The water is spilling in faster than I could have ever imagined. The red lights are flashing, the alarms blaring. They said we had to go down with the ship. It was the law. The most important one. No one could abandon. And I wasn’t planning on it.
At least not yet.
—
The voice on the other end of the phone sounds like it’s an alarm going off, the volume was so high. The building is so quiet, and eerily calm despite the fact that it’s full of office workers this early in the morning. I press the phone closer to my ear, not wanting anyone to eavesdrop. “Emeryx Nyala, at your service. I’m the captain of the greatest ship on the seas, the Regiment Rose, pursuing greatness and legend status one harrowing voyage at a time. How may I help you?” Is she joking? I think. She must really be a narcissist if she talks like that all the time.
“Good morning Captain. My name is Salia Barona, and I am interested in a position on your crew.” I try to sound more confident than I feel. In reality, I’m hunching down over my desk at work, trying to keep my voice down so as to not alert my nosy coworkers about the fact that I’m looking for other jobs. “I heard that you were in town, and I wanted to know if you had any openings in your crew. I’m in the market for a new job, and your line of work is highly interesting to me. I think I’d make a great addition to your operation.” I was breathless as I tried to talk as quickly and as confidently as possible. I was struggling to hold the phone due to my sweaty palms.
“You know, I have a great friend, Rayley Taiana, who is the pilot of the Whispering Winds, one of the fastest ships in space. Do you want me to give them a call? I’m sure they could always use another pair of hands on their crew.” The Captain sounded calm and almost bored, like she got a lot of these calls. I stole a quick glance over the walls of my cubicle to make sure that no one was listening to me.
“With all due respect, Captain, I am very determined to make it onto your crew. You are the best, after all.” I’m not lying when I say that. I am determined, and I don’t think I could stand another week in my current office job. Everything I had hoped for and dreamed of ever since I was a kid was leading up to this moment. I couldn’t lose this opportunity now.
“Tenacity and determinism, I admire that. You know, I could use another newbie. Send me your resume, and we’ll talk soon, sound good?”
My hand was shaking as I gripped the phone even tighter. “Yes, that sounds wonderful! Thank you!” There was a click as the captain hung up. Despite the fact that her response wasn’t really a confident yes, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. The more I thought about getting even a small chance to get away from my miserable and unimportant life in this crowded city, the happier I felt. Still on a good-news high, I swung around in my swivel chair and knocked over my coffee, and as I unsuccessfully tried to catch it, my hand made contact with the contents of the top of my desk. The messy pile of papers sitting atop it went flying everywhere. Cursing, I bent down to collect them. I may have a new job soon, but as for right now, I was still stuck in a digital communications firm, mindlessly filling out paperwork day in and day out. As I was picking up the mess I had made, I could hear someone moving behind me. An unfortunately familiar voice interrupted my daydreams.
“Well well well, yet another personal phone call on company time?” My coworker, Darrel, said with a sneer. “You know, it’s never going to work out. You’re an office worker, you’re not made for a life of hard work on a boat, of all places. You’re too soft. Trust me, I know you. We’ve worked next to each other for years. Fairy tales don’t happen in real life.” He concluded. I had finished gathering up my papers and wiping up my coffee spill while he had been talking. I stood up to my full height, trying to look imposing. I don’t know if it was working or not, but it was definitely worth a shot.
“Excuse me, Darrel, but it’s actually my own business what I want to do with my life, not yours. Now, if you will let me get on with the files for this month—” I started, before Darrel cut in. Apparently he wasn’t done.
“You can’t really believe someone like the great Captain Nyala will give you a chance, right? I’m amazed that you even got through to her in the first place. She probably gets hundreds of calls a day.”
“Perhaps. But that’s for me to worry about. So please, go away and let me get some work done, alright?” I fired back as I sat down and turned on my computer. Darrel paused for a minute, like he wanted to say something else, but went back to his own cubicle. I tried to focus on the emails I had received, but my mind kept drifting. A life on the high seas...I would sacrifice anything for it. All I had to do was prove to the Captain that I was worth it. I absentmindedly shuffled around some papers as I started dreaming of a great wooden ship, with the wind blowing in my hair as I stood at the hull, looking over the vast ocean…
—
“I promise I’ll come back,” I said. “I promise.”
“You say that every time, Emeryx.” Ruby stared at me.
“And I’ve come back every time in one piece!” I protested.
“What happens when you don’t?” Tears are spilling, despite her clear efforts to stop them. I’ll miss her so much. She keeps me sane. Without her, I don’t know where I’d be. Probably dead in the sea somewhere. I gaze out at the field of calm dandelions, the flowers surrounding us as far as I could see. The occasional bee drifted by, making its way from flower to flower. I would miss this. The peacefulness, the beauty of mundane life. Where every day stretched out under the sun, and it was just Ruby and I, alone and undisturbed in our little paradise.
I didn’t know how to answer her question. She was right, of course. She always was. I was the dreamer, the impulsive one, the one who always got us into trouble. But Ruby was always there to save us. She was the exact opposite of me, always being logical and sensible. It was probably selfish of me to continuously put myself in danger. But danger always seemed to find me, in my line of work.
“I’m sorry. But I can’t pass this up. Besides you, it’s the most important thing to me. I need to do this.”
