Labor Day:Mandarin Moana

The 'Real' Adventure

Next morning was the beginning of a big day. I was heading for the boilers of the ship, Aquaria. “You know what day’s tomorrow?” I asked Isabelle. “You’re second day on the ship?” she guessed. “Nope, it’s April Fool’s Day.” I replied. “Can I come?” “You have to stay here.” I instructed. “Okay.” Isabelle felt bored.
“Hey, you! You’re coming with me.” I pointed at Sophia. “Me?” Sophia was confused. “Yeah, you.”                                                            
“Okay.”
“We’re headed to the boilers of the ship. That’s where I work. I mean, I’m going to work. First day, you know.”
“Wait, wait, wait. You really are going to the boilers?”
“Do I speak Latin?”
After all, I got in the workers’ line. I gave Mr. Tipple (the guy who told Isabelle had AIDS and who had therefore hired me on the ship) my punch card. “So, Ashlin. On board, already?...Oh, and who is this young lady?” he looked at Sophia in the eye.
“Well, uh, she’s my….she’s my cousin….she’s my cousin yeah.” I tried to give him a natural smile, so he wouldn’t suspect anything else. “You can go.” He seemed as if he was going to kill me, but I still gave a wide grin. “Let’s get out of here.” I whispered. I took Sophia to the boilers.
The boilers were something big and hot. They were shaped like a bottle, but didn’t taper so much, and were painted light. They were placed on a bunch of burners. They weren’t just boilers, they were Scotch Boilers. The greatest boilers I’d ever seen. Thousands of labors toiled here and there gathering coal to power the ship. I was going to be one of them.
“Whoa”, Sophia dropped her mouth. “Impossible.”
“Yeah.” I dropped my bag on the deck. “Whoo hoo!”
I went mad. Then I ran to the dumps of coal. I took a shovel and started working. By the end of the day, I turned into banana pudding. I was sweaty. This was just the start, dude. You’re going to exhaust, fall apart. Get used to it dude. Maybe I’ll survive. Maybe not. Let it be. Where was I?
I love to explore. So I went up the stairs, in pairs. One, two, three. I held the railings and swung. Whoop. I jumped from the last step onto the upper deck. Pang! Somehow, I reached the upper deck. The blue sea was awesome. There was a light shower, making the place cool. There weren’t that much of some clouds. Light grey and transparent clouds. It was evening. The sun’s rays added a twist to the scene. Gold and grey twirled up together would certainly look majestic. I skated over to the railings, where there was no one, only me and the sea, and faced my back to the sea. Then I pushed myself over the railings, my head upside down, and held onto the rails tight. Hanging from those rails was so indescriptivably great.
“Are you crazy?” giggled Sophia.
“Nope.” I looked at her.
She then slowly came along with me. I tucked my legs between two bars, and released my hands. “Just squeeze your feet between and let go of the rail.” I said, with simplicity. “Ooooh.” Was her exclamation.
“What’s your main hobby?” she questioned.
“Making fun of my sister, swimming….and….exploring and adventuring.”
We went on like that for about half an hour. I wasn’t expecting something. The people were hovering here and there like space probes around a planet, suddenly. The captain whistled and ordered to stay calm, but the people were frightened.
“Ladies and gentlemen, all aboard on this cruise! I WILL find an eligible worker to save us. DO NOT be afraid. You are not going to die!!!” announced the captain.
“What’s going on?” Sophia asked the captain.
“Young lady, an iceberg’s stuck in the propellers. There needs to be someone who could take it out.” The captain replied.
“Well, could I go?” I didn’t care about myself, even though Isabelle was waiting for me back home.
“How could you go, my dear?” said capt’n. “It’s dangerous!”
“I’ll do anything, sir!” I saluted him. He smiled. “Okay, young lady, it must be quick!”
“Sophia, you’re gonna come with me.” I said.
“Like, I’m your servant.” She went.
“Oh, you’re coming.”
I quickly started jotting down a plan. “Captain! I’ll jump with snorkelers in the water. I need a long rod to lever the iceberg out.”
“Good. Michael, bring the kid a rod and snorkeler.”
“Actually, two snorkelers.”
“Yeah, two.”
“Two?” asked Sophia. She knew she was supposed to come with me.
I stood on the rails of the ship and leaned forward. I looked into the waters and saw my destiny. “Magnificent.” I expressed. “Oh Jesus, Mother Mary! I don’t want to die! Save me from those forbidden waters below, and I will give away my earth!” Sophia prayed with her eyes closed. She was in tears.
“You’re not dying.” I said.
I gave her a snorkeler. We put the snorkelers on, took a deep breath and watched the water again. “Look.” I said. “We have to use sign language in the water. Thumbs up, it’s yes. Thumbs down, no. I take my hands near me repeatedly, it means pull. I bring them forward, push. Get that?”
“Yeah, yeah.” She nodded.
I held her hand firm, we stood on the topmost rail and then….Splash!!! Jumped right into the water.
“Did I or did I not tell you I’M AFRAID OF THE WATER!!!” she screamed.
“You just did.” I said. “There’s no time to lose. It has to be fast.”
I dived in the water, and swam towards the propellers. A big block of ice was stuck in the fan blades. The angle of the ship was inclined below, and it seemed if any action wasn’t taken soon, it would wreck out and be too late.
A couple of seconds later, a long rod of iron was lowered in the water. I told Sophia to cling onto the rod by doing so myself. And we both did. But the weight wasn’t enough. We needed something bigger.
I rose out of the water. “Captain! I need a car filled with people, to be lowered here. The weight’s not enough!!!” I shouted as loud as I could.
“Michael, we need a car!” captain announced.
A car filled with a bunch of ‘not-so-scared-looking’ people was lowered. I saw a little boy, hugging his sister real tight and was the only one so scared. Well, it’s an age circumstance. Natural.
The people were instructed to get out of the car as soon as the iceberg was out. The windows were closed, as a small gap could cause an error. The car was to be suspended till Sophia wasn’t going to tie the car to the rod, and I would give the signal. The rope was tied and I gave the signal.
“I am going to let go of the car!” Captain announced over his speaker.
“Yes, sir!” I saluted him.
“Ready the leave!”
The suspension rope was untied slowly, by about ten to twelve men. The car went down; the rod was unbendable and unbreakable. It was inserted between the iceberg and the propeller blade. The iceberg didn’t budge. I and Sophia sat on the car. A little pressure was increased. The iceberg suddenly flung from its place and floated above the car. The people took action, and fortunately, the car was a scrap one, so no loss was incurred.
The whole of us swam up to the surface. A basket-like thingy was lowered. We all sat in that and….what more to say….there was a party.