A thunderstorm bled out of the clouds, reaching into the ocean, and a wall of water was visible on the horizon. Captain Malev told Justin everything would be alright, none of the cargo would be lost, and that he had “done this many times before.” The ship he had stowed away on, the Finnoey Glimt, was small, and Justin was part of a measly three person crew, which technically would have been two had Justin not boarded, in lieu of an easier method to cross the Norwegian sea, headed to the docks of Haugesund off the coast. The waves had started to pick up an hour ago, and were getting rougher every time Justin stared into the sea from the railing.

  “Hey! Are you gonna help, or are you just gonna look at the pretty water?” The second crew mate, Kellen, called out. He was cleaning the deck of loose materials so as they wouldn’t get blown away, while Justin’s backpack sat at his feet. The air blew a large gust of wind, making Justin’s hair fly to the side.

  “We have some time, right?” Justin asked.

  Kellen bolstered a short laugh, “When you joined us you said you could help out if we needed it. I don’t care how far in advance it is, start cleaning.”

  Justin waltzed around the deck, picking up thick ropes and some metal equipment he didn’t know the uses for.

  “Where do these go?” His hands were full.

  Kellen looked up, confused and annoyed, “You know where they go? Inside!”

  “Yeah...” Justin began making his way past Kellon.

  “Hey. Batten down the hatches. It’s gonna be a rough one.”

  Justin piled the gear in the small maintenance room near the captain’s quarters.

  “So, he didn’t tell you where they all go?” A gruff old voice coming out of a white beard peaked from behind the door. It was Malev. Justin gave a short sigh, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll put em in their places.”

  “No, I’ll help. Just show me where things go.”

  “Kellen needs to learn how to show people the ropes.” Melav joked.

  “Oh, he did,” Justin put another metal handle hinge away that he been lying about on the floor, “just didn’t show me what to do with them.”

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  “Oh, you’ll get it.”

  “Yeah, I’ll try and get it together tomorrow so I don’t annoy him that much.”

  “You’re not apart of this crew. You don’t need to show him so much respect necessarily.” Melav gave a slight grin, “Just do what you can do.”

  “Thanks.”

  “But... we gotta be up a lot of the night for that storm. Make sure nothing blows off. It should be here in... about a few hours. I’d say maybe we should take naps so we don’t fall asleep when we can’t afford it.”

  “Good idea, grandpa.” Kellen stood in the doorway with neatly wound ropes in a stack in his arms, “Maybe you need a nap,” He set the stack on top of a large bin, “I don’t.”

  Malev laughed, making his way to his seat within the main piloting cabin, “Trust me, I was like you when I was young!” The tiniest bit of sprinkling began on the nearly 180 degrees of windows around them, “You two stay awake if you want to. I need to take a quick snooze.” Malev laid back in front of the navigation panel, put his hat over his face, and crossed his arms, “Wake me up when it’s 9, alright?”

  “Yep...” Kellen walked passed him back out through the cabin to the main deck, “Justin, wanna help me tighten the load? The straps are ready. It’ll be faster if you helped.”

  Justin woke on his flat mattress; he had been out for three hours. The distant thunder had ended up lulling him to sleep. He looked at the clock, 8:00 P.M. The overhead light made his eyes hurt.

  “Wake up Sleeping Beauty.” Kellen sat across the crew cabin, and the windows were dark. “I’m surprised you were able to sleep though a bit of this. It’s been pretty bumpy.” Justin had gotten more used to his arrogant tone by now, and he ignored him.

  On cue, a smack against the boat hit, jolting them, and the rain rattled loudly through the ceiling, making nothing but noise.

  “Hey, I think you left something out there?”

  His backpack. “Shit!” Justin bolted up and hurried for the locked door, fiddling with it.

  “Hey, whoa, you’re not going out there, bud! It’s dangerous!”

  “It’s got everything in there! I’m so stupid!” Justin ran out onto the deck, feeling the heavy drops in almost in pitch darkness, the waves making a deafening sound.

  “HEY! GET BACK IN HERE!”

  The ship rocked to the left as Justin touched the far edge, attempting to find his belongings with his feet. The metal had no friction, and the diamond floor plates beneath were slippery.

  “IT’S SOAKED ANYWAY!” Kellen yelled again, “GET IN HERE, YOU’RE GONNA HURT YOURSELF!!”

  Smack! The ship was sent to the right, and he lost his balance. Twisting deeper to the left, it was on the verge of capsizing. Justin managed to get some air before slamming his back into the port bow and flailing and flipping over the edge. With his life flashing, Justin had fallen overboard, with his face towards the sky.