a safe landing - asoue story

lost in thought

Klaus P.O.V

Ugh. So. Much. Sea. I know the earth is 71% water, but honestly, I'd been staring at the horizon for so long now, I was really looking forward to seeing land. I don't know how it was possible, but I couldn't read another page of my book, the words all just merged into black blobs, I might need new glasses, these ones are getting old and are incredibly scratched. I suppose I've had this pair for nearly 4 years, I should get some new ones when we get there. Speaking of 'when we get there'

"Viiii? How long have we been saaailingg?" She laughed and turned to look at me; sprawled along the back of the boat.

"Just over four hours Klaus,  Not very long"

"Uggghhhhh" Normally, I'm not one to complain but all this ocean was driving me insane. "How long did it even take us to get here a year ago?" There was a storm and we were pretty much all unconscious, so there's really no way to know how long we were floating around last time.

"I'd say at least a day so we've still got to get through this afternoon, tonight, and tomorrow morning." Not too bad. After we eat, I'm sure it won't be hard to fall asleep.

* * *

Sunny really was an incredible chef. She managed to whip us up some salad with salmon (no idea how she managed to grill the salmon, none of us like sushi very much so she must have found a way to cook it somehow). We decided we'd take 4-hour shifts to steer the boat, I offered to go first despite Violet's protests;

"You need to sleep, you've been tired all day!" I decided I wouldn't tell her the reason I was so tired was that I was up half the night finishing Pride & Prejudice. What? I needed to know if Mr Darcy would stop being a prat, and propose to Lizzie again and if she would even accept his offer. What can I say, I get invested in stories sometimes...

"I'll be fine! I'll wake you up in a few hours, okay?" She gave me a look of protest before sighing and eventually curling up in between Sunny and Bea. I set myself up at the front with a blanket and rested my head on the mast, and let my thoughts drift.

I mulled over that last year we'd spent here, it had been...interesting. We'd learnt a lot from the huge book with accounts of previous people living there and even contributed our own stories. Like the time Violet climbed a tree because she saw a branch she could use in an invention and got stuck. She insisted she didn't need help, but I had to locate a ladder to get her down. Or even the time Bea and Sunny disappeared and Violet and I panicked and searched for them for at least an hour, and then we found them both fast asleep in a cupboard in the kitchen for god knows what reason. It had been fun to have a normal life for once. We hadn't had a normal life since the fire.

Fire had seemed to follow us wherever we went. Our house and Uncle Monty's house; now gone, only sustained in our memories. Heimlich Hospital and Caligari Carnival; burnt to a crisp, now only mounds of ash and rubble cluttering up the Hinterlands. The V.F.D Head Quarters in the Mortmain Mountains, and The Hotel Denouement; never to house noble volunteers again. Even our closest friends, the Quagmires had lost their home to a fire. I thought of our friends the Quagmires. Much to my regret, I had barely shed a thought for them in recent months. Kit told us she lost sight of them in the storm and we were worried for so long before we realised they might be gone forever. We were all heartbroken to hear we might never see our dear friends ever again. Duncan would never become a journalist and head up the Daily Punctilio, Quigley would never grace the world with his cartography skills, and Isadora- I'd never hear another one of her couplets. Never hear her voice again or see her smile. And most importantly, I'd never get the chance to tell her how I feel.

I'd never really had a crush on any girls at school, they all just saw me as the nerdy kid with glasses. I didn't really mind though, I'd spend my lunchtimes in the library and that would be all I needed. I was so grateful to have friends at Prufrock because it really was a terrible place. Meeting Duncan made me realise I'd spent too much time alone and with my sisters and meeting Isadora was like...I don't even have words to describe it. I realised other girls existed other than Violet and Sunny. Isadora was wonderful. She didn't think I was nerdy or weird. She really loved reading too. And she was beautiful. I know that sounds cheesy but it's true. I didn't know how to act around her. I did a good job being her friend but it didn't feel right. And of course, I have no way of knowing if she actually liked me back. My father always said girls are something I'd never be good with. He'd say: "Klaus, there are some things that books just can't teach you, things you have to learn from experience." I have no experience so I didn't know what to do. And it's too late now.

There is a small part of me that truly believes they're alive. I know fate is a silly thing to believe in but, I just can't believe they'd go without a proper goodbye. It's not their fault they're...Not here, but there's no way such amazing people are gone forever...Is there?

a/n

CRINGEEEEE but also it's kinda cute right? ^u^ hopefully sOmEoNe likes it!

aaaanyway, they'll get to land soon and all that... ;)

sEe yOu nExT wEeK!

:)

1009 words  gc