Fraught
Definition
1 : full of or accompanied by something specified — used with with
2 : causing or characterized by emotional distress or tension : uneasy
A large ship was so heavily loaded that it could barely sail: originally, something that was
"fraught" was laden with freight
"fraught" was laden with freight
The Gutling Sea was wild, dangerous, over large and sailed by only the brave, the foolhardy or the
desperate.
desperate.
I counted myself as one of the latter categories. A fool too, but at least I knew I was a fool and walked
into this with my eyes open.
At least, I liked to try and comfort myself with this fact. Truth was, many would argue that a man who
would cheat the tables at the largest casino town and then seduce said owner’s wife could only ever
be called a fool.
They’d caught me trying to flee the city and had offered me two options, certain death by torture or
pratcially certain death by unknown means out on the Gutling Sea. If I survived six months, I could
return to the city, free and clear of any grudge.
“She wasn’t even that pretty.” I mumbled bitterly into the salt stained wooden planking beneath me.
“She only used me to get back at him for all those affairs he had with the show girls.”
“What are you mumbling about?” my co-sailor asked irritably. “For God’s sake, shut up and help me
look for land or another ship!”
That’s right, it looked like that free and clear existence was well out of my reach now. Some time in the
night, a large kraken had risen from the ocean floor and torn the ship I was on to pieces.
Apparently, tradition says that the newest member of the crew must be thrown overboard as a
sacrificial offering to the beasts below and persuade them to remain deep in their slumber. This solemn
ceremony had halted halfway when, upon realising my fate, I locked myself in the strong room and
had refused to come out. The crew had just managed to break through the door when the first tentacle
ripped through the ship.
Those bastard gamblers had never even thought to give me a chance - they’d sold me to the ship as
a sacrificial lamb.
And how could the crew sacrifice one of their own members like that? What kind of hiring policy was
that? Sure, I hadn't been the most useful member, and maybe I tied a knot or two wrong and got some
limbs snapped when said rigging came loose, but I was an entrepreneur, a chancer, a hero! Not some
scurvy sea dog who stank like old salt and rum.
So no, I didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt for what happened to them or the ship. I just wish it hadn’t left
me stranded here in the middle of the sea on a piece of old wood.
“Why did I even bother hauling you out of the water?” my companion sighed behind me. “Do you even
see anything from your side?”
“How can i see anything through this blasted fog?” I snarled through chattering teeth. It was bad enough
that both of us were soaked to the bone, but a sea fog had rising up, thick pearls of water condensing
on our already wet clothes, the white mist stretching as far as we could see (Not far at all) and muffling
all sight and sound. It swirled and eddied, making odd shapes and strange shadows.
In short, it was incredibly creepy and fast nullifying our chances of survival.
I squinted hard into the whiteness. Was that just another mist shape or was it…?
I grabbed his shoulder - “look, look over there! Isn’t that a ship?” I said excitedly.
“Where?”
“There!” I grabbed the extra bit of wood we’d been using as a paddle. “Let’s go.”
My companion grunted, but grabbed the other ‘paddle’ and sooner than expected we approached the
ship.
It was eerie. Maybe that was just the current weather conditions influencing my mood but even I, an
almost complete stranger to ships, thought it looked off. For starters, it was almost the same colour as
the mist around us, it even glinted slightly in the little light available. It also looked too...delicate, too
fragile to survive something as harsh as the Gutlign Sea.
It must have also been carrying some pretty heavy cargo as it was quite low in the water.
“Hello there! Anyone aboard?!” I called out, even as my companion grabbed my shoulder with a warning
hiss.
Silence. A closer inspection revealed that we couldn’t see anyone aboard the ship - nothing on the
rigging, no one on the wheel. It seemed as if either the ship was abandoned or else everyone was
down below, but even then someone should have heard me shout.
Only one thing for it then. Facing the dangerous Gutling Sea on a small, random piece of driftwood that
was probably once a door, or an apparently fully functioning, albeit slightly spooky ship. The math was
clearly obvious.
Apparently not for some.
“There's no way I'm getting on an apparently abandoned ghost ship in the middle of a potentially
supernatural and malicious fog. it ‘s not happening.”
“So you’re just going to keep sailing the sea, waiting for rescue or land, on a door?” I asked, exasperated.
“You know where you are with doors. Anything could happen on a ghost ship.” he said stubbornly.
