The Maelstrom

"Steady as she goes," The captain said as he peered out into the dense fog of the eerily calm waters.

"Steady as she goes, aye," the helmsman replied, and the ship continued to glide through the crystal-clear waters of the channel they appeared to have been trapped in. Sheer white cliffs surrounded them on all sides, but the captain was convinced there was a way out.

"Remind you of Dover, sir?" The first mate said as he took a step up to stand next to the captain.

The captain chuckled. "I'd be lying if I said it didn't. These cliffs are a mite bit bigger than the ones at Dover though, and there's hardly a way I know of to get trapped between them cliffs in a boat."

"As a matter of fact, I..."

A shrill whistle pierced the air followed by the frantic calling of the Barrelman in the crow's nest. "Maelstrom! Dead ahead!"

The first mate could just barely make out the features of the maelstrom through the now clearing fog, but he had already learned everything he needed to know about the level of danger they faced from the reactions of the Barrelman. His eyes bulged with a terror that the first mate had never seen in a man still alive today.

"Full stop!" The captain bellowed. As the ship began to slow, the deckhands scrambled to secure loose objects on the deck that had begun sliding forward. The glass surface of the water had already given way to a turbulent current that pulled the craft in towards the gaping mouth of the bottomless pit in their path.

"It's no use, Cap'n!" The helmsman cried over the din of the rising swells. "The currents are too strong, we're not gonna be able to hold 'er here much longer."

"Batten the hatches!" The captain called as a wave battered the side of their weary craft. He placed a hand on the shoulder of the helmsman to right himself.

With the maelstrom now in full view, the captain could hardly believe his own eyes. Water rushed into the hungry void from all sides.

Despite their best efforts, the ship had increased speed and was now barreling towards the open chasm; sweat poured down the helmsman's brow as he and the first mate grappled with the ship's wheel in a futile effort to change the direction of the ship and their untimely fate. 

It was then that the captain's raucous laughter cut through all of the surrounding noise, permeating even the walls of the engine room.

"He's gone mad!" one crewmate on the deck whispered hurriedly to another.

"Hold on, lads!" The Captain roared, "Steady the wheel! All ahead full! We're goin' in!"

The first mate and the helmsman released the ship's wheel which fired with violent rapidity to its natural true position – removing all doubt of an imminent dive into the abyss.

As the last of the water receded from the bathtub, the toy boat came to a rest against the inside of the steel drain.