16 GRIM TALES

Sunk

Sunk

It was a dark and stormy night. The wind was howling and the thunder was roaring. The waves were rough and tough as they hit the shore. I could see it all from the top of the light house with my dog pal, Biscuits. But then again there wasn't much to see. Inside the lighthouse the big light shone through the darkness of the Seven Seas. No ship sailed on this monstrous night, as far as the eyes could see. No-one roamed the spooky shore of Berlin Bay. No-one and nothing. My furry companion was slowly drifting off to sleep and so was I. Just a few minutes wouldn't hurt, I thought. As my eyes were about to shut, I noticed a ship coming in, emerging from the fog. The ship was ordinary as any other, but as it sailed ever so near, I noticed on the ship's white sale, written in red... "Help"

"I think that crew needs help. Let's go check it out boy." Biscuits barked and ran down stairs. I followed after him, down the long spiral staircase. Biscuits had already beaten me out the door too. I ran out and thick fog suddenly surrounded me. I hadn't known the fog was this bad. I didn't know which way was which. I couldn't see a thing; I had lost Biscuits and that ship all in a matter of minutes. "Biscuits!'' I shouted. I heard a far-off bark and ran towards it. Where the waters touched the sand, was where Biscuits stood. Surprisingly he wasn't alone. By his side stood a young lady scratching his tummy. "Aren't you a good boy? Just the cutest thing too." she said. "How could he be when he runs off without his owner." I interrupted. Biscuits ran to me, jumped up and gave me a big lick on the face. She laughed and said, "Hi, I'm Sahara." "I'm Nick. The lighthouse keeper. What are you doing here?" I replied. "The same thing you're doing, checking if that ship's crew is all okay." Sahara said as she pointed to the ship that was getting closer. I asked, "How did you..." I was quickly interrupted by a huge crashing sound.

"I think the ship hit." she said running forward, along the shore. As Biscuits and I chased after her I called out, "What on earth was the captain doing?" "How am I supposed to know?" asked Sahara. Soon me, Sahara and Biscuits stopped in front of a huge rocky part of the shore and stuck in between the rocks was the ship. Sahara announced, "This ship is huge. No-one came out yet. We better see if there is anyone trapped or hurt." "Of course." I agreed. We climbed on top of the barnacle, salty rocks and rushed over to the ship. I was ready to hear the shrinks of pained souls when we stood on board. When we eventually reached the deck, we heard nothing except the waves crashing on the shore, although for some reason this ship looked oddly familiar, and I couldn't put my finger on as to why? "This ship looks pretty old-fashioned." Sahara said. I nodded and said, "Let's look around. It's awfully quiet. Wouldn't you agree?" She took out two flashlights from her bag and tossed me one. We switched it on and shone it all around the deck. Ropes, barrels, and wooden floors were all there was to see. "Help!" shouted a distant voice. "Did you hear that?" I asked. "Yes, it sounded like it came from there." answered Sahara as she shone her flashlight towards a door. "Or maybe from there." I said, shining my flashlight at another door opposite to her one. "You take your door; I take my door." she instructed. "Okay, if, you're sure. Let's go." I said and made it for the door. I placed my hand on the handle and suddenly felt chills down my spine. Something wasn't right here; I had a strong feeling of guilt in my chest and I didn't know why? Biscuits barked behind me. "You ready boy?" I asked. He barked twice.

I pulled the door open and a ton of dust flew out. I shone the light inside and led the way. I walked down a long narrow corridor. A long red carpet stretched all the way down the hall and portraits on the walls of old captains, hung crooked. I walked further down and found another door. I opened it and went inside. The small room had a bed, a table with lots of papers on it, some shelves with objects on them, and a few lanterns that hung from the ceiling. Everything had a thick layer of dust and cobwebs hid here and there. I took a tour around and noticed a map on the table of an island with a red x and then several other markings on it. I looked around more. I noticed a small box with a coded lock. Curious, I shook it and there was definitely something there.