I scoffed. “Well, I'm not going along with your madness. Who knows when we’ll see another opportunity
like this.”
He shrugged. “Then we’ll part ways here. But,” He added mildly, “Knowing your history and all your
recent choices and consequences of said choices, don’t you think it might be a good idea to use your
head and be sensible for a change? If it looks too good to be true, it usually is after all.”
I grabbed the bottom of the hanging ladder that had conveniently been left over the side of the ship.
The rope felt as soft as silk in my hand. Clearly the owners had spared no expense to use something
of this quality for a mere ship’s ladder. Which meant that there might be other valuable items abroad
that might need new ownership now that their previous owners were no longer to be seen.
“I am not going to let stupid superstition get me killed.” I sneered at him. “This ship is our key to getting
out of here and if you don’t want to come with me and just die of exposure, drowning or thirst then
that’s your prerogative.”
“Well, i tried.” he said, moving the raft away from the ship and forcing me to leap awkwardly onto the
ladder. “Just remember, this is known as a lethal sea for a reason. A lot of the horrors that live out
here aren’t as obvious as a giant squid - and some of them are pretty smart.”
“It’ll be your funeral.” I shouted after him.
“Nope,” his voice came back to me on the hint of a breeze, already sounding like he was miles away.
“I’m pretty sure it’ll be yours.”
I pushed the sailor out of my mind and clambered the rest of the way onto the ship, fairly nimbly if I do
say so myself. I rolled over the top and hit the deck with a thump. Shaking my head i got to my feet.
It was very quiet. The planks seemed to muffle any noise that my footsteps made, although.. I crouched
down. I couldn’t see the joins of the planks anywhere - it also looked like the entire surface of the ship
was made out of one piece of material. I touched it. It was as soft as the rope of the ladder and I couldn't
feel any cuts or joins anywhere. I stood up and shrugged. It must just be a masterpiece of carpentry -
which lent credence to my theory that the owners of this ship must have been wealthy ones and
therefore left behind valuable goods that might be appropriated by someone with an entrepreneurial
spirit, such as myself.
I hurried to the door below decks eagerly, then froze and turned around. Nothing but an empty deck.
I thought I'd heard a scuttling noise, but it must have been my imagination - fueled by the superstitious
ramblings of that ridiculous sailor.
I pushed the door open. I noted it was odd that it didn’t have a handle but it opened easily enough.
Must just be a new style. I walked down the soft stairs and into the cargo. Disappointingly empty but it
looked like there was another door at the back - maybe that’s where they stored their important items?
I strolled to the rear door along through the quiet and empty room - it must be as long as the ship itself!
What were they planning on loading in here? It was much darker down here - no windows obviously and
no lights. I glanced about but couldn’t see any lamps at all. I know you had to be careful on a wooden
boat but this seemed a little excessive. I couldn’t even see any candle remains or wax drippings either.
I glanced behind me. The door to the outside had closed. The only light that remained was the little bit
that came in through the ship’s walls. The shadows themselves seemed to move oddly.
Could light come through wood that had no joins?
I reached the far door before I could fully realise that thought. I pushed at it but it appeared to be jammed.
"Ah ha!” I thought to myself. “They kept this one locked so it must be where the good stuff is!”
I shoved at the door with all my strength and it gave in so suddenly that I fell right through the doorway.
Something must have been blocking it then. I got myself onto my hands and knees ad peered in the
even dimmer light at what lay before me.
I had found the crew. I shoved my fits into my mouth to stop myself screaming. There before me lay at
least twenty or more skeletons - their bones jumbled together like so much loose kindling. But wait, I
looked closer, all the bones appeared to be wearing different uniforms, different styles - even with the
natural disparity on a ship there was no way these could all be from the same crew - for a start there
were two captains hats and that would never happen on a ship - not unless one had been visiting the
other? Yes, yes, that’s what happened my fevered mind said, one captain came to visit the other...and
then something happened.
What happened?
My mind finally forced me to turn and look at the scuttling noise my ears had been warning me about for
some time.
The shadows had followed me into the room. A swarm of small black and red spiders had coated the
inside of the door and far wall - more ran about in the cargo hold beyond. My fingers traced along the
bone in my hand and felt the multiple indentations of tiny bite marks. My knees sank onto the soft
seamless wood beneath me.
