The seas were rough but that did not deter them. Wet ropes dug deeply into palms, the ripples in rough fibers matching the wiry muscles that strained in their necks, shoulders, arms.
Endlessly, the night dragged on. The ocean swelled and sunk and breathed and coughed all around them.
Still they kept their posts, secured to heaving decks with belts and makeshift harnesses.
When darkness finally waned and dawn returned, the contours of the mountains rose alongside them.
They shook the salt from reddened eyes and readied for the final passage.
Their boat was broken, but their hearts were home.
For Rochelle’s Friday Fictioneers
Photo prompt © Ted Strutz
Na'ama Yehuda 
What a wonderfully descriptive story. I was right there with them, straining against the elements.
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🙂 Yay! Glad you liked it (and … hopefully, that you are indoors, dry, warm, and unheaved … 😉 )
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Yes, I did. Very much so.
I took my morning walk. I checked the weather. It said overcast. Fine. No problemo. I didn’t look further. I got caught in the rain on my return loop. Oh well… Wasn’t soaked to the bone, thankfully.
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Yeah, no fun being soaked to the bone, unless it is on the beach, in summer, or something like that. I am nice and cozy indoors and hopefully the rain will end by the time I have to step out to meet a friend at the museum late this afternoon.
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Yeah. Not a fan, quite frankly. It’s one thing to have a nice warm bath or fire waiting for you; quite another to have to take a quickie shower and haul your ace to work…
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Yeah. QUITE another.
I vote for warm hearth, hot shower, and a good snuggle. 🙂
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Oh yes. A good book, a glass of wine (if there is no one to snuggle with)…
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There is more than one way to snuggle … so, yeah … 😀
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Indeed. And each one is good 😉
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😀
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What a brilliant tale. KL ❤️
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🙂 Thank you KL! 🙂
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Lovely, very easy to picture the scene and the hardships from your words 🙂
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Thank you! 🙂 I’m glad it was conveyed! 🙂
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Very atmospheric. Well written.
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Thank you, Iain! 🙂
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Very descriptive story that puts the reader (even this one without wiry muscles!) right there in the ship with the homebound crew.
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🙂 Thanks, Michael! (Not much in wiry muscles here, either … but one can imagine … 😉 )
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Great descriptive images. I was there
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Hopefully with less muscle soreness than they! 🙂
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That’s a great story with a romantic, cheering ending, well done.
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Thank you! They deserved a bit of cheering after what had to be a miserable night! 🙂
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they sure did.
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🙂
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Lovely descriptive writing, Na’ama. Your finale made me wonder whether they were home in a physical sense or in a metaphorical sense, namely that they were approaching death with a belief in heaven.
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I wasn’t sure myself, really, but I’d like to think they are pouring whatever they have left to get their hulled out ship through the final stretch home. 🙂
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most definitely, one of your best.
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Thank you! I’m glad you liked it! 🙂
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There’s poetry in this piece. Well done!
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Thank you, Lisa! Isn’t language lovely? I wonder if the ebb and flow of waves got a bit into it, too … 🙂
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You describe the dangers of a seafaring life – excellent.
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Thank you, James! There are indeed many dangers in it! Satisfaction, too, for many who choose that life, but oh, boy is that a hard life!
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A graphic tale of determination, and hopefully, survival.
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Amen to both!
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Na’ama Y’karah,
I could feel the physical strain and the wet cold. Well written. At first I thought it was a slave ship.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’m glad it was palpable … and I’m VERY glad this was not a slave ship! 🙂
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Great, Na’ama. The descriptions were spot on. One of those, ‘it was all worth it’ stories.
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Yes! I hope it was all worth it to them and that they spent the following night dry and warm and snug as a bug in a rug in their own homes.
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🙂
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A great story of endurance and hope. I feel cold and wet just reading it.
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Ah, yes, it made me feel cold writing it … made hot chocolate … 😉
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