The Animator (Larry Stylinson)

CHAPTER ONE - FINDING FERDINAND

There had been a strange storm brewing all day and it was rocking the traders boat all over the place. The rain had began to fall thick and fast quite suddenly during the morning and it had only been getting worse since. It was now almost impossible to see anything less than a few yards ahead of them.

Having no option but to continue onwards through the storm, the crew had been working non stop to keep the boat on course. The clouds were thick and black almost like smoke and with each rumble of thunder, it seemed as if the storm was travelling on top of them.

Never before had the weather felt so close to them, it was suffocating and almost claustrophobic giving them all a sense of unease. It was no ordinary storm and all the crew knew it.

Most of the crew had moved down stairs when being up top produced no real benefit and they were now all in the engine room, trying to push the boat on, even though the storm was keeping them near on the same spot.

The Captain, Ewan Barnes, however had kept his spot watching in trepidation as the boat continued into the unknown ahead of them from his spot in the steering room, a room set higher up in the boat with windows on each side so he could have a good view of the sea, not that it was doing anything today.

By now, the glass had completely fogged up and he kept having to wipe away the condensation, although all he could see was the boat around him.

In fact, the only person who seemed distracted from the storm was a young man who's long dark hair was plastered to his face and neck from the rain while he seemed to be searching for something.

"Where are you?" He muttered in a low but soft voice as a wave hit the boat and tilted it slightly, which had the man toppling into a pile of crates that had stood beside him.

He seemed for the most part unaffected by his fall and ran his hand through his damp hair to get it out of his eyes as he tried to get himself out of the pile of crates. His green eyes continued to scour his surroundings the entire time for what he was looking for.

As he pulled himself up from the crates, he moved to look around them and inside the open ones.

He stumbled yet again as another wave hit the boat but he managed to steady himself on one of the crates. Although he'd been looking about his surroundings an awful lot, he'd yet to see the two people who were watching him in amusement.

Having obviously not found what he was searching for he continued along the deck, now on his hands and knees looking in and around everything in sight.

The Captain had moved to the window closest to the boy and was watching as he crawled nearer to the stairs that lead up to the steering room. He could see what was about to happen before it did but it didn't stop him wincing as the boys head collided with the metal step.

"I know you're out there somewhere," muttered the boy yet again, talking to whatever he had lost. By now his teeth were chattering and he was shivering uncontrollably and he was loosing feeling in his knees, fingers and toes. He rubbed at the top of his throbbing head with red, numb hands not that it subdued the pain much.

A door opened somewhere above him, the metal hitting the metal railing with a sharp clang and the Captain stepped out of the steering room having decided to make his presence known.

Although he looked a little intimidating with the smoky clouds circling above him, he was trying to hide a smile at the look of frustration on the face of the boy below who had still not noticed his presence yet.

"Styles," He said loudly, his voice travelling well despite the odd wind that seemed to circle around them at odd times. The boy below started at his voice and once again smacked his head on the metal of the railing as he pulled himself into a standing position, the noise echoed loudly around them and seemed to leave an odd ringing sound.