No, not wood. What kind of ship could be made so perfectly that you couldn't see the joins in the wood.
One that had never been made from wood to start with. One that had been woven from spider webs by
a crew of hungry spiders, baiting their next meal.
into this with my eyes open.
At least, I liked to try and comfort myself with this fact. Truth was, many would argue that a man who
would cheat the tables at the largest casino town and then seduce said owner’s wife could only ever
be called a fool.
They’d caught me trying to flee the city and had offered me two options, certain death by torture or
pratcially certain death by unknown means out on the Gutling Sea. If I survived six months, I could
return to the city, free and clear of any grudge.
“She wasn’t even that pretty.” I mumbled bitterly into the salt stained wooden planking beneath me.
“She only used me to get back at him for all those affairs he had with the show girls.”
“What are you mumbling about?” my co-sailor asked irritably. “For God’s sake, shut up and help me
look for land or another ship!”
That’s right, it looked like that free and clear existence was well out of my reach now. Some time in the
night, a large kraken had risen from the ocean floor and torn the ship I was on to pieces.
Apparently, tradition says that the newest member of the crew must be thrown overboard as a
sacrificial offering to the beasts below and persuade them to remain deep in their slumber. This solemn
ceremony had halted halfway when, upon realising my fate, I locked myself in the strong room and
had refused to come out. The crew had just managed to break through the door when the first tentacle
ripped through the ship.
Those bastard gamblers had never even thought to give me a chance - they’d sold me to the ship as
a sacrificial lamb.
And how could the crew sacrifice one of their own members like that? What kind of hiring policy was
that? Sure, I hadn't been the most useful member, and maybe I tied a knot or two wrong and got some
limbs snapped when said rigging came loose, but I was an entrepreneur, a chancer, a hero! Not some
scurvy sea dog who stank like old salt and rum.
So no, I didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt for what happened to them or the ship. I just wish it hadn’t left
me stranded here in the middle of the sea on a piece of old wood.
“Why did I even bother hauling you out of the water?” my companion sighed behind me. “Do you even
see anything from your side?”
“How can i see anything through this blasted fog?” I snarled through chattering teeth. It was bad enough
that both of us were soaked to the bone, but a sea fog had rising up, thick pearls of water condensing
on our already wet clothes, the white mist stretching as far as we could see (Not far at all) and muffling
all sight and sound. It swirled and eddied, making odd shapes and strange shadows.
In short, it was incredibly creepy and fast nullifying our chances of survival.
I squinted hard into the whiteness. Was that just another mist shape or was it…?
I grabbed his shoulder - “look, look over there! Isn’t that a ship?” I said excitedly.
“Where?”
“There!” I grabbed the extra bit of wood we’d been using as a paddle. “Let’s go.”
My companion grunted, but grabbed the other ‘paddle’ and sooner than expected we approached the
ship.
It was eerie. Maybe that was just the current weather conditions influencing my mood but even I, an
almost complete stranger to ships, thought it looked off. For starters, it was almost the same colour as
the mist around us, it even glinted slightly in the little light available. It also looked too...delicate, too
fragile to survive something as harsh as the Gutlign Sea.
It must have also been carrying some pretty heavy cargo as it was quite low in the water.
“Hello there! Anyone aboard?!” I called out, even as my companion grabbed my shoulder with a warning
hiss.
Silence. A closer inspection revealed that we couldn’t see anyone aboard the ship - nothing on the
rigging, no one on the wheel. It seemed as if either the ship was abandoned or else everyone was
down below, but even then someone should have heard me shout.
Only one thing for it then. Facing the dangerous Gutling Sea on a small, random piece of driftwood that
was probably once a door, or an apparently fully functioning, albeit slightly spooky ship. The math was
clearly obvious.
Apparently not for some.
“There's no way I'm getting on an apparently abandoned ghost ship in the middle of a potentially
supernatural and malicious fog. it ‘s not happening.”
“So you’re just going to keep sailing the sea, waiting for rescue or land, on a door?” I asked, exasperated.
“You know where you are with doors. Anything could happen on a ghost ship.” he said stubbornly.
I scoffed. “Well, I'm not going along with your madness. Who knows when we’ll see another opportunity
like this.”
He shrugged. “Then we’ll part ways here. But,” He added mildly, “Knowing your history and all your
recent choices and consequences of said choices, don’t you think it might be a good idea to use your
head and be sensible for a change? If it looks too good to be true, it usually is after all.”
