Emmalien's Constellation

Chapter Three

𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 29𝚝𝚑, 1834

...𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚟𝚊𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚢. 𝙲𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚜𝚞𝚗 𝚋𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚝, 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝? 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚝𝚑. 𝙷𝚊𝚍 𝙸 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎, 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚟𝚊𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚙.

𝚂𝚙𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚝𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙. 𝙸 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚙 𝚒𝚜. 𝙴𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝. 𝚁𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚑.

𝚆𝚎 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚋𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛.

With that entry, Captain Edmond Conway closed his logbook and prepared himself for sleep. He looked forward to the warm blankets. His job was just about complete.

Soon.

Soon, he would be back home.

He did the same as he always did before bed. He closed his eyes and thought of Maryann. Her bright green eyes. Her freckles. Her dimples. Her sweet kiss. Her delicate touch. Her warmth next to him in bed. He grasped the locket and smiled while he imagined her head resting on his burly chest. Her hand would rise and fall as he took in breath. He would run his fingers through her hair until she would snore and drool onto his chest.

A loud and powerful crack of thunder vibrated every wooden board of the ship

Edmond flung himself up in bed, only realizing in a half daze that he didn't even know he had fallen asleep. How long had he been out? Better yet, thunder? Or something else?

Lightning flashed outside of his windows, causing the whole room to light up as brightly as day. Followed by another monstrous clap of thunder that seemed to shake his very bones.

A storm?

That was when he heard it. The hard rattle of the windows as a torrent of rain came against the glass. Like heavy marbles being poured out onto a mirror. He half feared the glass would shatter.

How could it be storming?

Suddenly, the ship jerked so violently that Edmond was thrown from his bed. He hit the floor hard, taking his blankets with him. The ship rocked hard back in the other direction, flinging him back against his bed. He would likely have a bruise from that one.

He heard men screaming from outside his door. It wasn't likely anyone was sleeping now.

He had to check the crew. He had to make sure the ship could withstand the storm. He rushed out to meet the craze. His crew were all running in various directions. He had to get to the deck.

He followed a couple of his men up above. The deck was being pelted sharply with rain that hit like hail on his arms and face. He could barely open his eyes, being hit in the face so much.

He shielded his eyes as best as he could and saw his men at work. He had sailed with these men for so long that they moved like clockwork. They knew the routine during a storm.

A flash of lightning cracked across the sky, revealing a huge wave headed straight for them from the side. At this rate, they'd be broadsided.

He yelled the warning over the rain. The ship began to turn to face the wave head on. They had to hit it at the right angle in order to make it through.

The warning paid off. The bow came into contact with the wave first. A rush of water spilled violently over the bow and across the deck. The ship creaked and groaned as it bent and bowed along with the incoming waves. Sounding as if any second, it would crack right in half.

The wind came as sharp as a knife. A loud clap could be heard as one of the sails ripped from the strain. The men were practically fighting for their lives to hold on while getting the sails closed up. This storm must have taken everyone by surprise.

Edmond took his place at the helm of the ship. He had seen more than enough storms to know how to steer in them.

Another wave was approaching.

His men braced for impact.

Again, the ship groaned, and a deep roar of thunder sounded as water rushed up along the sides of the ship.

Trying to keep her steady wasn't easy. The storm seemed to be picking up, not slowing down. It was only getting worse. And harder to see. Edmond was soaked completely to the bone. His hands threatened to slip off the helm with all the moisture.

He heard his men yelling but couldn't make out what they were saying. He didn't have to guess for long.

The lightning showed him.

Another wave.

Except this wave was unlike anything Edmond had seen before.

A monstrous wave that had to be at least 80 feet high.

Less a wave, and more an incoming wall of water that seemed to stretch all the way up to the thick clouds above.

There was no straddling this wave. This would engulf them.

"Hold onto something!" Edmond yelled as loud as he could to his crew.

The wave seemed to approach in slow motion. In fact, everything seemed to be going in slow motion. It was as if Edmond could see every individual rain drop that hit the deck around him.

It was silent. So silent, he could have heard a pen drop in that moment. All he heard now was the beating of his own heart. The world was muted around him. Silent screams escaped the mouths of his crew, but he had no way of hearing them.

How long was the world silent? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? It felt like a lifetime.

During this lifetime of silence, he saw Maryann's smiling face with the warm sun flowing from behind her.

He saw little Emmalien running through the grass in bare feet to give him a flower she had just picked.

He saw Maryann holding her stomach tenderly while singing softly into the night to soothe the kicking.

The very second the tip of the bow made contact with the rouge wave, the world returned to normal in an instant. A cacophony of sounds hit him all at once. The pounding rain against the wood, the crack of thunder overhead, the screams of terror all around, the immense groaning of the ship, and finally... as he gripped the helm with all his might..

Finally..

The rush of water all around them swelled into his ears, followed by the sound of muffled bubbles.

He was weightless in that moment.

Until everything went black.