STORM CHASERS

The fisherman and his inexperienced sidekick hadn't gone farther out into the deep blue sea away from the docks in their old fishing vessels that had an aged old agility to withstand any violent turbulence of the ocean currents, when the bright sun suddenly became completely blotched out of the sky by thick dark clouds of an imminent storm approaching the city from western end of the distant horizon followed by an unsteady rhythm of sea wind which began brewing violently at that end towards the city, disrupting the once peaceful serenity of the ebbing tidal waves of the ocean bed during the early hours of the day, exactly the same time the two fish hunters had anchored their boats in the distant sea away from civilization and the tranquility of ocean before the storm came, was far too relaxing for the two men who were engrossed in catching some fishes below the sea using their fishing equipment, most of which was handled by the experienced seaman in such manner that it was too late for them to apply precautionary measures to avoid the storm before it hit them right in the middle of the sea quite far off from land.

Most of the fishermen at sea with their boats that had gone to sea before them and were a bit closer to the docks, quickly returned back just in time to save themselves and their fishing vessels from getting caught in the approaching storm while the two fellas were somehow trying to navigate their way out of the ocean to get themselves and the old Tyranus back to land. As for those tending to their boats at the docks, they quickly finish what they intended in doing in haste and left the docks to safe refuge in their houses which wasn't too far from the remote areas of the city where majority of the dwellers there were skilled fishermen whose experience at sea had kept them surviving the ocean currents throughout the years they had fully engaged themselves in this profession without being drowned by the same waves they wholly depend on cast their nets in order to trap a lot of fishes of different kind but today, they weren't too sure that they would have the calibre to tussle with the colliding forces of nature and had quickly returned to the city to get themselves to safe haven in order to protect themselves for yet another day.

Even people living nearby including the motorist had to keep off the streets and take shelter in the concrete building around the area and wherever they could find one in order to secure themselves from getting swept along with the pieces of paper as well as other pieces of trash that could easily get picked up from the ground into the violent air which tends to sweep everything in its path.

The old Tyranus suddenly became caught up in a fierce tempest with the roaring waves alongside the two stranded friends who had board the old vessel as soon as the turbulences in the heart of the storm became more terrible and fiercer for them to withstand. Max had kept himself glued to the steering wheel with his polythene coveralls keeping himself protected from the unavoidable splashes of Sea water that kept pouring into the vessel at every angle with the natural aim of sinking the trawler while making sure the old Tyranus had the balance on the unsteady sea to keep him as well as his sidekick from capsizing and from drowning in the ocean. Before the storm hit them hard out of nowhere rippling on the ocean waves which rose up twenty meters above the eyes of the two stranded men in the little boat lacking a sail cloth to maneuver their way through the approaching storm like most bigger ships do when faced with such a problem at sea, Max had sprang into action and clad himself in his protective coveralls which luckily, was also worn by Jeremy whose apprehension had gotten the best of him after both of them saw the enormous bed of water headed their way followed by the heavy down pour of stormy rain from the tempestuous sky that darken the firmament as though a solar eclipse had befallen the land during the daytime transforming it into nighttime. While the brave seaman had taken the main controls of the little ship to wrestle with the turbulent sea at the cockpit, having been caught up in the midst of the storm fifty five miles away from the seacoast, Jeremy had devoted himself in getting himself hooked up inside a cubicle within the cabin of the boat behind Max in a frantic effort not to get swept off by the waves that came rushing violently on the deck of the trawler where some of items got carried off into the ocean.

“Max! Get us out of this shit cause I'm too young to drown out here in the middle of nowhere!“,

Jeremy yelled from where he hid himself at the foot of the door as four more splashes of cold salt water slamming through the door, hit him hard on the face which has now become utterly drenched in the water especially his ringlets of his hair.

“Hold still, dude!. I'm doing my best to make sure we don't sink”,

“You better act fast right now because I don't think the boat will keep us breathing much longer”,

Jeremy replied in haste only to swallow another round of salt water down his plaintive throat and drew himself further away from the door in a frail attempt to get away from his vulnerable spot but the unsteady boat twisted and luckily surmounted another fierce wave which tossed him to the another angle of the strait cabin.

“Hold on, Jerry!“,

Max called out from the cockpit hoping to find his voice in the midst of the resounding violent storm.