I grabbed the bottom of the hanging ladder that had conveniently been left over the side of the ship.
The rope felt as soft as silk in my hand. Clearly the owners had spared no expense to use something
of this quality for a mere ship’s ladder. Which meant that there might be other valuable items abroad
that might need new ownership now that their previous owners were no longer to be seen.
“I am not going to let stupid superstition get me killed.” I sneered at him. “This ship is our key to getting
out of here and if you don’t want to come with me and just die of exposure, drowning or thirst then
that’s your prerogative.”
“Well, i tried.” he said, moving the raft away from the ship and forcing me to leap awkwardly onto the
ladder. “Just remember, this is known as a lethal sea for a reason. A lot of the horrors that live out
here aren’t as obvious as a giant squid - and some of them are pretty smart.”
“It’ll be your funeral.” I shouted after him.
“Nope,” his voice came back to me on the hint of a breeze, already sounding like he was miles away.
“I’m pretty sure it’ll be yours.”
I pushed the sailor out of my mind and clambered the rest of the way onto the ship, fairly nimbly if I do
say so myself. I rolled over the top and hit the deck with a thump. Shaking my head i got to my feet.
It was very quiet. The planks seemed to muffle any noise that my footsteps made, although.. I crouched
down. I couldn’t see the joins of the planks anywhere - it also looked like the entire surface of the ship
was made out of one piece of material. I touched it. It was as soft as the rope of the ladder and I couldn't
feel any cuts or joins anywhere. I stood up and shrugged. It must just be a masterpiece of carpentry -
which lent credence to my theory that the owners of this ship must have been wealthy ones and
therefore left behind valuable goods that might be appropriated by someone with an entrepreneurial
spirit, such as myself.
I hurried to the door below decks eagerly, then froze and turned around. Nothing but an empty deck.
I thought I'd heard a scuttling noise, but it must have been my imagination - fueled by the superstitious
ramblings of that ridiculous sailor.
I pushed the door open. I noted it was odd that it didn’t have a handle but it opened easily enough.
Must just be a new style. I walked down the soft stairs and into the cargo. Disappointingly empty but it
looked like there was another door at the back - maybe that’s where they stored their important items?
I strolled to the rear door along through the quiet and empty room - it must be as long as the ship itself!
What were they planning on loading in here? It was much darker down here - no windows obviously and
no lights. I glanced about but couldn’t see any lamps at all. I know you had to be careful on a wooden
boat but this seemed a little excessive. I couldn’t even see any candle remains or wax drippings either.
I glanced behind me. The door to the outside had closed. The only light that remained was the little bit
that came in through the ship’s walls. The shadows themselves seemed to move oddly.
Could light come through wood that had no joins?
I reached the far door before I could fully realise that thought. I pushed at it but it appeared to be jammed.
"Ah ha!” I thought to myself. “They kept this one locked so it must be where the good stuff is!”
I shoved at the door with all my strength and it gave in so suddenly that I fell right through the doorway.
Something must have been blocking it then. I got myself onto my hands and knees ad peered in the
even dimmer light at what lay before me.
I had found the crew. I shoved my fits into my mouth to stop myself screaming. There before me lay at
least twenty or more skeletons - their bones jumbled together like so much loose kindling. But wait, I
looked closer, all the bones appeared to be wearing different uniforms, different styles - even with the
natural disparity on a ship there was no way these could all be from the same crew - for a start there
were two captains hats and that would never happen on a ship - not unless one had been visiting the
other? Yes, yes, that’s what happened my fevered mind said, one captain came to visit the other...and
then something happened.
What happened?
My mind finally forced me to turn and look at the scuttling noise my ears had been warning me about for
some time.
The shadows had followed me into the room. A swarm of small black and red spiders had coated the
inside of the door and far wall - more ran about in the cargo hold beyond. My fingers traced along the
bone in my hand and felt the multiple indentations of tiny bite marks. My knees sank onto the soft
seamless wood beneath me.
No, not wood. What kind of ship could be made so perfectly that you couldn't see the joins in the wood.
One that had never been made from wood to start with. One that had been woven from spider webs by
a crew of hungry spiders, baiting their next meal.
The bone dropped from my nerveless fingers. The swarm pounced.
No comments:
Post a Comment