'Knock knock knock' I heard on the door of my bedroom.
"What is it Dad?" I asked
"It's 7:30!" My father replied.
"And Saturday!"
"And we are going to..."
"Oh. Ok I'll get ready."
I forgot that my Dad is going to on a war operation to regain the Falkland Islands. He is leaving next Monday and I, as the son of the captain, am allowed to go and see the ship HMS Rosemary. She is in the Liverpool harbour right now and today they will be loading cargo - ammunition, supplies etc. First they will go to London to show Ms. Margaret Thatcher (milk snatcher) what a great Navy she has. I got dressed and went downstairs. I saw my dad in his Royal Navy uniform. There was a picnic bag lying on the table next to my dad who was just finishing a sandwich.
"Marmite and cheese?" I asked.
"As usual," my father smiled. "are you ready?" He asked.
"Yeah."
He'll be gone for about three months and might get killed but he had a smile on his face. Ever since my mother died in a car crash he tried to stay positive, as hard as it must have been for him. I remember going to Liverpool parks with my parents and having picnics. A wonderful woman she was, my father used to say. I can remember the smell of her hair and the smile in her face. It was a terrible shock for both of us when she died. I didn't exactly understand what happened at the age.
I don't think I would manage him getting killed in the war.
"Right," my father said, "we should be on our way. The bus goes in 10 minutes." When I opened the front door I saw our good old street, Lincoln Street, where I've lived for 17. years now. Seventeen years. On Monday, for the first time, it'll be without my dad. As we we went past the corner I saw a glimpse of our front door. McMarty's it said. Soon, the 's' will have to go.
In about 15 minutes we got to the harbour. The stop was on the pier, right next to a section assigned especially for Navy ships, where, between many other ships, destroyers, fighters and many more the HMS Rosemary was bobbing about gallantly. She had a new coat of paint and the White Ensign and the Union Jack fluttered in the wind. A beauty she was. When we got out of the bus we saw men loading the cargo. As we boarded her many soldiers greeted my dad.
"Hello William! L'vley day in it!" said a man who was cleaning the deck.
"Sure is George! I hope it'll be like this tomorrow when we sail of to London to meet old Thatcher!" replied my dad. "Now go on and finish the deck!"
"Aye aye cap'n!"
Dad said he had to go and check the controls and a man who introduced himself as 'your dads friend, old Jimmy they call me!' went to show me the engine room. We went down a ladder and opened a water proof door and a huge big room with two large engines in the back. For some reason it looked somehow majestic with all the oily parts included in a engine one way or another. Anyway, now I can tell you that the HMS Rosemary has two engines, each with two propellers, the engines are the newest versions of a Rolls-Royce, they need plain oil, maximum speed is 21 knots. I didn't exactly know how to reply to all the enthusiastic describing of all the engine parts, so when 'old Jimmy' finished describing a part I either said "Wow that's interesting!" or "Really? I wouldn't have known!". When we met back on deck with 'the Capt'n' we decided that it'll be nice to eat the picnic up on deck.
"Lovely day, isn't it?" Dad pointed out.
"It is indeed. I was thinking.. where will I be stayin' when you'll be, you know, off fighting." I asked.
"Ah, sorry that I didn't tell you earlier, I've arranged it with aunty Jessy from London, she will come over here to look after you." He answered.
"But what if, you know," I said "you.. uh.. don't make it?" I asked in a muffled voice.
"Now don't talk like that Paul! I will make it! Of course I will make it! And even if I didn't..." his voice trembled away.
There was a long silence.
Suddenly I spotted something small on the horizon. It was getting bigger, fast, making its way through the water towards the harbour.
"Dad," I muttered "what's that on the horizon?"
"What? I can't see anyth... Oh that! That looks like a... but it can't be. Surely they couldn't.. but.. Yes it's a torpedo!" he said. "Sound the alarm! Ship in immediate danger! All hands on deck!" he yelled.
"What is it cap'n?" asked Old Jimmy as many others came down to the deck.
"Torpedo heading right for us!" my Dad answered.
Before Old Jimmy managed to answer dad got a megaphone on yelled: "Now calm down everyone! Henry Goodard, our torpedo shooter will, hopefully, manage to send a interception torpedo."
"I'm on it captain!" someone said.
Everyone came to the side of the ship to see if Henry Goodard will hit the other torpedo. In just about a minute we saw a torpedo flying from the bottom of HMS Rosemary, aiming for the presumably Argentinian torpedo. But it missed. At that point the torpedo was just about a mile away from us.
"Another!" Shouted my dad. Again, a torpedo rocketed out of the hull of our ship at tremendous speeds. This time hit the enemy torpedo and we were the witness's of a huge explosion about half a mile ahead of us.
"Phew." The captain said, sounding relieved. "I wonder how the radar people didn't see that one coming. I will have to have a talk with them."Thanks for reading! Tell me how you liked it in the comments! Should I keep on righting?
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The Bizarre Story of Paul McMarty
Historical FictionUntil Paul McMarty was 6 years old he lived a jolly and happy life as the only child of his parents, William McMarty, a trained Royal Navy captain and Mary McMarty, a primary-school teacher in Liverpool, England. But when he is 6 years old and his m...