"That's how life is supposed to be", Björn thought to himself as he was sitting at his favorite spot at the bow of his fathers ship the "Lillebror 2" with his back against the mast, the sun shining down on him while revelling in the feeling of the wind playing with his hair. He loved the feeling of the absolute freedom the sea gave but on the other hand said freedom, as everyone who has ever left the protective shell of law and order can agree with, leaves you utterly and truly selfdependent.
Björn had once asked his Dad what this uncertain feeling was he was experiencing for the first time 10 years ago on his first trip into the open waters after the both of them had to steer though a pretty rough storm.

Flashback

As his Dad had looked at him he fidgeted under his scrutinizing gaze, and it had felt as if he could see right into his soul, those steel grey eyes seemingly able to see everything about him. It unnerved him a fucking lot if he was being honest with himself, even though at that age he always denied those feelings simply because he was already big and strong, he told himself, a man, and men don't feel fear. Ye right, and reindeers can talk.

"I don't know son, what did you feel?", he had asked Björn.
"Well, I was feeling bare, uncertain and yet somehow happy. Does that make sense?"
"Yes, it does, considering what you went through for the first time. I still remember my first storm ages ago. I nearly pissed myself, that's how frightened I was back then. Nature has a habit of showing you how truly unimportant and tiny you are in the big picture.", his Dad said with a slight smile while rubbing his grey beard as if deep in thought.
"What you saw son, what you felt was the raw form of freedom. Not freedom like in: I'm an adult so I am "aloud" to do whatever I want to do. No, what I mean is the kind of freedom that people rarely experience in this day and age. Nowadays we are so reliant and connected with each other that one never really experiences what it feels like to be completely reliant on your own. You may do whatever you feel like doing but nobody will help you if you screw up. Strange isn't it? That you only find physical freedom once you are willing to take responsibilty for you self on your own."
Björn sat there with swirls in his eyes, trying to follow his words but after all he was only 10 years old.
"Uhh, whatever you say old man...", Björn replied with small smile.
"Don't you give me that old man crap you little fart. I'm still a young and chipper lad with my 60 years of age!", his Dad roared at Björn who bounced into the air from the volume of his Dads voice and squimpered off to not give his Dad a bigger excuse for making him scrub the deck once more. He still had blisters on his hands from yesterdays scrubbing when he decided to try out his Dads beer while he was away only to discover that it tasted horrible and he couldn't understand how anyone could drink this stuff all day long. And the worst part, the beer wasn't worth the scrubbing at all!

Flashback end

Since that day he and his Dad had regularly set sail and explored the Fjords and open waters around Norway but never ventured too far of the coast since his Dad was of the opinion that Björn wasn't ready yet for the waters of the Atlantic and the like.

This time was different though. His Dad had decided after scrutinizing his son for days on end on their last trip that Björn was ready to shoulder the responsibility of looking after his Dad and himself should the need arise and something unexpected happen to either of them. After discussing it with Björn they decided that for their first trip they would sail to Iceland which were quite some miles to cover and on top of that through normally pretty rough terrain. Fortunately the last few days had been filled with nothing but sunshine and a slight wind which ensured a smooth passage.

