First off, I would like to credit AlexCat42. Without her, I wouldn't have come up with the idea to write this. As she was working on a story, she needed some ideas and I graciously provided them. In turn, she filled my imagination with ideas that would not quiet down until I jotted them out on paper.
Those ideas quickly became what you are reading now. So a special thanks to my pal Alex. You should check out her FinnickxOC story "The Strength of the Tide" the one that in a way inspired this one. So without further ado:
Chapter One: "I'll tell you a tale of the bottoms below and it's hey to the starboard, heave ho!" - The Little mermaid
It started with The Sea.
So it seemed only fitting to end with it.
When I was a girl, Mother and Father would walk across the shore with me and collect seashells. I would toddle along the beach collecting my treasures and throwing the occasional starfish back into the water, they would tell me stories.
They had an array of tales most of them made up on the spot. There were some about sleeping princesses and brave knights. My favorite one however, even though I had heard it many times before, was the one about the man and the woman.
It started off with the man being a sailor, while the woman made jewelry and fine fishing nets. One day while the woman was down the water's edge, looking for shells to use in a necklace, she saw the fishermen preparing for one of their many voyages. Curiousity stuck her, and she couldn't quite figure out why. It wasn't anything new to see, being Panem's fishing district they had to keep up with their reputation.
Yet the woman decided to take a closer look. Upon further inspection, she found nothing out of the ordinary. It was a fishing boat after all. As she turned around she ran straight into an oncoming sailor. The woman blushed all the shades of red, particularly the bright ones, and apologized profusely.
In the story the sailor however, did nothing but crack a smile. "Looking for something?" the sailor would say every time. And the woman would take a few moments to gather herself and reply:
"I'm sorry, no. I honestly don't know why I walked over here. I'm sorry." the woman prattled on. "But I have to say, that's an odd name for a boat." She pointed to the lettering across the side. The S.S. Calypso.
This is the part where the man's smile would extend even further and say "How so?"
"It's strange to name a boat after a siren. It seems like it would bring bad luck."
The man, now fully grinning, always replied with the same line. "Aye, maybe you're right, but what's wrong with a little danger every now and again?" Then every time he would continue on with loading up the boat.
The woman would find herself visiting the shore more and more for crafting supplies. And the man, in turn, would be by the docks more than usual for a sailor such as himself. Their one conversion would then turn into two, then three, and then more than they could count.
And two years later, after tying the knot, it seemed only fitting for their first daughter to be named Calypso.
And that is where our story begins
Even though Mother deemed Calypso a safe enough name to give to a child, she still worried about dad and the original Calypso. I'm not saying she was worried over nothing, I mean, it being 5 years old when they originally met, and then another 12 years after that, it had seen more than its fair share of the sea.
It was the time of year for fishing, and Mother was always anxious around this time, thinking of the worst scenarios.
But dad insisted it was nothing to fret about. "Talya," he would coo. "Mia amore, it is nothing to worry yourself over. That boat is as harmless as our Calypso." He then pointed over to me, I smiled at him, with my little ten year old smile.
"If you insist. I just have a bad feeling about this trip." She rubbed her enlarged stomach worriedly. "What if something bad happens and our children grow up without their father?"
Mother pleaded with him not to go. Maybe if I had too, he wouldn't have went. Maybe he would still be here. But my dad was the bravest man I knew, and if he was brave for mom, then I had to be as well. It was his job to bring in the fish he'd say, and that's what he would do.
Except he didn't
No one from The S.S. Calypso did. The S.S. Calypso didn't make it back. In fact, it didn't even make it to the fishing spot. No one did.
"BOAT LOST AT SEA" the papers would read the following week. And a week after that, 10 year old Calypso and a heavily pregnant Talya Green would have to bury an empty casket in place of their beloved father and husband, respectively.
That was eight years ago.
Alright how was that for a first chapter? I know it's a bit slow going at first, but bear with me! You will all see your precious Finnick soon... :)