her hair back as she heaved the contents of her stomach out into the ocean before dropping to the sea-dampened deck of the boat. Every morning, the same terrible feeling of nausea had swept over her as the ship lurched underneath and her legs gave way to the wrenching sway of the Atlantic.
Counting the days since the ship had departed had been hopeless. By day seventeen, or was it eighteen, she had resigned. No one except the captain knew how much journey was ahead of them and he gave the same answer when asked: “We’re making progress.”
She regretted ever having signed up to make the journey. But the flyer has made a too-tempting promise; a grand adventure, a cornucopia of luxuries, and a whole New World that would be laid at her feet if she simply signed on the dotted line.
She hadn’t been prepared for the ship. No, her legs were meant for dry land, grass, and rocks, all of which were apparently very rare commodities out here.
“But is it any better then what I had back home?” she mumbled under her breath as two sailors dressed in royal regalia eyed her suspiciously as she leaned against the railing of the ship, skirt riding precariously high around her ankles.
Claudia considered yelling at them for daring to gawk at her in such a manner, but what good would it do. She was bound for the New World, a bachelors dream and this was the first shipment of women to ever make the journey. “Shipment,” she grumbled a little too loudly. “I make it sound like we’re nothing more then cargo.”
A few women huddling near the center mast looked over at her and giggled. They cupped their hands, palm to mouth, and whispered. The entire ship knew that Claudia hadn’t managed the voyage well. She spent most of her time below deck resting or leaning against the railing expelling her insides into the waters. They often saw her mumbling to herself, making jokes at all the thoughts that popped into her head or asking the ship if she could stop swaying so obnoxiously. Apparently, the ship didn’t take requests.
“Madame, would you like a hand?”
Without waiting for an answer, Captain Newton extended a hand to help her up, grasping her at the forearm and lifting her gracefully to her feet. She shook her skirt out and tried not to sway in place.
“How much further, Captain?”
He stared out at the sea for an instant, as if he were running numbers through his head or doing the proper arithmetic. “We’re making progress, Madame.”
“That’s good to hear,” Claudia replied. She reached out for the railing to steady herself as the boat lurched under her.
Captain Newton watched her, a crocked smile on his face, his snaggle tooth just peaked out over his bottom lip. “Would you like some assistance to go below deck? The winds picking up and I’d hate to see you thrown off deck, Madame.”
“I’ll manage on my own I suppose,” Claudia snapped back, suddenly offended at the offer. She stormed off, trying not to let it show that her stomach was heaving with ever step. “What does he take me for, a child?” she grumbled, grabbing for the railing as she staggered below deck.
***
Claudia awoke sometime in the night and raced for the stairs, bounding up them and dashing for the rail of the boat. Last nights food rations curdled in her stomach and lurched up and out into the water.
Groaning, she lifted her head up, and even though exhaustion was pulling her eyelids down, she could see something solid on the horizon. A dark, haunting mass that hovered just out of reach. A smile stretched across her face. “Land.”
***
She sat on the deck of the ship all night, waiting until sunrise, praying that she hadn’t imagined things, even after the sailor in the crow’s nest had called out that he too had seen the mass on the horizon. Indeed it was Virginia. Indeed it would soon become home.
“I told you we were making progress, Madame,” Captain Newton smiled, once again extending a hand to help her off the salt spray soaked boards of the ship. Just as before, she accepted, stood, and shook her skirt out but this time she didn’t struggle to maintain her balance. Maybe she was finally gaining her sea legs. Ironically, she wouldn’t need them by the end of the morning.
Already, men were rowing out to land unloading supplies and taking out the women in groups of two or three. She could see the men on the shore and murmured softly, “Well this could be more difficult then I thought.”
Gender:
Points: 28467
Reviews: 675