Short stories

Silent Song

1677 - James Carter

One of the men that saved me gave me this book to write in. I do not know what he meant for me to do with it, but I'm going to use it as a journal. I'm amazed no one has taken it from me yet. Before he gave it to me, he did not try to speak to me at all, but from what I have seen, he doesn't talk much to anyone. The other men like to talk a lot, though I do not know exactly what they are saying. I have gotten better at guessing what they are saying while watching their lips, but some of them have too much hair on their faces for me to see their lips clearly.. I miss being able to hear sounds. I miss my mother and father. I do not know how long it has been since they got sick and died. After they died and the same sickness took my hearing, no one would take me in and I was left on the street.

I almost starved to death until men with big beards, that smelled sour and like the sea, showed up in town. The man, who would later give me this book, took me to a run down tavern and fed me. Eventually, his shipmates joined us and spent the night drinking. I curled up in a corner and slept under a roof for the first time in a while. In the morning, the man motioned for me to follow him and he took me to a great ship, where I've lived since. I think it has been a year since then, so I must be 11.. I do not remember what day I was born on anymore, or how long it has been since my parents died. It does not hurt as much as it did before, the men give me so much work to do that I do not have time to think.

1677 - James Carter

    The days are getting colder. I noticed a few of the men acting strangely for the past few days. They have taken a portion of their food and dumped it into the sea while saying the same thing every time. Captain Edwards has told me that they are giving offerings to the God of the sea. I do not know the name of their God, as I could not understand the Captains lips. I find what they are doing to be interesting, I wonder what else they believe in. Mermaids maybe? I would like for them to be real, they would be a sight to see.

We have stopped near a port with a lot of people. Town people do not like us much, but they like the money we spend. I can see why they wrinkle their noses at us, none of us smell very good. I think they do not like how the men speak either. From what I can understand, they say a lot of words that make women cover the ears of their children. Reading their lips is getting easier, they say things often enough that I can understand many things. A couple of them can read and write about just as much as me, but the others know less than me. They do not understand me unless I write things out for them, but they do not let me use paper because we do not have a lot of it. I hope they pick more up when they go into town. They do not let me go with them because I cannot hear them, but to me they seem overly protective. To be fair, I would not want them to leave me behind by accident just because I did not know when they were leaving. I will write more later, I believe they are leaving now and I have chores to do while they are gone.

30 of July 1682 - James Carter

    We are at the port of a busy town again and I'm allowed to go with, as long as I stay close to them. I am excited to see what they do in town and how much life on shore has changed. I wonder if I will meet someone else like me, it would be nice to know I am not the only one like this. I can already smell food and my stomach is growling with want. Anything other than the fish and hard tack we have been living off of for the past month is welcome.

    The town was just as I had pictured. Life on shore has changed over the years I have been gone, but not a whole lot. I found an opportunity to ask the date so that I may more accurately keep track of time, I think it will help me to know how old I really am. The people were not  welcoming, as usual, but I did meet someone. I ran into another boy that looked to be a bit older than my own age, which I believe is around 16. He was not much cleaner than me or the rest of the crew. I believe he will fit right in with us, as Captain Edward asked him if he would like to join our crew. We will know his answer by tonight, as we are docked until early tomorrow morning and he has until then to come to us. I really do hope he will join us, he seemed like he could be a good friend.