Maelstrom! – The Whirlpool
“Captain?! We’re being sucked down into a
whirlpool! Can you hear me?! Do something!” These are the words I remember screaming in
the wheelhouse on the bridge.
The
cruise ship had seemed doomed since we disembarked. First, we lost the AC systems; then, the power constantly flickered. More often than not we had no light. Then, the navigation and communications
systems went down.
People
were either partying with looted booze from the trashed lounges, or they were
rampaging in gangs; and, there was near mutiny.
Different thugs were leading their gangs from floor to floor in turf
wars on the ship! Some tried, in vain,
to stop the chaos. A few just huddled in
rooms, confused and afraid.
Then,
the hurricane blew in. The ship listed
from side to side. Some fell
overboard. Some jumped. And, imagine our horror when we saw the
mile-wide whirlpool. Around and
around. Down and down. Darker and louder it grew.
It was
then that the captain answered me, announcing over the PA system, “Do not be
afraid; follow me.” Everything stood
still. It was if our Hell had frozen and
it was over! Next, the mysterious figure
at the helm removed his storm slicker, and then we could see through the
darkness. But, some continued to riot
and just slid on down into the pit, called beneath by the howls in the
darkness, it seems. Many came out of
their hiding places. Many of us followed
him out as we walked up the spiraling staircase to the surface. We were walking on water! Some were singing, “…glory, hallelujah, I
will NOT be damned…”?!
Then, I
woke up, in a cold sweat, and listened to the clock ticking away.
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