The Historically Unhistorical Work of Historical Fiction

Chapter 10-September 19th, 1495

September 19th, 1495

Something pulled me up to the deck really early in the morning. It was a feeling in my gut or something like that. I was just staring out at the sea when I heard something. The noise was coming from above, some sort of quacking. When I looked up, I almost shouted in glee. There, high in the sky was a lone bird, flapping its wings and soaring carelessly. I knew what that meant and I immediately ran to the captain’s cabin.

“Captain Nyle! I’ve got good news!” I shouted, banging on the door. He opened the door and saw me, almost bursting with excitement.

“What’s going on?” He scratched his chin and looked around to see if there was anything going on out on the deck.

“Look up there!” I pointed at the sky where the bird was flying. Captain Nyle’s eyes widened and he stepped out of the doorway to get a better look.

“Is that what I think it is? A bird?” He grabbed my shoulders and didn’t take his eyes away from the sky. “Tell me I’m not hallucinating Alex!”

“It’s a bird! It’s a bird, I swear it’s real!” I shouted back to him. Captain Nyle and I danced around in excitement before I ran below deck to tell the rest of the crew the good news. Birds meant land. And land was exactly what we were looking for!

Just when I was about to enter the room where everyone slept, I heard Joel’s voice and I didn’t go in.

“I’m telling you, Alex isn’t as he seems. He’s not even a he! Alex is a girl!” Yells rose up from the crew members in the room and I felt my chest tighten. I thought he would hold through for me, but I guess he planned on betraying me from the start.

“Is that so? I’m a girl huh?” Joel looked behind him, startled. I was angry and wanted to show him just how much of a girl that I was. “So that means you can’t hit me back when I do…this!!” I rushed over to Joel and punched him right in the stomach. He looked surprised and he fell to the floor, coughing up blood. I kicked him in the chest, not caring at the moment if he died. Then I picked him up by his collar, his eyes were full with fear he tried to escape my grasp. “Who’s the girl now? You better pull yourself together if you want to be the first to see land like you told me.”

I dropped Joel and walked out of the room while the guys in the room started making noise. All I heard was them saying ‘Did he say land?’ and people started running up to the deck. Meanwhile, I found myself in Gregg’s empty room, thinking over what I had just done. My father had taught me simple fighting moves and then I had done some training myself so that I could be as strong as the boys at school. I usually had my temper under control, but when I got angry, I was really angry. My father probably wouldn't have wanted my rage getting the best of me though.

Looking around in Gregg’s room, there was only a small bed and the desk he worked at. There were a couple books on the desk but it was mostly his navigation tools and maps. It felt like it was years ago when he went overboard and I kind of wondered if the captain had forgotten too. I stayed in Gregg’s room for at least an hour, just cooling myself off. Hopefully, no one took Joel’s accusation seriously. It made me frustrated again just at the thought of him doing that to me. If this was how boys were, I’d never go back to being one after this.