"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me."
-Clive Staples Lewis

Saturday, April 7, 2012

and stretch...

Thanks to my pal Molly, I am using thewriteprompts.com to increase my limited skill as a writer. It is fabulously fun and I would recommend it to anyone. This one is using the following words to write for 15 minutes.
  bait
 •lighter
 •eerie
 •shhhh…
 •mechanic
 •word-of-mouth
 •caring
 •navy
 •cardigan
 •uncompromising
 •transport
 •rose

I have never liked the way information passed in the Navy. Word-of-mouth can sink a ship faster than a torpedo. I have been on this sticking hull of a ship for 6 weeks now. Maybe a sailor on a battleship or cruiser felt like a hero or inspired but men assigned to a cargo transport did not. A captain of a battleship seemed to be the quintessential man, uncompromising, brave, noble and uses words only when his cannons are empty. Our captain could not be more opposite. Instead of traditional captain's garb, he wore a cardigan and no hat. Appearances are more important than one imagines.  Maybe it was the nature of a ship like ours. We were like bait without a hook for the predators lurking in and under the north Atlantic. Our captain was probably a caring loving man on shore but on here he was a sly, sulking fidgety man. The ship took on the personality of the men who manned her. Our ship had no moral then.
It was one of the mechanic who first started the rumor. I do not know where he would have heard it but he said it.
 "Shhhh... you'll shut your cursed trap if you value your life!" the chief of the watch snarled at an unsuspecting seaman who had uttered the general consensus that was floating around the ship like a bad odor.
"Do you think it is true chief?" the embarrassed sailor meekly asked, desperately trying to get back into his good graces by asking his opinion.
The ship rose on the crest of the wave and then plummeted back into the trough. The chief spat the brown liquid that was developing from his quid and smoldered. His face became lighter at once, which made the scene only more eerie.
"Don't matter if it true or not, as we are all dead anyhow." the chief was maybe trying to inspire his boys or maybe he was just past caring now. 15 years at sea will do that to you.
The point was taken no matter what the thought behind the phrase was. The ship kept moving, the men kept grumbling. I have never like the way information was passed in the Navy.

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