Over time Björn was falling deeper and deeper into a slumber, lulled by the wind playing with his hair and the shallow cradling of the ocean that rocketed their ship like a mother her child to sleep. His dream was a weird one, about strange creatures roaming the seas, ships travelling from Island to Island, men and women with swords and guns, men looking like fish, giants and talking snails. While asleep he felt a slow but chilling cold creep over his legs, then his arms and lastly over the rest of his body. Björn, opening his eyes with a grumble from having his sleep interrupted was startled from not being blinded by the sunshine like he expected to be. No, what greeted him was a sort of grey light, light dimmed and warped by dark grey clouds covering the sky and building ontop of each other as if to show the one below their superiority over the other. Letting his gaze wander over the horizon Björn saw the tips of the waves become white from the increasingly strong winds and a slight rain hitting the far away waves like curtain that foretold a storm if he wasn't mistaken. Turning around he saw his Dad scrutinizing the horizon just like he did a second ago.
"Good, you are awake. While you were asleep I checked the weather forecast and there shouldn't be a single cloud in the sky for at least another 2-3 days so we have no idea what kind of winds are about to hit us. It's like a slot machine, you may get lucky but the chances are high that you receive nothing but shit." He said with a grimace.
"Just great, any plans on how we steer through this?" Björn asked, already thinking of possible courses but unitl he was sure from which direction the wind would blow once they reached the storm he couldn't really formulate any concreate plans.
"You will man the rudder son, and I will take to man the sails. You are very good at steering but you still have alot to learn about sailing and how to handle the wind." His Dad told him while rolling up his shit so he would be restricted less.
"Alright, lets do this." Björn said, steeling himself with a calming intake of breath for all eventualities.
As the minutes passed and they came closer to the bordering storm the sound of the winds picked up and the waves grew higher and higher until they stood at proud five meters crashing into the front of the Lillebror 2 which cut smoothly through the waves and began a sort of dance with the waves and the winds as his partner.
"We are about to enter the storm so brace yourself son, do not falter!" his father roared over the howling winds and struck an imposing sight to behold.
With a last look before entering the storm he turned around and looked Björn straight into the eyes and roared with a laugh so loud it seemed to thunder over the howling winds "FACE FORWARD WITH A STRAIGHT BACK, THE PAST IS IN THE PAST NEVER TO REGRET, HAHAHAHA!"

And with that as if to defy mother nature they entered the storms curtain and were hit by the winds as if by a sledgehammer. The Lillebror stood strong and carried Björn and his father deeper and deeper through the storm climbing waves and rushing them down again and again as if competing for supremacy in its own way, defiant just like its captain.
Björn meanwhile stood at the rudder, the muscles in his back bulging and fighting to keep the Lillebror on course and from time to time glimpsing up to check the direction of the wind and down again on the compase installed into the ships hull to see if they were still on course. His father on the other hand was wrestling with the sails, muscles buldging and a mixture of sweat and rain running down his face from time to time looking back to check if everything was fine in the cockpit. Minutes passed and soon an hour had passed and the constant fighting with the storm was taxing for the both of them as could be seen by the hard looks on the faces of father and son.
"We need to reefen the main sail or the increasingly strong winds will push the ship on its side!", Björn father roared over the winds.
"Alright, whenever you are ready I will put him straight against the wind!" Björn roared back.
"READY!" On his fathers signal Björn pushed the rudder away from him with a mighy push and grunting with the effort. The ship turned and the wind and waves crashed straight up front into the hull thundering throughout the whole ship. While Björn was trying to hold the rudder straight his Dad was standing by the main sail and pulling the lowest part further down and securing it with tows so the sail would have less volume for the wind to tackle.
As his father was securing the last tow Björn felt a sudden rush of wind from his left side and screamed with realisation "DAD, WATCH OUT!"
His father having felt the same looked up to see that the wind had changed direction but too late. The wind grabbing the sails side pushed violently against it and smashed the mast straight into his fathers face with a sickening squelch. Eyes widening with dawning horror of what just happened Björn roared in panik "DAAAAAAAAD!"
Without being able to do anything he saw he blood cover father as if in slowmotion tip over the railing and entering the icecold water. With a horrified scream Björn rushed to the railing in the hopes to grab his Dad and pull him back on board but the last he saw of his father was his left hand as he slipped under the waters surface forever to be burried in the oceans embrace.
Screaming out his anguish up at the heavens he never noticed a giant wave gathering to his back and smashing down on him and his ship burrying him under tons of ice cold water. Struggling to regain his footing and ruddering with his arms in a desperate struggle to get back up again he felt his head impact something hard and soon darkness took him.