The Cursed Sailor

On a cloudy night much like this one..

There once lived a Sea Base Leader by the name of Ferris. Much like the rest of the lovely Captains that line our docks,he was a sailor at heart. But he was no captain to any ship. Every day and every night,Ferris walked our docks,patrolling them and making sure every ship was in top shape. He loved his job like a fish would breathe water,and even got to join these many captains on their enlightening journeys of wonder.

Tonight was different. No ships lined the docks except one. The No Man Beyond. This ship had seen many storms with its captain,and had weathered the worst of hurricanes on our docks. It was a loyal ship that responded to only its own captain,for it was the oldest in the fleet. Until one day only the ship returned,alone and without any knowledge of how she had returned.

For many months Ferris had dreamed of one day sailing The No Man Beyond,to feel the salty air hit against his skin with a full crew at his command. So much so that it made him blind to his own skills.

It was past midnight,everyone had gone to bed by this time,leaving only the Sailor himself alone with The No Man Beyond. Drunken on fantasy,he boarded the No Man Beyond,undid her rope anchors,and set sail on open water with surprising skill.

For hours he sailed with glee like he had dreamed,unknown to him that he had become lost.

His phone indicated that it was already morning. But no sun broke over the horizon,and so he sailed blindly in innumerable directions until "late day" had come.

Already going mad from the constant gait of darkness,the sailor thought he saw the lights of Florida Sea Base,and so he blindly chased them,only for them to fade and move elsewhere. For many more hours he sailed in hopes of finding land yet again,unaware that he had sealed his doom by boarding.

On his 10th attempt,a stroke of lightning struck,revealing only briefly the silhouette of another ship. The maddened sailor moved with great purpose,overjoyed that he had found another on these waters...

Upon reaching the ship,he attempted to catch the attention of the fellow sailor for directions..

Using the ship's spotlight he cast a gaze onto the silhouette of a captain at the helm to be horrified at the skeletal remains of the No Man Beyond's previous captain. Upon the light being shined upon him,the skeletal captain looked to the Sailor.

"You are not worthy of my ship." He spoke with a ghastly purr,pointing at him. As he said so,the ship roars to life,it's helm compass opening to a ghastly human eye that stared at him gauntly,causing the Sailor to reel in disgust,to find that his hands had been fused to the wheel,flesh meshed to metal,bone fused to the frame.

"You will pay dearly for sailing my ship." He said,as a larger pirate ship suddenly rises from the depths.

Ferris pulled fruitlessly at his now fused hands.

A wheezy,haunted laugh echoes,as the pirate ship's captain joined Ferris on the ship,raising his sword and lobbing his hands off at the wrist.

Once the punishment had been administered,both the dead ships disappear onto thin air as rain began to pummel The No Man Beyond's awning. Lightning struck,and the waves tossed the now aimless ship to and fro like a toy boat in a bathtub. Every stroke of thunder followed by a haunting cackle as Ferris scrambled about without his hands,struggling to stay aboard as water had slickened her decks like ice.

All the while,the Compass Eye staring him down with a glowing red iris that would haunt the false captain so when darkness enveloped him.

The oceans grew violent,waves reaching over the ship and clashing over,narrowly washing Ferris overboard. After many hours of struggle the waters finally calmed at their fruitless attempts to wash him overboard.

Ferris breathed a sigh of relief,though it was short lived as the captains boarded from the rear. "You have proven your toughness. But you will not be allowed to return to shore." They both spoke,grabbing Ferris and leaping into the water,taking him so deep that not even a Death Diver could escape the cold grasp of the ocean waters.

The last thing Ferris saw before sinking to the inky depths,was the break of morning shine on the water,and the silhouette of The No Man Beyond leaving him behind.

The unmanned ship returned to the Florida Base,captainless yet again,retying her rope anchors,and bobbing gleefully at our docks as if she had never moved....

Legends say that these captains,Ferris included sail these waters in eternal damnation for their crime against the seas,and the ghostly green lights of their ships can be seen floating distantly on the water,and Ferris' favored song,"What to do with a drunken sailor" mysteriously whistled where the No Man Beyond was once docked after retirement...