The Diary of Teddie Vogel

Chapter One

 Being on this ship made me realize how difficult this journey really is. At times you can feel on top of the world and an hour later feel nothing but hopelessness and soaro. Only the thought of my wife, Laurene and my daughter, Tia can get me through these upcoming months. I remember the last time I had seen my wife. It was an early Sunday morning, we woke up right at sunrise. The smell of fresh lilies mixed with morning dwo after a summer rain. Tia was still asleep so Laurane and I went out to the alder tree in the front yard. I looked at her looking at the coming sun with the most historical eyes, dark blue with specks of gold. Not a hint of sadness in them but only joy. Her dark brown hair, flying in the wind, around her face and over her shoulders. She was definitely a masterpiece carved by the gods themselves. 

When I awoke from my slumber, it couldn't have been three o'clock in the afternoon. I heard the frantic rummaging of people checking every cabinet and drawer on the whole ship. When I finally found someone who wasn't completely sweating fear, I asked him what was going on. He has told me that we had ran out of food. It's as if God has totally denied my prayers. 

As I make my way up to the deck, the air thick with the smell of salty sea, reminding me of fishing trips with my father when I was a young boy, mixed with the eye-watering stench of sweaty men. No one has had a decent shower in months.The best we can do is get a barrel of seawater and boil it to warm and purify it. For every six men, they had one barrel to share.  Back to the topic, when I arrived to the deck, everything was out of sorts. Clothes thrown about, our shower barrels upside down and sideways. Men shouting on the top of their lungs while some just stood there sobbing like a child who had lost their favorite play toy.