Captain Tory
“Look dad!” cried Mike, as the S.S Marie docked in the harbour, completely taken away by the small sailboat. “She ain’t much, but she’s a beauty”, exclaimed his dad, patting him on the head.
It was dark out, and they started to go back home. Suddenly Mike looked at his dad and said, “Dad?”
“Yes, son?” his dad replied. “Someday, I want a big boat for myself to captain, bigger than the Titanic”, said Mike with hopeful eyes. His dad let out a chuckle, and they walked home together as the sun set over the horizon.
~Six years later~
“Let’s go, Mom!” said Mike impatiently, I want to check out the swimming pool!” “Alright, alright”, sighed Mike’s mom, who was a widowed woman now that Mike’s dad died on a fishing trip, four years ago.
Mike was always an impatient boy, nothing like his little sister, Melody. Melody was a polite little girl who was always patient, and did everything she was told.
“C’mon, Ma!” cried Mike, “Even Melody’s getting impatient!” His mom sighed again. “Ok, I’m ready. Let’s go check out the swimming pool.”
~
The next day, Mike as walking into the dining hall of the S.S. Cassandra when he bumped into a tall man wearing what appeared to be a slightly see-through coat, and a hat that covered most of his face.
“Oops, sorry sir”, said Mike, slightly flustered. “No problem, young man!” exclaimed the man, “I was just going to eat some breakfast. I have a name, but I want you to call me Tory.” “Ok, Tory”, said Mike warily, “I’m Mike. Nice to meet you.” “You too young man! Would you like to see the Captain’s quarters?” said Tory. “Sure, but we would need the Captain’s permission first, won’t we?” asked Mike.
“Yes we would. I permit it. Call me Captain Tory.”
“Wow! You’re the Captain?!” said Mike excitedly.
“Yes I am.”
“Wow”, said Mike as he started to go. Then he remembered he forgot to thank Tory. As he turned around to thank him, Captain Tory was already gone.
~
As Mike was heading to the ship’s library, having already forgotten about his encounter with Tory, he bumped into a boy who was running down the ship’s hallway in the opposite direction.
“Ow! Hey, watch where you’re going!” exclaimed Mike. “Sorry”, said the boy.” I’m Willy, wanna be friends?” “I’m Mike, and I would love for you to be my only friend on this ship”, said Mike with a voice oozing with sarcasm.
“Great”, said Willy, not noticing the sarcasm in Mike’s voice, ”Wanna go to my room, and we can watch a movie or something.” “Ok”, said Mike, not wanting to refuse. “Great, let’s go”, said Willy, and they headed in the opposite direction to Willy’s room.
~
In the middle of the night, Mike woke with a start at the cold gust of wind in his room. “That’s weird”, thought Mike, “I was sure I locked the window…”
“Hello, Mike”, said Captain Tory.
“What are you doing here?!” exclaimed Mike, “How did you get in here?!”
“That’s not important right now.”
“What do you mean?” asked Mike.
“This ship is going to sink in three hours, maybe less. Hitting an iceberg, just like the Titanic.”
“How do you know?” ask Mike in a whisper.
“I’m the ghost of the first captain of this ship. You must leave. Warn the others.”
Mike woke up with a start, and ran out of his room to go find Willy. He knocked on Willy’s door, and ran inside. “Willy, Willy wake up!!” said Mike. “What?” said Willy, still half asleep.
“The ship is going to sink in less than three hours. Captain Tory told me, we gotta get outta here!”
“Wait, wait. So you’re telling me the ghost of the first captain of THIS ship told you to escape?!” said Willy.
“Yes!” said Mike. “Ok, let me put on some clothes and we can go down to the captain’s quarters to warn him about the sinking of the boat”, said Willy.
~
The whole ship was dim as the two boys crept down the hallways with fear. The only thing they could hear was the sound o their footsteps echoing down the dark hallways. As they approached the captain’s quarters, found out that the door was open. When they took a closer look, they found the captain slumped over with blood dripping down his back with a knife protruding out of his uniform.
“Oh my gosh”, gasped Mike, “The captain is-“
But Willy could not even speak a little to finish Mike’s sentence. They both just stood there, open mouthed, ready to scream with fear. “W-w-w we have to get out of here”, whispered Mike, ”There’s been a murder on board.”
Willy could only nod in agreement as the two boys ran out of the room to find Mike’s mom, and Melody.
~
Mike and Willy barged in the door to the room where Ms.DeVaine and Melody were sleeping. ”Mom, Mom wake up!” shouted Mike. “Hmm?” mumbled Ms.DeVaine sleepily. Mike shook his mom and sister out of bed and explained the situation.
“What?!” said Ms.DeVaine, “Then we have to get out of here now!!!”
“Not without warning the others”, said Willy. “He’s right, Mom”, said Mike, “We can’t just let everyone else die.” “Ok”, agreed Ms.DeVaine, “What do we do?”
“I have a plan”, said Mike, and they all gathered around to hear it.
~
Mike and Willy were going to try to steer the boat around the iceberg, so that the boat never makes the collision. Ms.DeVaine and Melody were going to go and tell the ship’s crew about the murder and warn them about the crash. ”How are we ever going to do this?” moaned Willy, “we’re all gonna die!”
“Don’t say that!” said Mike. ”We’re gonna survive, trust me.”
Two hours had passed and Ms.DeVaine and Melody had already warned everyone on the ship, and got them on the deck. “We have been visited by the ghost captain. Tory Cassandra”, announced the assistant captain. “We must all work together to live. Now, everyone get on a lifeboat. Women and children first.”
As Ms.DeVaine and Melody got on boat, they suddenly saw an object coming closer and closer. “It’s the iceberg!” screamed a woman. Everybody was panicking to get on a lifeboat, some even pushing others out of the boat to get a spot.
“Wait!” shouted Ms.DeVaine, “My son and his friend are in the captain’s post trying to steer the boat to safety!” “I’m terribly sorry ma’a”, said the assistant captain, “But they will never make it. The iceberg’s coming too fast. You will have to leave without them. We have no time to wait.”
Hearing these words made Ms.DeVaine burst into tears as she watched the iceberg come closer and closer, and she knew that even though she and Melody were going to be safe, but a big part of her was left behind.
~
Mike and Willy struggled to turn the big steering wheel as they watched the iceberg come closer and closer. “We’ll never make it!” shouted Willy as they struggled to turn the big boat. “Yes we will!” yelled Mike, “Just believe!” But as Willy was nodding, they found out they were too late. The boat crashed into the iceberg, and everything stopped. The whole ship was pitch dark, and the boat started to sink. Mike and Willy ran at top speed to the top of the ship, as water was filling up fast. They couldn’t make it up all the way because there was a gate that stood in the way. A locked gate.
“The gate’s locked!!!” screamed Willy as they struggled to open the gate. Water was filling fast. They were almost completely underwater.
“Mike?” said Willy. “Yeah?” said Mike.
“Mike, I’m glad I met a person like you.”
“Me, too”
Those were the last words they said to each other before both of their worlds became black. Their bodies were never found.
~
The S.S. Cassandra was rebuilt and expanded. Some say that on cold winter nights, you can see a man wearing a hat that covered most of his face, and two boys wandering the ship around midnight waking people up. Some even say they know their names. The man’s name is Tory, and the boys’ names are Mike and Willy.
The End