“I'm trying!“,

“We'll soon find a way through. So, confide in me!”,

“I hope so!",

A loud thunderclap resounded in the tempest from above within the heart of the storm in such a manner that it almost deafen the ears of the seamen but Max held his ground and steered the trawler in a direction where he could barely see daylight in the far distance before his very eyes. The old Tyranus struggled to regain balance on the roaring waves of the unsteady ocean currents after sailing past two more barrel waves, only to be tossed from side to side by the next sea curremts after Max's several failed attempts to steady the fishing vessels on the right course away from the tempest and from being caught up in the middle of the violent turbulence with the forces of nature clashing and dashing in form of utter unrest. After four hours of unsuccessful breakthrough the stormy tidal waves which seemed to prove to be a very powerful force beyond their control, the rainy storm began to recede slowly just the way it had come catching the two men unawares until the sky soon began showing some signs of daylight chasing away the dark clouds that had emptied themselves upon the broad seascape and coastal lands in the area as well.

A heavy sigh of relief came from the brave seaman as soon as he began to hear the squeaking of the seagulls soaring in few numbers high in the pale sky several meters above the boat headed for the harbor which lay very far ahead of old Tyranus and soon after he noticed the grey sky becoming a bit lighter and more bluish once the way it was before the storm rolled in.

Jeremy got up from his hiding spot unscathed and joined Max at the cockpit as soon as the old Tyranus had figured out a possible course to the western harbor where they had left before venturing farther into the ocean during the early hours of the morning.

“You okay, old friend?“,

“I guess I'll live”,

“Sounds good to know”,

Jeremy drew closer to Max and peered at the horizon as the foggy weather began to fade into the once brighter day like it once were in the morning.

“Now that was awesome and a bit dangerous, I think”,

Jeremy said and slapped Max on the back before gleaming a cheerful smile of surviving the storm even though the odds were definitely not in their favor.

“What is, Jerry?“,

“The huge size of the waves and finding a way out of the terrible storm, is what”,

“Maybe but all our efforts would have been in vain if the storm hadn't died down”,

“Perhaps”,

“Then you should be thankful the waves didn't knock off the old Tyranus and us into the ocean otherwise we could have really drowned back there”,

“But we didn't. So, we got lucky to say how awesome it was to chase the storm”

“Maybe, you're right. It's was bit frightful back there but it was still kinda awesome overcoming those gigantic waves”,

Jeremy chuckled as soon as he heard Max's response. Then he became silent for a while listening to serenity of the ocean taking control of the ocean alongside his old buddy.

Then Max spoke again taking a quick glance at the deck behind him through a window.

“How many containers did we lost?“,

“I don't know. Let us check, shall we?“,

“Please do”,

Jeremy left the cockpit to the deck only to return back to the cockpit empty-handed few minutes later to report his findings.

“So, how many was lost to the ocean?“,

“Not many that I could count and we still have a few containers of the fishes we caught though”,

“Hmm. I thought we'd lost all of them but that'll do for now”,

“Phew, thank goodness”,

“Well, I guess we have to take the leftovers back to land”,

“But the ocean took the fishing rod”,

“Forget about it. It was already old enough to be dispose of anyway”,

“Fine if you say so",

Drawing closer to the fisherman.

“You have to go home once we get to the harbor”,

“What about you?“,

“Don't worry. I need to discuss something with Fred at the club”,

“You going back there, for real?",

" Yes. I need to my paycheck for the work even though things went sideways”,

“Alright. It's really good to have you back, old friend”,

“My pleasure as well",

Max responded increasing the speed of the engine which powered the old trawler as they saw the docks up ahead in a distance quite farther away from them and smirked surreptitiously as his eyes beheld the seagulls flocking around them in large numbers, searching for some fleshy pieces of lifebait on the deck which they found lying scattered around on the deck of the old trawler. Jeremy had forgotten to mention that he saw a good number of fishes struggling to breathe while lying helplessly on the deck after being blown on board during the tempestuous storm and was about tell Max about the reason for the welcoming party of the seagulls flocking around them as the boat kept surfing on the waters towards land but he shrugged, remaining silent and kept peering at the docks feeling extremely grateful for being alive to witness the swarming of seagulls flying on the trawler in large numbers.